Microsoft 365 is more than just a suite of applications; it is the digital backbone of multiple companies around the world. With solutions for collaboration, cloud storage, and data management, the suite transforms the way organizations operate. In fact, in 2025, Microsoft 365 surpassed 430 million commercial users or active seats (Microsoft FY25 Third Quarter Earnings), which highlights its massive adoption and continuous growth in the market.
However, the constant evolution of its functionalities and the complexity of its configurations require continuous attention to security and regulatory compliance. In this context, managed services for Microsoft 365 are key for organizations to maximize security and reduce operational risks.
What are managed services for Microsoft 365?
Managed services for Microsoft 365 are solutions that allow companies to efficiently delegate the monitoring, configuration, optimization, and protection of their digital environment.
By outsourcing the administration of the Microsoft ecosystem, organizations can focus on their core activities while a specialized team continuously manages critical aspects of the platform, such as Microsoft 365 security, identity management, data protection, and regulatory compliance.
This approach ensures that the Microsoft 365 environment is not only always updated and optimized but also aligned with security frameworks (CIS, NIST, ISO 27001) and regulatory compliance (GDPR, DORA, HIPAA).
This guarantees a solid technological infrastructure, aligned with international best practices and fully protected against potential cyber threats, reducing risks and improving the operational efficiency of the company.
Why does your company need managed solutions for Microsoft 365?
- Increased security and productivity risks
- Data exposure due to AI and information leaks
- Inefficient security tools without proactive management
- Risk of unauthorized access and lack of operational resilience
Managed services for Microsoft 365 are essential to mitigate security and productivity risks arising from inadequate platform management. Microsoft 365 continuously introduces new functionalities and security improvements. However, without specialized management, these changes can generate vulnerabilities and threats that affect business operations, exposing the company to compliance risks and security failures.
The incorporation of AI in companies, such as Copilot and automations, improves productivity but expands the data exposure surface. Without proper management, sensitive information may be exposed, especially when AI accesses critical data. Adapting security policies in Microsoft 365 and your environment is key to preventing data breaches.
Although Microsoft 365 includes powerful security tools, their effectiveness depends on proactive administration. Without continuous monitoring, security configurations can become obsolete, generating vulnerabilities and increasing the likelihood of cyberattacks. Managed services ensure that the new Microsoft 365 capabilities are properly adopted, protecting the corporate environment and mitigating misconfiguration risks.
DLP policies and sharing controls in SharePoint and OneDrive help prevent information leaks, but without constant management, these controls may fail, exposing sensitive data without hindering collaboration. Additionally, the lack of encryption and device hardening allows untrusted devices to access corporate infrastructure.
Conditional Access and MFA in Entra ID are essential to reduce unauthorized access, but without proper implementation and supervision, these controls may not be sufficient. Advanced capabilities of Microsoft Defender XDR constantly evolve, but without continuous management, threats may go unnoticed.
To minimize these risks, it is essential to have continuous monitoring and periodic review of security configurations, ensuring that policies remain updated and aligned with the evolution of Microsoft 365 and the threat landscape. Proactive management guarantees operational resilience, reduces incident risks, and allows rapid response to configuration errors or security events, protecting business continuity.
Benefits of Microsoft 365 managed services
- Continuous monitoring
- Risk reduction
- Increased IT team efficiency
- Ongoing security improvement
Continuous monitoring
Constant monitoring of Microsoft 365 services ensures that any vulnerability is detected and corrected in real time, allowing IT teams to take proactive measures before they become major issues. This reduces the risk of cyberattacks and keeps the infrastructure operational without interruptions, improving security and performance.
Risk reduction
Implementing managed services also helps minimize security gaps, protecting sensitive data and ensuring compliance with regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA. This reduces risks, prevents penalties, decreases data leaks, and reinforces the trust of clients and partners by demonstrating a serious approach to information protection.
Increased IT team efficiency
Additionally, it frees internal resources, allowing the IT team to focus on more strategic, higher-value tasks, such as innovation, process optimization, and the implementation of new solutions, instead of handling the daily operational management of Microsoft 365.
Optimized security in Microsoft 365
Managed Microsoft 365 services also contribute to security optimization through Secure Score, a tool that evaluates and rates your environment’s security, implementing key policies such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and Conditional Access, as well as conducting regular audits to ensure continuous protection of the environment.
The benefits of managed services for Microsoft 365 are clearly reflected in the global growth of managed services, for this suite and others, with a market value estimated to exceed $350 billion by 2026, with an annual growth rate above 9% until 2034, according to Global Growth Insights.
Optimized management of Microsoft 365 licenses
Efficient management of licenses and tools within Microsoft 365 (including the Office 365 package), through managed services, allows companies to maximize their investment without dedicating specialized internal resources.
