MS-900 Describe Microsoft 365 pricing and support Practice Question
This MS-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe microsoft 365 pricing and support. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company with 1,000 users currently has Microsoft 365 E3 licenses. They need to add advanced threat protection for email (including anti-phishing and anti-malware) and endpoint detection and response (EDR) for all devices. What is the most cost-effective licensing addition?
Correct. This add-on bundles Defender for Microsoft 365 Plan 2 and Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, providing the needed capabilities at a lower cost than other options.
B
Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance add-on
Why wrong: This add-on provides compliance features like eDiscovery and Auditing, not the advanced threat protection and EDR required.
C
Upgrade all users to Microsoft 365 E5
Why wrong: Upgrading to E5 adds many extra features (e.g., advanced compliance, analytics) that are not needed, making it more expensive than the Security add-on.
D
Microsoft Defender for Microsoft 365 Plan 1 standalone
Why wrong: This provides only basic email protection, not the full anti-phishing/anti-malware required, and does not include EDR.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Microsoft 365 E5 Security add-on
Option A is correct because the Microsoft 365 E5 Security add-on provides advanced threat protection (including anti-phishing and anti-malware for email via Defender for Office 365 Plan 2) and endpoint detection and response (EDR) via Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, all without requiring a full E5 license upgrade. This is the most cost-effective solution for adding these specific security capabilities to existing E3 users.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Microsoft 365 E5 Security add-on
Why this is correct
Correct. This add-on bundles Defender for Microsoft 365 Plan 2 and Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, providing the needed capabilities at a lower cost than other options.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance add-on
Why it's wrong here
This add-on provides compliance features like eDiscovery and Auditing, not the advanced threat protection and EDR required.
✗
Upgrade all users to Microsoft 365 E5
Why it's wrong here
Upgrading to E5 adds many extra features (e.g., advanced compliance, analytics) that are not needed, making it more expensive than the Security add-on.
✗
Microsoft Defender for Microsoft 365 Plan 1 standalone
Why it's wrong here
This provides only basic email protection, not the full anti-phishing/anti-malware required, and does not include EDR.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the E5 Security add-on with the full E5 upgrade, not realizing the add-on provides the same security features at a lower cost, or they mistakenly think the E5 Compliance add-on includes security capabilities like EDR.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The E5 Security add-on bundles Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 (which includes anti-phishing, anti-malware, and automated investigation and response for email) with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 (which provides EDR, threat analytics, and endpoint behavioral blocking). Under the hood, EDR relies on the Microsoft Defender sensor and cloud service to collect and analyze endpoint telemetry, enabling real-time detection and response to advanced threats like fileless malware and living-off-the-land attacks.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this MS-900 question in full detail.
Describe Microsoft 365 pricing and support — This question tests Describe Microsoft 365 pricing and support — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Microsoft 365 E5 Security add-on — Option A is correct because the Microsoft 365 E5 Security add-on provides advanced threat protection (including anti-phishing and anti-malware for email via Defender for Office 365 Plan 2) and endpoint detection and response (EDR) via Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, all without requiring a full E5 license upgrade. This is the most cost-effective solution for adding these specific security capabilities to existing E3 users.
What should I do if I get this MS-900 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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