Microsoft 365 licensing for New Zealand businesses
Pay for the Microsoft 365 licences you need, nothing more. We compare Business Basic, Standard, Premium and Enterprise plans against how your team actually works, then set it up properly.
- Free, no-obligation licence review
- Independent advice from a Christchurch team
- Setup, migration and support if you want it
Are you paying for the wrong Microsoft 365 licences?
Microsoft 365 licensing looks simple until you're in it. These are the problems we find most often when we review a New Zealand business's tenant.
Paying for people who left
- Licences still assigned to former staff
- Shared mailboxes using a paid licence they don't need
- Duplicate add-ons bought twice
The wrong plan for the job
- Everyone on Business Standard when half the team only uses email
- Security tools bought on top of a plan that already includes them
Security you think you have
- Business Premium bought, but Intune and Conditional Access never configured
- MFA not enforced on every account
Billing that costs more
- Monthly licences where an annual term would be cheaper
- Annual seats you can't reduce
- Renewal dates nobody is tracking
Microsoft 365 Business plans compared
The three Business plans cover up to 300 users each and suit most New Zealand small and medium businesses. You can mix plans in one organisation, so each person gets what they need.
| Feature | Business Basic | Business Standard | Business Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business email (Exchange, 50 GB mailbox) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 1 TB OneDrive storage per user | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Teams and SharePoint | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook on web and mobile | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Desktop Office apps (Windows and Mac) | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Intune device management | – | – | ✓ |
| Entra ID P1 (Conditional Access) | – | – | ✓ |
| Defender for Business | – | – | ✓ |
| Purview Information Protection and archiving | – | – | ✓ |
| Best for | Email and web-only users | Office workers who need desktop apps | Any business holding customer, health or financial data |
Microsoft 365 E3 & E5
For organisations over 300 users or with specific compliance needs. E5 adds advanced threat protection, Entra ID P2, Power BI Pro and Teams Phone. Often more than a small business needs, and we'll tell you honestly.
Frontline (F1 / F3)
Lower-cost licences for staff who share devices or work mainly on mobile. Useful for retail, hospitality, trades and logistics.
Microsoft 365 Copilot
AI across Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams. It uses your SharePoint and OneDrive data, so permissions need to be right first. We recommend a small pilot before rolling it out.
How the review works
- Tell us about your setupStaff numbers and your current plan are enough to start.
- We review your licencesUsing read access to your admin centre or a licence export, we check every licence, add-on and billing term.
- Plain-English reportWhat to keep, what to drop, who should change plan, and any security gaps, with estimated savings.
- You decideMake the changes yourself, or we'll do it, including Business Premium security setup and migration.
What our clients say
We are a small business who was seeking to automate our data collection from multiple markets and global sales each month to save time and resources by using Power BI. But we didn't have internal knowledge of Power BI and our data sources were PDFs, Xcels and were varied.
I cannot speak highly enough of Ryan who executed this project.
He is highly skilled in Power BI, highly professional, methodical, communicative and patient.
He mapped all our data inputs, created an automated intuitive Power BI system to save our monthly sales into a folder, and now this automatically generates an updated dashboard view each month. This used to take half to a full day, and now takes 20 minutes.
As the GM of a small company, this is already giving us much deeper insights and actionable data - all by simply saving input files into a folder. It has been a very worthwhile decision.
Nikki H. GM. Kolorex.
We’ve been working with Ryan from Smith Technology on the Tyre General website, and his technical expertise has been exceptional. He’s played a major role in developing and streamlining our product pages, transforming thousands of variable tyre listings into a structured, user-friendly, and high-performing format.
Ryan handled everything from cleansing and organising large product data sets to building dynamic templates that automatically pull through specifications, imagery, and key SEO elements. He’s also optimised back-end code and improved page load speeds, ensuring our customers can easily browse by vehicle type, brand, or category. Beyond the front-end experience, Ryan built custom forms and automated data workflows that make updating and managing our catalogue incredibly efficient. His ability to combine technical precision with a strong understanding of our business needs has been invaluable.
Highly recommend Ryan, Lara and the Smith Technology team, they’ve made a complex project feel seamless and delivered results that genuinely elevate our online presence.
Ryan and Smith Technology Group were a key strategic partner in my e-commerce business. Ryan’s methodical approach allowed us to develop our Shopify site without relying on costly ongoing apps or subscriptions. This delivered meaningful improvements to our automations, customer journey, and internal systems.
He takes the time to genuinely understand business needs and consistently delivers solutions that exceed expectations. A strong consulting partner for any e-commerce business, offering effective, scalable solutions at a cost-efficient price point — ultimately driving stronger profitability.
Microsoft 365 licensing questions
Which Microsoft 365 plan is best for a small business?
For most small businesses that hold customer or financial data, Microsoft 365 Business Premium is the best fit because it adds device management (Intune), Defender for Business and Conditional Access on top of everything in Business Standard. Staff who only need email and web apps can often go on Business Basic. Mixing plans is allowed, so each person can have the licence they need.
What's the difference between Business Standard and Business Premium?
Both include desktop Office apps, Exchange email, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams. Business Premium adds security and management: Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Entra ID P1 (Conditional Access), Defender for Business, Purview Information Protection and Exchange Online Archiving.
Can I mix different Microsoft 365 licences in one business?
Yes. You can assign different plans to different users in the same Microsoft 365 tenant, for example Business Premium for office staff and Business Basic for staff who only need email. The Business plans are capped at 300 users each; Enterprise plans have no cap.
Should I pay for Microsoft 365 monthly or annually?
Annual commitment is cheaper than month-to-month billing, but you can't reduce seat numbers until renewal. Businesses with stable headcount usually save with annual terms; businesses with seasonal staff often use a mix of annual and monthly licences.
How much does the licence review cost?
The licence review is free with no obligation. We look at the licences in your tenant and tell you where you could save and what security gaps you have.
Is Microsoft 365 Copilot worth it?
It depends on how much time your team spends in Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams. Microsoft 365 Copilot is a paid add-on per user, so we usually recommend a small pilot with the people most likely to benefit, after making sure file permissions in SharePoint and OneDrive are tidy.
Get your free Microsoft 365 licence review
Find out where you could save and what security gaps you have. Free and no obligation.