An expert team is responsible for the correct allocation and optimization of licenses, the proper use of tools, and the continuous adoption of platform functionalities. This results in greater operational efficiency, reduced unnecessary costs, lower risk of errors or over-licensing, and sustained productivity, ensuring the organization consistently obtains the maximum value from Microsoft 365 in a controlled manner.
Types of Microsoft 365 licenses and pricing
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Types of Microsoft 365 licenses
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Plans/Services
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Productivity and Collaboration
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Microsoft 365 Business: Basic, Standard, Premium; Microsoft 365 Enterprise: E3, E5, F3; Office 365: E1, E3, E5, F3; Microsoft 365 Apps: for Business, for Enterprise; Copilot for Microsoft 365 (add-on)
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Security and Identity
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Enterprise Mobility + Security (E3, E5); Microsoft Entra ID: P1, P2; Microsoft Entra ID Governance (add-on); Microsoft Intune: Plan 1, Plan 2; Intune Suite (add-on); Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: P1, P2; Microsoft Defender for Office 365: Plan 1, Plan 2; Microsoft Defender for Identity; Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps; Microsoft Purview: eDiscovery Premium, Audit Premium, Insider Risk Management, Communication Compliance, Records Management
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Voice and Meetings
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Microsoft Teams Phone (per user add-on); Microsoft Audio Conferencing (add-on); Microsoft Teams Premium (add-on); Microsoft Teams Rooms Basic (per room); Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro (per room); Microsoft Teams Shared Device (per device)
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Analytics and Platform (Power Platform and BI)
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Power BI Pro; Power BI Premium per user (PPU); Power Apps (per user and per app license); Power Automate (per user and per flow license); Power Pages (plans per authenticated/anonymous user)
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Employee Experience (Viva)
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Microsoft Viva Suite; Viva Goals; Viva Learning; Viva Insights (advanced modules)
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Windows and Workstation
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Windows 11 Enterprise: E3, E5; Windows 365 (Cloud PC): Business, Enterprise, Frontline
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These are just some of the multiple options available within Microsoft 365 licenses, covering a wide variety of productivity, security, communication, analytics, and device needs. Availability and scope vary depending on the chosen plan.
Microsoft 365 license prices vary by region, currency, applicable taxes, and consultation dates, so it is necessary to check the updated prices on Microsoft’s official website.
In addition to these licenses, there are Azure services billed by consumption or capacity that complement Microsoft 365 and are not included by default (e.g., Azure Virtual Desktop, Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Sentinel, among others). These services are billed according to usage and also vary by region and configuration.
The platform offers great flexibility to adapt to the specific requirements of each organization, allowing licenses and services to be combined according to size, user profile, and business objectives.
One of the advantages of managed services for Microsoft 365 is that they provide guidance to choose the most suitable licenses and add-ons for your organization, ensuring that you select the plan that best aligns with your objectives.
How to choose a Managed Service Provider (MSP) for Microsoft 365
Choose an MSP that covers end-to-end security, compliance, and optimization, with a specialized focus and continuous monitoring. Key requirements:
- Initial assessment and prioritized plan: Should include a clear diagnosis of the environment and measurable objectives. Use Microsoft Secure Score as a reference metric to numerically measure your security posture, set goals, and demonstrate progress with periodic reports and prioritized actions.
- Tenant hardening from the start: Tenant hardening is the process of strengthening the security of your environment (tenant), both in platforms such as Microsoft 365 and other cloud environments, through secure configurations, access control, and continuous adjustments to reduce vulnerabilities. The MSP must establish a compact and effective process with secure baselines and essential controls, such as MFA and Conditional Access, email and device protection (Exchange, Intune, DLP), and advanced defense with Microsoft Defender XDR. This process should be complemented with regular reviews and automated security policies.
- Alignment with frameworks and regulations: Demonstrated experience in CIS, NIST, ISO 27001, and compliance with GDPR and other sector-specific regulations (such as DORA for finance).
- 24/7 monitoring and response: Operations center with detection, containment, and remediation, clear SLAs, and incident response plans.
- License and cost optimization: License governance, use of appropriate tools, and recommendations to maximize ROI.
- Identity governance and Zero Trust: Entra ID management, segmentation, adaptive access, and attack surface reduction.
- Observability and reporting: Executive and technical dashboards, periodic audits, and change traceability.
- Training and knowledge transfer: Internal team training to ensure security and operations are sustainable.
With this approach, your IT team focuses on strategic tasks while the MSP manages Microsoft 365 operations and security, reducing risks and ensuring data protection.
At Intelequia, we offer managed services for Microsoft 365 that cover all key aspects: up-to-date security options, regulatory compliance aligned with best practices, and a fully optimized infrastructure. In addition, we ensure seamless integration with existing tools and systems in your company, improving team productivity and collaboration.
Contact us and start maximizing the potential of your digital environment while taking full advantage of the benefits of managed services for Microsoft 365.