Which Microsoft 365 plan does your business need?
The three business plans are simpler than the pricing page makes them look. Business Basic is email, Teams and web versions of Office — right for teams who live in a browser. Business Standard adds the full desktop Office apps — Word, Excel, Outlook installed properly — and is the default choice for most businesses. Business Premium adds the serious security layer: device management, Defender for Business, conditional access — and is what we recommend the moment a business handles sensitive data or has staff working from personal devices. We'll tell you plainly which tier each user actually needs; mixed licensing (Premium for the directors, Standard for the floor) is normal and saves money.
Migration without the horror stories
Every business has heard an email-migration horror story — usually caused by a big-bang cutover with no rollback plan. Ours is staged: mailboxes, calendars and files copied across while your old system keeps running, a verification pass, then a cutover measured in minutes with the old system intact behind it until you're satisfied. Whether you're coming from ancient POP email, Google Workspace, an old Exchange server or a tangle of personal Gmail accounts, the pattern is the same: nothing deleted, nothing lost, no weekend of downtime.
Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive — set up so people actually use them
Most businesses use a tenth of what they pay for because nobody set it up around how they work. We configure Teams as your internal comms (and optionally your phone system — see Teams Phone), SharePoint as a sane shared-file structure instead of a dumping ground, and OneDrive so every laptop's documents are silently backed up to the cloud. The difference between 365 configured and 365 merely purchased is the difference between a system and a subscription.
The two things Microsoft doesn't do for you
Honesty corner: Microsoft's own retention is not a backup — deleted data eventually goes, and ransomware that encrypts synced files syncs the encryption. Proper Microsoft 365 backup is a separate, inexpensive layer we consider non-negotiable. Second, default security settings are permissive; tightening them (MFA everywhere, sensible sharing rules, impersonation protection) is part of our setup, not an optional extra. See email security for the full picture.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Business Standard and Premium?
Standard gives you the full desktop Office apps and core services; Premium adds the security and device-management layer — Defender, Intune, conditional access. If staff handle sensitive data or use their own devices, Premium is worth every penny; we'll spec it per user, not per slogan.
Can you migrate us from Gmail or an old email system?
Yes — from Google Workspace, POP/IMAP hosting, old Exchange servers or a mess of personal accounts. Staged migration, nothing deleted, cutover in minutes rather than a lost weekend.
Do we buy licences through you or Microsoft?
Through us — same Microsoft pricing, but with a human who answers, licence tidying (businesses routinely pay for seats nobody uses), and support bundled with the people who set it up.
Is Microsoft 365 backed up automatically?
Not in the way people assume — retention is not backup, and ransomware syncs. We add a proper 365 backup layer so mailboxes, OneDrive and SharePoint are recoverable to any point in time.
Can Teams replace our phone system?
It can carry your calls — Teams Phone with proper call plans or SIP integration. For businesses living in Teams all day it's excellent; for heavier call handling we'll show you honestly where a dedicated phone system still wins.
Can you fix a 365 setup someone else botched?
Very common request — we audit the tenant, tidy licensing, fix sharing and security settings, and document it so it stays fixed.
Talk it through with a human
Tell us what you run today — we'll scope it honestly, quote it clearly, and tell you if you don't need us yet.