Microsoft 365 Compliance Offerings and Licenses

• While ​Microsoft 365 provides a large number of services supporting regulatory compliance, their capabilities vary widely by license tier.
• Most enterprise customers will find they require either an E5 license or equivalent add-on to support their needs.

As the repository for many, if not most, organizational documents, ranging from e-mails and Teams conversations to Word and Excel documents, a customer’s Microsoft 365 tenancy can be subject to a wide range of compliance requirements. However, services supporting regulatory compliance vary widely in the features and capabilities depending upon which license tier the tenant and user possess. Each of these services falls under Microsoft’s umbrella “Purview” brand; hence, for DLP, the full name is “Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention,” and so forth.

Enterprise customers will typically find they need an E3-level license, minimally; most will require the capabilities in an E5 license or compatible add-on.

Three such add-ons are available, as shown in the illustration: