Microsoft prices security capabilities through M365 E5 bundling, where the same capabilities are available standalone. The standalone licensing produces meaningful savings for customers who do not need the full E5 feature set. The unbundling decision saves 30 to 50 percent on security licensing for relevant populations.
M365 E5 includes the full Microsoft security stack: Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, Defender for Identity, Defender for Cloud Apps, Defender for Office 365 Plan 2, Sentinel basic, Purview compliance, advanced Intune. The bundle prices roughly $30 above E3 per user per month; the standalone equivalent often prices below for relevant populations.
Defender products are individually licensable. Defender for Endpoint Plan 1 covers basic EDR; Plan 2 adds advanced threat protection. Defender for Identity covers AD and Azure AD threat detection. Defender for Cloud Apps covers SaaS shadow IT and DLP. Customers requiring specific capabilities can license selectively.
Sentinel prices on data ingestion volume (per GB ingested). E5 includes basic Sentinel allocation; data above the allocation prices at standard rates. Customers with low data volume can license Sentinel standalone below E5 inclusion cost.
Purview compliance capabilities are tiered: Compliance Manager basic, advanced. eDiscovery standard, premium. DLP basic, advanced. Customers requiring specific tiers can license selectively rather than full E5 Purview.
Intune Plan 1 covers basic mobile device management. Plan 2 (in E5) adds advanced features (endpoint privilege management, advanced analytics). Many enterprises license Intune Plan 1 standalone, downgrading from E5 Intune Plan 2 inclusion.
The E5 to E3 downgrade decision requires analysis: which E5 features does the population genuinely use, which are unused, what is the standalone cost of the used features. Customers running the analysis frequently identify 30 to 50 percent of population that benefits from E3 plus selective security standalone.
CrowdStrike for endpoint protection. Splunk for SIEM. OneTrust for compliance. Wiz for cloud security. Each constrains a slice of Microsoft security pricing. Customers with active multi vendor security architecture negotiate Microsoft security pricing more aggressively.
Single vendor security simplifies operations; multi vendor security captures pricing leverage. The framework includes the analysis to balance the trade off based on operational maturity, threat landscape, and commercial requirements.
This white paper draws on Redress Compliance engagements, public vendor documentation, and the active Redress benchmark program.
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