E3 vs E5: Choosing The Right Enterprise Plan from Microsoft

microsoft office 365 e3 vs e5 enterprise
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Microsoft 365 has three main plans for enterprises: E1, E3, and E5. For most businesses looking to provide the latest Microsoft Office products and operating system securely to employees, the choice is strictly between Microsoft E3 vs E5.

» LEARN MORE: See The Difference Office 365 Makes as You Scale into Enterprise Territory

Both plans include many of the staple Office 365 products developed by Microsoft, but they also include extra features related to storage, security, analytics, and compliance.

What is Microsoft E3?

While an E1 plan exists, E3 is what most organizations will be interested in. With E3, employees get access to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Publisher, and Access.

These programs are available on PCs, Macs, tablets, and mobile devices, so employees can be productive wherever they are and however they prefer to use the software.

Windows 10 Enterprise edition is included too, allowing all employees to make use of the most advanced version of the popular operating system. This includes:

Programs for communication within the team and with clients are also provided. 

This includes the secured version of email software Microsoft Outlook as well as the now widespread team communication tool Microsoft Teams.

Shifting your documentation to OneDrive or Azure allows you to minimize compliance requirements while Microsoft does the heavy lifting.

Many enterprises are looking to move services to the cloud to get improved features, protection, and flexibility so Microsoft E3 comes with unlimited data storage in OneDrive when 5 or more users are registered (which should be the case for all enterprises).

The advantages of OneDrive storage for business use are immense. 

You will not need to invest in expensive local data storage for your business, and you do not need to worry about lost data when one of your devices is destroyed. 

All of your data is stored in highly-secured Microsoft servers.

(i.e. no compliance requirements to worry about!)

This no-compliance benefit is boosted with 365’s data loss prevention capabilities which allow you to detect documents that contain sensitive information.

The capabilities will prevent the accidental sharing of sensitive data by blocking access to third-parties and by sending alerts when sensitive data is accidentally shared.

What is Microsoft E5?

E5 provides the most advanced security, compliance, voice, and analytical capabilities for your enterprise. Everything that is offered in E3 will be found in E5.

One of the main draws of E5 is the added security provided for enterprises. 

While both packages provide the use of Advanced Threat Analytics (ATA), Microsoft has stopped providing mainstream support of the software in 2021.

So although businesses can continue to receive support in protecting their assets for the next five years, extra protection should be considered for your digital assets. 

Fortunately, Microsoft E5 offers additional security measures through Microsoft 365 Defender and Microsoft Defender for Office 365. The latter protects you from “advanced” threats such as phishing attacks in Microsoft Outlook which are always changing.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 protects you from advanced threats such as phishing attacks in Microsoft Outlook which are always changing.

Enterprises are bound to need this kind of protection as 74% of organizations in the United States were targeted by a successful phishing attack in 2020.

There are many more security threats to organizations that Microsoft Defender can protect against. Microsoft Defender can detect, investigate, and respond to these threats.

Compliance and risk management are also improved with the E5 package as it provides the tools to simplify the process of documenting for all kinds of regulatory requirements.

Compliance Manager, one of the many compliance tools in E5, has a simple dashboard to measure compliance with relevant regulations. The dashboard contains assessments and recommendations for your enterprise – making it very simple to improve compliance.

If you have a business intelligence team within your business, then this next point is important. Power BI Pro comes included in E5, which is usually priced at $10 per user. Any team that is using Power BI, or considering the switch, may find it cost-effective to select E5.

Microsoft E3 vs E5: Enterprise Plans Comparison

Both Microsoft E3 and E5 provide all of the necessary programs to create a productive working environment for your team. This includes the use of all Office 365 programs such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

The choice of package depends on whether you need, or want, the extra services given in E5.

Security is the main improvement in E5 as you get access to many extra security programs such as Microsoft Defender, Cloud App Security, and compliance assessments.

Organizations working in either governmental or health care sectors may find the added security most useful. In these sectors, there is an additional need for advanced security to maintain government contracts or to protect highly sensitive personal data.

On the other hand, there are sectors where document security is less essential and businesses may just want the added benefits of cloud storage, accessible programs, and communication.

For these organizations, E3 may provide all that they need. Startups are a unique case as one of their primary concerns early on in the business is keeping costs low and productivity high. 

With a low employee count, E1 (the basic package) is recommended until the business starts to grow. At that point, startups can switch to E3 or even E5 if necessary. Each organization will have different needs so here’s a quick summary on what you can expect between the two:

FeaturesE3E5
Windows 10 EditionEnterpriseEnterprise
Productivity Software✓✓
Microsoft Teams✓✓
Threat Analytics✓✓
Microsoft Defender Security✓
Compliance Features✓
OneDrive Storage✓✓
Analytics Software✓
Pricing$32 user/month$57 user/month

When choosing the correct enterprise plan, it’s important to consider some of the main differences. Does your business need the best security? Or do you need more advanced compliance features? These are some of the main points when evaluating E3 vs E5.