MS-900 Practice Question: Describe Microsoft 365 pricing, licensing, and support
This MS-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe microsoft 365 pricing, licensing, 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.
An organization with 5,000 users has Microsoft 365 E3 licenses. They want to add Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (Plan 1) and Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP). Which THREE actions can achieve this?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Purchase Microsoft Purview DLP as an add-on
Microsoft 365 E3 licenses include Exchange Online Protection but not Defender for Office 365 (Plan 1) or Purview DLP. Both features can be added as standalone add-on subscriptions (Options A and D). Alternatively, upgrading all users to Microsoft 365 E5 bundles both features natively, making Option B correct. This approach avoids per-user add-on costs and simplifies license management.
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.
✓
Purchase Microsoft Purview DLP as an add-on
Why this is correct
Purview DLP is available as an add-on for E3.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Upgrade all users to Microsoft 365 E5
Why this is correct
E5 includes both Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 and Purview DLP.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Downgrade to Microsoft 365 E1 and add the features
Why it's wrong here
E1 does not support DLP add-on.
✓
Purchase Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (Plan 1) as an add-on
Why this is correct
Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 can be added to E3.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Switch to Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Why it's wrong here
Business Premium is limited to 300 users.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume Microsoft 365 E1 or Business Premium can be scaled to 5,000 users, but E1 lacks the required features and Business Premium has a strict 300-user limit, making both invalid for this scenario.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Microsoft 365 E5 includes Defender for Office 365 (Plan 1) and Purview DLP as service plans within the same SKU, enabling unified policy management via the Microsoft 365 Defender portal and Purview compliance portal. Add-on licenses, such as Defender for Office 365 (Plan 1) (SKU: SPE_E5) and Purview DLP (SKU: INFORMATION_PROTECTION_COMPLIANCE), are assigned per user and integrate with the existing E3 tenant, but require separate provisioning and may introduce billing complexity. In a real-world scenario, an organization with 5,000 users might choose E5 to avoid tracking multiple add-on subscriptions and to gain additional security features like Microsoft Defender for Identity and Insider Risk Management.
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, licensing, and support — This question tests Describe Microsoft 365 pricing, licensing, and support — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Purchase Microsoft Purview DLP as an add-on — Microsoft 365 E3 licenses include Exchange Online Protection but not Defender for Office 365 (Plan 1) or Purview DLP. Both features can be added as standalone add-on subscriptions (Options A and D). Alternatively, upgrading all users to Microsoft 365 E5 bundles both features natively, making Option B correct. This approach avoids per-user add-on costs and simplifies license management.
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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