From Licenses to Leverage: Running Microsoft 365 as a Platform

Imagine buying a top-of-the-line, professional-grade gym membership. You have access to Olympic-sized pools, personal trainers, state-of-the-art weight equipment, and nutritional planning services. But every morning, you walk in, fill up your water bottle at the fountain, walk on a treadmill for 5 minutes, and leave. You are technically a member, you pay the subscription fee every month, but you aren’t getting fit. You’re just hydrating expensively and using the bare minimum of what you have access to.

This is exactly how most small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) treat Microsoft 365.

They pay the monthly invoice. They download Word, Excel, and Outlook. They send emails. And that is where the utilization stops. They view Microsoft 365 as a utility bill...a subscription they have to pay to keep the lights on and the emails flowing. But looking at Microsoft 365 through the lens of a "subscription" is a strategic error that leaves money on the table and leaves the back door open for cybercriminals.

To truly modernize your IT, protect your data, and prepare for an AI-driven future, you need to stop running Microsoft 365 as a subscription and start running it as a platform.

Table of Contents

1. What is Microsoft 365? (It’s More Than Just Title)
2. The Subscription Trap: Why "Renting" Software Fails
3. The Platform Mindset: Building a Digital Foundation
4. Decoding the Architecture: Infrastructure & Identity
5. The Licensing Labyrinth: Paying for What You Actually Need
6. Microsoft Teams: The Hub, Not Just the Chat
7. Security Services: Turning the Locks
8. The Migration Minefield
9. Why You Need a Pilot: Managed M365
10. Key Takeaways
11. Frequently Asked Questions

What is Microsoft 365? (It’s More Than Just Title)

If you ask the average employee what Microsoft 365 is, they will likely list the icons on their desktop: the blue W, the green X, and the red P. While those productivity apps are the face of the brand, they are merely the tip of the iceberg.

Microsoft 365 is a cloud-powered productivity platform. Beneath the surface of that monthly bill lies a massive, interconnected ecosystem designed to run your entire business operation. It includes file storage (OneDrive and SharePoint), communication (Microsoft Teams), device management (Microsoft Intune), and advanced security (Microsoft Defender).

In today's business world, Microsoft 365 (M365) is ubiquitous. It is the standard language of global commerce. But simply speaking the language isn't enough; you have to know how to turn it into poetry. When utilized fully, M365 allows you to install apps on PCs, Macs, tablets, and phones, providing a smoothly interconnected workflow that follows you from the boardroom to the living room.

The Subscription Trap: Why "Renting" Software Fails

When you treat M365 as a subscription, you are in a passive relationship with your technology. You view IT as a cost center, something to be minimized. The goal becomes "how do we pay the least amount per user?"

This mindset leads to what we call "legacy thinking in the cloud." Businesses migrate their files to the cloud, but keep their old habits. They use OneDrive like an old-school file server. They use Teams just for chat, ignoring its project management capabilities. They turn off security features because they seem "annoying."

The result?

• Fragmented Data: Files are scattered across local desktops and cloud folders.
• Shadow IT: Employees start using unapproved apps because the company tools aren't configured correctly.
• Security Gaps: You might have the licenses for advanced security, but if they aren't turned on, you aren't safe.

A subscription is a line item. A platform is a strategy.

The Platform Mindset: Building a Digital Foundation

Running Microsoft 365 as a platform means acknowledging that this ecosystem is the operating system of your business. It is the foundation upon which your workflows, your communication, and your security are built.

When you adopt a platform mindset, integration becomes the priority. You realize that your email security should talk to your device management. You understand that your file storage should be linked to your collaboration tools.

This approach transforms IT from a utility bill into a competitive advantage. It allows for:

• Automation: Using Power Automate to streamline repetitive tasks.
• Intelligence: Preparing your data structure so you are ready to deploy AI tools like Copilot.
• Resilience: Creating a disaster recovery plan that lives in the cloud, not in a server closet down the hall.

Decoding the Architecture: Infrastructure & Identity

At the heart of the Microsoft 365 architecture is the concept of Identity. In the old days, your security perimeter was the firewall in your office. If you were inside the building, you were safe. If you were outside, you were blocked.

Today, work happens everywhere. The "office" is a coffee shop, an airport, or a kitchen table. The new perimeter is Identity.

Microsoft 365 uses Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) to handle this. It acts as the bouncer for your business platform. It doesn't matter where the user is; it matters who they are.

Running M365 as a platform means configuring this infrastructure correctly. It means setting up Single Sign-On (SSO) so your employees use one secure set of credentials to access everything, from Outlook to Salesforce. It means enabling Conditional Access, which checks not just the password, but the context of the login. Is this user logging in from a known device? Is it an impossible travel scenario (logging in from New York and Tokyo within an hour)?

If you treat M365 as a subscription, you leave these settings on the default. If you run it as a platform, you configure it to create a Zero Trust environment.

The Licensing Labyrinth: Paying for What You Actually Need

Navigating Microsoft licensing can feel like trying to read a map in a foreign language while wearing a blindfold. There is an alphabet soup of F1, F3, E3, E5, Business Basic, and Business Premium.

