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MS-900 Practice Question: A company with 200 users currently has Microsoft…
A company with 200 users currently has Microsoft 365 Business Basic licenses. They need to add Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (Plan 1) and device management capabilities using Microsoft Intune. What is the most cost-effective licensing upgrade to obtain these features?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently assume adding individual add-ons is cheaper, but Microsoft bundles these features in Business Premium at a lower total cost per user than purchasing them separately, and they may overlook that E3 is an enterprise plan with unnecessary extras for a 200-user company.
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 to Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes both Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (Plan 1) and Microsoft Intune device management, making it the most cost-effective upgrade from Business Basic. Purchasing these as standalone add-ons would cost more per user than the bundled Business Premium license, which also provides additional security and productivity features.
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 to Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Why this is correct
Microsoft 365 Business Premium combines the full Office 365 productivity suite with Microsoft Entra ID P1, Microsoft Intune, and Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 under a single per-user license. This integrated bundle enables conditional access policies, mobile device management, and email threat protection without separate add-on purchases, making it the most direct and cost-effective upgrade for a 200-user small business. Its unified security stack also includes Microsoft Purview compliance features and automated attack simulation, which standalone products cannot replicate.
- ✗
Add standalone Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1
Why it's wrong here
Purchasing standalone Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 only adds email and collaboration protection, such as Safe Links and Safe Attachments for Exchange Online, SharePoint, and Teams. It does not include any endpoint management, so you would still need Microsoft Intune to enforce compliance policies on company-owned devices, and you would lack Microsoft Entra ID P1 for conditional access. Bundling these separately costs significantly more than Business Premium while delivering an incomplete security configuration.
- ✗
Add standalone Microsoft Intune
Why it's wrong here
Standalone Microsoft Intune provides mobile device management (MDM) and mobile application management (MAM), enabling remote wipe, device configuration, and app protection policies for Windows, iOS, and Android devices. However, it contains no email security; phishing and malware in email would remain unprotected without Defender for Office 365 Plan 1. You would also need Microsoft Entra ID P1 for the conditional access integration that Intune policies often rely on, so this approach leaves identity-driven controls missing and ends up costing more.
- ✗
Upgrade to Microsoft 365 E3
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft 365 E3 is an enterprise-grade license that includes Windows 11 Enterprise, Office 365, Microsoft Entra ID P1, and Microsoft Intune, but it does not include Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 in the base SKU. To match Business Premium's email security, you must add the Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 add-on at an additional per-user cost, which makes E3 more expensive overall. E3 also lacks the simplified, security-first default settings that Business Premium provides for small businesses, so it is overkill for a 200-user company.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Intune Device Compliance and Configuration Policies
Key term
Anti-phishing policy
An anti-phishing policy is a set of rules and technical controls that organizations use to detect, block, and respond to email or message-based attacks that trick users into revealing sensitive information.
Key term
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based cloud service from Microsoft that combines productivity tools like Office apps with security, device management, and online storage.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This MS-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the MS-900 exam.