If you run a small or medium business, there's a good chance you're paying for Microsoft 365 Business Premium or a similar licence every month. What you might not realise is that the licence already includes a set of serious security features, multi-factor authentication enforcement, conditional access, device compliance policies, data loss prevention and more, that are either partially configured or not switched on at all. You're paying for the lock but leaving the door open.
This isn't unusual. Microsoft bundles these tools into its business plans, but getting them working properly takes a deliberate setup project. Without someone actively configuring and maintaining them, they sit dormant. For a business owner, that means budget is going out the door every month for protection that isn't actually protecting anything.
Why this happens
Microsoft 365 licensing is genuinely confusing. Business Basic, Standard, Premium and the various add-ons all include different combinations of security tools, and the differences aren't always obvious from the sales pages. Most businesses buy a licence tier because someone recommended it or because it included the email and Office apps they needed, not because of a considered security strategy.
Once the licence is purchased, IT setup tends to focus on the basics: getting email working, installing Office, setting up shared drives. Security features like conditional access policies or Microsoft Defender for Office 365 require extra configuration time, and if nobody is explicitly tasked with doing that, it simply doesn't happen. The business carries on, unaware that a chunk of its monthly spend is for capability it isn't using.
What often gets missed
- Multi-factor authentication enforcement - available by default but often only partially rolled out, leaving some accounts exposed.
- Conditional access policies - the ability to block sign-ins from unusual locations or unmanaged devices, included in Premium plans but rarely configured.
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365 - advanced phishing and malware protection for email and SharePoint, often running on default settings rather than being tuned to the business.
- Data loss prevention policies - rules that stop sensitive data such as card numbers or client records being emailed out accidentally.
- Device compliance and Intune enrolment - ensuring only properly configured, up-to-date devices can access company data.
Each of these is sitting inside licences that businesses across Greater Manchester are already paying for every month.
The real cost of leaving it switched off
There are two costs here, and both matter. The first is financial: paying premium prices for premium features and getting none of the benefit. The second, and more serious, is the security gap itself. A business that believes it has "Microsoft security" because of its licence tier, but hasn't configured anything, is often less secure than it thinks. That false sense of confidence is exactly the kind of gap that attackers exploit, phishing emails that should have been caught, logins from unrecognised devices that should have been blocked, and sensitive files that should never have left the building.
Insurance providers and clients are also starting to ask pointed questions about security configuration, not just which software a business has bought. A licence on paper doesn't answer those questions. A properly configured tenant does.
How to find out where you stand
The starting point is a straightforward audit of what you're licensed for versus what's actually switched on. This typically involves:
- Reviewing the exact Microsoft 365 licence tier assigned to each user.
- Checking which security features are included in that tier but not yet configured.
- Testing current multi-factor authentication and conditional access coverage.
- Reviewing Defender and data loss prevention policy settings against the business's actual risk profile.
Most businesses are surprised by the gap between what they're paying for and what they're using. The good news is that turning these features on properly is usually a matter of configuration, not additional spend.
Getting value from what you already own
Before adding new security tools or increasing your licence spend, it's worth establishing whether you're already paying for the answer. For many SMEs in Greater Manchester, a well-configured Microsoft 365 Business Premium licence covers most of what's needed for solid baseline security, provided someone actually sets it up and keeps it maintained as the business changes.
At Valetech Solutions, our cybersecurity service includes a review of your current Microsoft 365 licensing and configuration, so you can see exactly what you're paying for and what it's actually doing for you. If you'd like us to take a look at your setup, Get in touch with Valetech Solutions.