A "subscription" mindset usually defaults to the cheapest option (Business Basic) or the one that sounds the most impressive (E5). A "platform" mindset matches the license to the role and the risk profile.

For the vast majority of SMBs (up to 300 users), the sweet spot is Microsoft 365 Business Premium.

Why? Because Business Premium includes device management, remote wipe capabilities, advanced security, and cyberthreat protection. It gives you the full suite of Office apps, but more importantly, it adds Intune (for managing those iPhones and laptops) and Defender for Business.

But simply buying the license doesn't make you compliant. You have to configure the platform to utilize those rights.

Microsoft Teams: The Hub, Not Just the Chat

If email is where work goes to die, Teams is where work goes to live. However, most organizations only use about 10% of what Teams can do.

In a platform strategy, Teams is the "single pane of glass." It integrates:

• Telephony: Replacing your expensive, clunky desk phones with Microsoft 365 Business Voice.
• Files: Every Team has a SharePoint site behind it. When you share a file in Teams, you are creating a structured, version-controlled record in the cloud.
• Apps: You can pin your project management boards (Planner), your business intelligence dashboards (Power BI), and your intranets (Viva Connections) right inside the Teams interface.

By centralizing work in Teams, you reduce "context switching", the mental drain of jumping between five different apps to get one task done.

Security Services: Turning the Locks

Here is the frightening reality: You can buy the most expensive lock on the market, but if you don't turn the deadbolt, the door is still open.

Many businesses purchase Microsoft 365 licenses that include incredible security features...and then never turn them on. They rely on "security by obscurity," hoping hackers won't notice them.

Managed M365 security services are about hardening the tenant. This involves:

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): This is non-negotiable. It stops 99.9% of identity attacks.
• Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Traditional antivirus is dead. You need tools like Defender that look for behavior, not just file signatures. If a laptop starts trying to encrypt all its files (ransomware behavior), Defender shuts it down instantly.
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Configuring the platform to automatically detect sensitive data (like credit card numbers) and prevent them from being emailed outside the company.

The Migration Minefield

Moving to a platform model often requires a migration. You might be moving from an on-premise server or from a different cloud provider (like Google Workspace).

The biggest mistake we see is the "Lift and Shift." This is when a company takes their messy, disorganized file server structure and dumps it directly into SharePoint.

Garbage in, garbage out.

Migration is the perfect time to restructure your data architecture. It requires planning. Who needs access to what? How long do we need to keep these files? Which data is "hot" (active) and which is "cold" (archive)?

A platform-focused migration looks at the workflow, not just the file size. It ensures that when the data lands in Microsoft 365, it is searchable, secure, and ready for collaboration.

Why You Need a Pilot: Managed M365

By now, you might be thinking, "This sounds complicated." You are right. Running Microsoft 365 as a platform requires expertise in identity, networking, security, compliance, and governance.

Most SMBs do not have a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) or a team of cloud architects on the payroll. This is where Managed M365 services come into play.

You need a partner who understands the terrain. At ABT, we act as a Tier 1 Cloud Solution Provider (CSP). This means we don't just resell you a license; we provide the solution.

We developed Microsoft 365 Guardian for this exact purpose. Guardian is our managed security and operations platform that sits on top of your Microsoft 365 subscription. We take the raw tools Microsoft provides (the clay), and we mold them into a hardened, compliant fortress.

With ABT and Guardian, we handle the hardening, the monitoring, and the optimization. We replace the weak default settings with Zero Trust baselines. We configure the compliance rules that keep the auditors happy. We ensure your environment is patched and protected against the latest threats.

You get the exact same product/software as what you buy from Microsoft, but then you also get a fully managed, secure platform on top of that.

Don't just rent the apps. Contact ABT for a free consultation and own the platform.

Key Takeaways

• Shift Your Mindset: Stop viewing M365 as a bill for Word and Excel. View it as your business operating system.
• Identity is the Key: Secure your business by focusing on Identity (Entra ID) and access management, not just firewalls.
• Right-Size Licensing: Business Premium is the "hero" SKU for most SMBs, offering enterprise-grade security at a small-business price.
• Configure, Don't Just Buy: Buying the license doesn't make you safe. You must actively configure security settings (MFA, Conditional Access, DLP).
• Don't Go It Alone: The complexity of the M365 ecosystem necessitates a partner. Managed services like ABT’s Guardian ensure you are getting the full value and security of the platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is Microsoft 365 secure out of the box?
   No. While Microsoft provides world-class security capabilities, the default settings prioritize convenience over security. Features like MFA, strict Conditional Access, and Data Loss Prevention often need to be manually configured and enforced to provide real protection.
2. What is the difference between Office 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E3?
   The main difference is that Microsoft 365 E3 includes everything in Office 365 E3, plus Windows OS licensing and advanced security features. Think of Office 365 E3 as just the apps and cloud services, while Microsoft 365 E3 includes the operating system and device management tools, making it a more complete platform solution.
3. Why do I need a Managed Service Provider (MSP) if M365 is in the cloud?
   The cloud simplifies hardware, but it complicates configuration. An MSP (or CSP like ABT) manages the complexity of the tenant, ensuring security settings are up to date, licenses are optimized, and compliance standards are met—tasks that require specialized knowledge most internal IT teams don't have time for.