That's a very good and practical question — especially if you're preparing your organization for ISO 27001 certification. Let’s compare:
🛡️ Scenario: You’re Currently Using Microsoft 365 Business Premium
You want to achieve compliance with ISO 27001, which requires:
- Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
- Information Protection & Sensitivity Labels
- Audit Logs & eDiscovery
- Access Controls & Endpoint Security
- Threat Protection
- Insider Risk Management
- Retention Policies & Encryption
🧩 Option 1: Business Premium + E5 Compliance Add-on
| Item | Included? |
|-------------------------------|------------------------------|
| Microsoft Office + Teams | ✔️ Already included |
| Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive| ✔️ Already included |
| Microsoft Defender for Business | ✔️ Included |
| Intune | ✔️ Included |
| Azure AD Premium P1 | ✔️ Included |
| Sensitivity Labels (Basic) | ✔️ Basic labels only |
| Sensitivity Labels (Auto + AI)| ❌ Not included |
| DLP (Files, Email, Teams) | ❌ Not included |
| eDiscovery (Standard) | ✔️ Partial |
| eDiscovery (Premium), Audit | ✅ Via E5 Compliance Add-on|
| Insider Risk, Communications Monitoring | ✅ Add-on required |
| AIP Plan 2 | ✅ Add-on required |
| Total Cost (MYR est.) | RM95 (Business Premium) + RM55 (E5 Compliance) = RM150/user/mo |
🧠 Option 2: Full Microsoft 365 E5
| Item | Included? |
|-------------------------------|------------------------------|
| All Office Apps + Teams | ✔️ Included |
| Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive| ✔️ Included |
| Defender for Endpoint P2 | ✔️ Advanced version included |
| Azure AD Premium P2 | ✔️ Included |
| Microsoft Intune | ✔️ Included |
| Sensitivity Labels (Auto + AI)| ✔️ Included |
| DLP (Email, SharePoint, Teams)| ✔️ Included |
| eDiscovery (Standard + Premium)| ✔️ Included |
| Insider Risk, Records Mgmt | ✔️ Included |
| Power BI Pro | ✔️ Included |
| Teams Phone (VoIP system) | ✔️ Included |
| Total Cost (MYR est.) | RM250–RM265/user/mo |
⚖️ Detailed Comparison Table
| Criteria | Business Premium + E5 Compliance | Full E5 |
|--------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| Cost | ✔️ Lower (RM150/user/mo) | ❌ Higher (RM260/user/mo) |
| Ease of Deployment | ✔️ Lightweight, add-on model | ✔️ One consolidated package |
| Security Coverage | ➖ Defender for Business (P1) only | ✔️ Defender for Endpoint (P2) |
| Compliance Coverage | ✔️ E5 Compliance covers ISO needs | ✔️ Fully covered |
| Flexibility | ✔️ Add only what’s needed | ❌ Pay for all features |
| Long-Term Scalability | ➖ May need more add-ons over time | ✔️ All-in-one bundle |
| Analytics (Power BI) | ❌ Not included | ✔️ Included |
| Teams Phone | ❌ Not included | ✔️ Included |
🧠 Recommendations:
| If you are a… | Go with… |
|----------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 💼 Small-Medium Business (SMB) with budget awareness | Business Premium + E5 Compliance |
| 🏢 Enterprise or regulated org (finance, healthcare, gov) | Full E5 Suite |
| 🧩 Already using custom 3rd-party DLP or SIEM | Business Premium + Modular Add-ons |
| 📊 Heavy on data analysis / dashboards | Full E5 (includes Power BI Pro) |
💡 My Final Take:
- Business Premium + E5 Compliance is the most cost-effective way to align with ISO 27001, and provides just enough security, governance, and auditing.
- Go Full E5 only if you want:
- One license to rule them all
- The strongest endpoint and identity protection
- Power BI, Teams Phone, and full security automation
Would you like a downloadable PDF of this comparison for your boss or stakeholders?