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Microsoft 365 recently announced new security and compliance offerings that place a large emphasis on cybersecurity and regulatory compliance to protect users from wider threats. With so many different features included, many users are wondering what the difference is between Microsoft 365 E3 vs E5. In this comparison we’ve also included Microsoft 365 E1, however, because of the advanced security features, we recommend businesses stick with an E3 or E5 option.

Identity Threat & Protection – Security on Windows 10, Office 365 and EMS all in one. This includes Microsoft Threat Protection, (Azure Advanced Threat Protection, Windows Defender ATP, and Office 365 ATP including Threat Intelligence), Microsoft Cloud App Security and Azure Active Directory. This subscription is available at no additional cost for E5 users, and is included in your subscription. For E3 users, the service is $12 per user per month.

Information Protection & Compliance – This combines Office 365 Advanced Compliance and Azure Information Protection. This program helps IT teams with ongoing risk assessments with a compliance score on Microsoft Cloud Services, automated classification and protection of data, and respond to the requests leveraging artificial intelligence. This subscription is available at no additional cost for E5 users, and is included in your subscription. For E3 users, the service is $10 per user per month.

The full Microsoft 365 E5 suite includes these security and compliance offerings as well as offerings in business analytics featuring Power BI, and communications with audio conferencing.

Microsoft Office E1

The E1 plan is ideal for users that don’t need desktop versions of Outlook or Office applications but still need eDiscovery and data governance. E1 is the basic version of the three Enterprise level plans. With E1 you’ll receive:

• Email and Calendars via Microsoft Exchange
• Enterprise Social with Yammer
• OneDrive for Business with 1TB cloud storage
• MS Stream
• Communication and team sites with SharePoint
• Delve for content discovery
• StaffHub and Planner to manage daily staff tasks
• Teams (which has adopted components and functions of Skype for Business)
• Web versions of Office applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and Publisher.

The Microsoft Office E1 plan doesn’t allow for installation of applications on mobile devices, and  a constant internet connection is required to use the plan. E1 plans cost about $8.00 per user per month.

Microsoft Office E3

This plan is ideal for businesses that need more advanced BI, compliance, security, email, and voice capabilities. With the Microsoft 365 E3 plan every user will get the full license and they are allowed to install the applications on up to five desktops, five tablets, and five smartphones. This means you can work anytime, from anywhere. The E3 plan includes the following:

• MS Office Suite with the most updated versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, OneDrive for Business, Teams, Access, and Publisher
• Cloud Storage, 1TB comes with it, then you have the ability to increase it up to 25TB
• The ability to install Office applications across devices (Windows, Mac, Android, tablets, smartphones)
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP) to comply with business standards and industry regulations, protecting sensitive information and preventing data leaks
• Data management solutions, including archiving, encryption, rights management, advanced emailing, and access control for emails and documents

Microsoft Office 365 e3E3 plans cost $20 per user per month.

Microsoft Office E5

The Microsoft 365 E5 plan is ideal for businesses that use Skype for Business Cloud PBX. With E5 you get a complete phone system along with all functionality available within Office 365. E5 is often considered the powerhouse version of Office because of its robust security features, available analytic tools and voice capabilities. With E5 you get everything included in E3 along with a few additional benefits:

• Advanced Security & Information Protection: The E5 license has enhanced features to protect your data from threats like phishing and malware. Enhanced DLP helps protect your content.
• Analytics Tools: The E5 is the only plan that offers the analytics tools MyAnalytics and PowerBI Pro.
• Advance eDiscovery
• Advanced threat protection and threat intelligence
• O365 Cloud App Security
• Conferencing capabilities
• Advanced Data Governance and Customer Lockbox

These features are all included in the Microsoft 365 E5 plan and the investment is $35 per user per month.

With security and compliance continuing to be a high priority in 2019, taking advantage of these offerings will help businesses achieve their security and compliance requirements. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about Microsoft 365 E3 vs E5 plans, please reach out to sales@itrw.net.

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