Effective September 1, 2025, Microsoft updated its Product Terms to include new offerings for Microsoft 365 Business Premium. The update introduces three new add-ons and clarifies a license cap of 300 subscription licenses per customer.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium add-ons
As of September 1, 2025, Microsoft has made the following changes to Microsoft 365 Business Premium:
- New add-ons Available:
- Microsoft Defender Suite for Business Premium
- Microsoft Purview Suite for Business Premium
- Microsoft Defender and Purview Suites for Business Premium
- License Cap:
- Each offering is limited to 300 subscription licenses per customer.
These changes are documented in the Summary of Changes section of the Microsoft Product Terms dated September 1, 2025.
Key Features
The new offerings provide the following capabilities:
- Microsoft Defender Suite for Microsoft 365 Business Premium:
- Endpoint protection
- Threat intelligence
- Vulnerability management
- Microsoft Purview Suite for Microsoft 365 Business Premium:
- Data loss prevention
- Information protection
- Compliance management
- Combined Suite (Microsoft Defender and Purview Suites for Microsoft 365 Business Premium):
- Unified access to both Defender and Purview features
- Streamlined deployment under Business Premium licensing
Licensing
- License Limit:
- Each offering is capped at 300 subscription licenses.
- This aligns with the standard limit for Microsoft 365 Business Premium, which targets small and medium sized businesses (SMBs).
- Prerequisites:
- An active Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription is required to deploy any of the three new suites.
- Availability:
- The new subscriptions licenses are available as of September 1, 2025.
- Expert Advice:
- For tailored licensing guidance, consult with SCHNEIDER IT MANAGEMENT, your trusted expert in Microsoft licensing.
Comparison
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium already includes strong productivity and baseline security features (e.g. Exchange, SharePoint, Intune, Defender for Business).
- The Defender Suite significantly enhances threat protection. It includes Defender for Office 365 Plan 2/Identity/Cloud Apps/IoT – EIoT, Azure Info Protection Premium Plan 2 and Entra ID Plan 2, making it ideal for clients with advanced security needs or regulatory exposure.
- The Purview Suite adds powerful compliance and governance capabilities (Microsoft 365 E5 eDiscovery and Audit/Insider Risk Management/Information Protection and Governance, Defender for Cloud Apps), which are critical for industries like finance, legal, or healthcare.
- The combined Defender + Purview Suite offers a near-E5-level experience for SMBs without requiring an enterprise license.
The following table compares Business Premium-related licensing options:
| Online Service | Microsoft 365 Business Premium | Microsoft Defender Suite for Microsoft 365 Business Premium (new) [1][2] |
Microsoft Purview Suite for Microsoft 365 Business Premium (new) [1] |
Microsoft Defender and Purview Suites for Microsoft 365 Business Premium (new) [1][2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange Online Plan 1 | ✓ | |||
| Exchange Online Archiving | ✓ | |||
| SharePoint Online Plan 1 | ✓ | |||
| OneDrive for Business Plan 1 | ✓ | |||
| Microsoft 365 Apps for business | ✓ | |||
| Purview Data Loss Prevention | ✓ | |||
| Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 | ✓ | |||
| Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Microsoft Defender for Business[2] | ✓ | |||
| Microsoft Defender for Identity | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Microsoft Defender for IoT – EIoT | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Microsoft Intune Plan 1 | ✓ | |||
| Azure Info Protection Premium Plan 1 | ✓ | |||
| Azure Info Protection Premium Plan 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Microsoft Entra ID Plan 1 | ✓ | |||
| Microsoft Entra ID Plan 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Microsoft 365 E5 Information Protection and Governance | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Microsoft 365 E5 Insider Risk Management | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Microsoft 365 E5 eDiscovery and Audit | ✓ | ✓ |
[1] Microsoft Defender Suite for Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft Purview Suite for Microsoft 365 Business Premium, and Microsoft Defender and Purview Suites for Microsoft 365 Business Premium require Microsoft 365 Business Premium.
[2] Microsoft Defender for Business doesn’t support mixed licensing, so a tenant with Defender for Business (included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium) along with Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 (included in Defender Suite for Business Premium) defaults to the Defender for Business experience. For example, if you have 80 users licensed for “Microsoft 365 Business Premium” and you’ve added “Microsoft Defender Suite for Microsoft 365 Business Premium” for 30 of those users, the experience for all users will default to Defender for Business. If you would like to change that to the Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 experience, you should license all users for Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 (either through standalone or Microsoft Defender Suite for Microsoft 365 Business Premium) and then contact Microsoft Support to request the switch for your tenant. SCHNEIDER IT MANAGEMENT can help you with that.
FAQ
Can customers who purchased the E5 Security Suite as an add-on to Microsoft 365 Business Premium transition to the new Defender Suite starting from the October billing cycle?
Yes. Customers currently using the Microsoft 365 E5 Security add-on with Microsoft 365 Business Premium are eligible to transition to the new Defender Suite beginning with the October billing cycle.
My organization has grown to more than 300 employees, and I have a mix of Microsoft endpoint security subscriptions. Can I still use Defender for Business?
Example: Your company grew from 250 to 330 users, and you currently have a mix of licenses: 300 Defender for Business seats and 30 Microsoft 365 E3 licenses.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Defender for Business are designed for organizations with up to 300 users. Once you exceed that threshold, Microsoft recommends transitioning to a plan that includes Defender for Endpoint for all users. That said, Microsoft acknowledges that some customers may temporarily exceed the 300-user limit during an active license term.
In the scenario above, if you began with 250 Defender for Business licenses and later added more to reach 300, alongside 30 Microsoft 365 E3 licenses (which include Defender for Endpoint Plan 1), the Defender for Business features would still apply across the whole tenant. However, when it is time to renew, you should move to an enterprise-grade subscription such as:
- Microsoft 365 E5 (includes Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 plus Defender for Office 365 Plan 2)
- Microsoft 365 E3 (includes Defender for Endpoint Plan 1)
- Defender for Endpoint Plan 1 or 2
Need guidance on Microsoft 365 Business Premium licensing?
Our Microsoft licensing specialists can help you choose the right Microsoft 365 Business Premium configuration – including Defender and Purview add-ons – tailored to your specific business needs. Get in touch today to optimize your licensing with the help of certified experts.
More Information
- Official Source: Microsoft Product Terms – Summary of Changes (September 1, 2025): https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms.
- Announcement: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoft-security-blog/introducing-new-security-and-compliance-add-ons-for-microsoft-365-business-premi/4449297.
- Learn about Microsoft Licensing: https://www.schneider.im/software/microsoft.