Question 228 of 217
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MS-900 Practice Question: A company has 50 users with Microsoft 365…
A company has 50 users with Microsoft 365 Business Basic licenses. They require the desktop versions of Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) for all 50 users. Additionally, 20 of those users need device management capabilities via Microsoft Intune. The company wants to minimize total licensing costs. Which licensing strategy is most cost-effective?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume Business Premium is the only way to get Intune, overlooking the option to purchase Intune standalone licenses separately, or they may forget that Business Basic does not include desktop Office apps, leading them to choose an option that fails the core requirement.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Upgrade all 50 users to Microsoft 365 Business Standard and purchase Microsoft Intune standalone licenses for the 20 users.
Microsoft 365 Business Standard includes the desktop versions of Office apps, fulfilling the requirement for all 50 users. For the 20 users needing device management, purchasing standalone Microsoft Intune licenses is the most cost-effective approach, as it avoids the higher cost of upgrading all users to Business Premium, which includes Intune but also additional security features not required here.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Upgrade all 50 users to Microsoft 365 Business Premium.
Why it's wrong here
Upgrading all 50 users to Microsoft 365 Business Premium bundles Intune and Enterprise Mobility + Security into every license, even though only 20 users need device management. This forces you to pay the Premium per-user price for all 50, which is significantly more expensive than licensing only the 20 users with a standalone Intune Plan 1 add-on on top of a Standard subscription. It does meet the feature requirements, but over-licenses by 30 users.
- ✓
Upgrade all 50 users to Microsoft 365 Business Standard and purchase Microsoft Intune standalone licenses for the 20 users.
Why this is correct
Microsoft 365 Business Standard includes the full Office desktop applications for every user, satisfying the requirement for all 50. Adding Microsoft Intune Plan 1 as a standalone per-user license lets you assign device-management capability only to the 20 users who need it, rather than paying for it across the entire tenant. This combination is the cheapest configuration that covers both requirements exactly, and it keeps licensing simple because the base SKU is uniform for all users.
- ✗
Upgrade 20 users to Microsoft 365 Business Premium and keep 30 users on Business Basic.
Why it's wrong here
This mixed SKU approach leaves the 30 users on Business Basic, which does not include installable Office desktop applications—only web and mobile versions. Consequently, those 30 users cannot get the required desktop apps, so the solution fails the core business requirement even though the other 20 get Intune from Premium. Splitting Basic and Premium cannot substitute for the missing desktop licenses, and it would still be more costly than giving everyone Standard.
- ✗
Upgrade all 50 users to Microsoft 365 Business Standard and purchase Microsoft Intune standalone licenses for all 50 users.
Why it's wrong here
Deploying Business Standard to all users correctly provides desktop apps, but then adding Intune Plan 1 for all 50 means purchasing device-management licenses for 30 users who do not need them. Intune is charged on a per-user basis, not per device, so every one of those extra 30 licenses is wasted spend. Since only 20 users require Intune, the proper approach is to license Intune only for that subset while leaving the other 30 on Standard alone.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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