A Guide to Microsoft 365

If you’re an Australian business focused on productivity, Microsoft 365 is likely on your radar or already implemented at your organisation. You’re not alone – Microsoft 365 is used by hundreds of millions of people globally (as reported by Microsoft, figures vary by date). These include familiar favourites like Word, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and Outlook – workflow stalwarts now boosted by Copilot and ready to grow into the AI era.

This guide covers what’s in the Microsoft 365 stack and why it’s become the default choice for Australian businesses serious about productivity and security. Whether you’re considering migrating from another platform or you’re setting up your business, you’ll find important and relevant information below. Let’s start with a look at what Microsoft 365 actually is.

What is Microsoft 365?

Microsoft 365 is the productivity platform businesses worldwide rely on for efficient workflows. It’s a cloud-based subscription giving your business access to a full set of applications, communication tools, and security features that work across Windows, Mac, desktop, browser, and mobile.

You’ll recognise the names Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, which have been part of business life for decades. What’s changed is that they’re now cloud-connected, collaborative, and built to work alongside AI tools that genuinely speed up how you work.

Powerful communication capabilities are also incorporated, with Teams at the heart of them. Video conferences, calls, chats and meetings all happen here—bringing much of the working day into one place.

Users also enjoy business-grade email and cloud storage for each user. A full working environment is delivered – one that is ready for hybrid work and boasts the rock-solid security you’d expect from Microsoft.

Let’s take a closer look at how Microsoft 365 and hybrid work go well together.

Microsoft 365 for the Modern Hybrid Workforce

Hybrid work is how many Australian businesses operate today. People split their time between the office, home, multiple work sites and wherever else the job takes them. They need tools to support that.

Microsoft 365 brings those tools into one platform for hybrid work. Documents can be worked on in real time by multiple parties in different locations, while everybody communicates on Teams about what they’re doing. SharePoint securely hosts project files, and Outlook links with your calendar and contacts so scheduling is easy and transparent. There’s no switching between platforms – all the 365 apps seamlessly integrate with each other.

With security solutions like Defender for Business and Intune MDM keeping users and endpoints protected no matter where they are, hybrid work doesn’t mean compromised security.

The Microsoft 365 Application Stack

Let’s take a look at some of the applications Microsoft 365 offers. We’ve grouped them here by function, and please bear in mind that a Business Premium subscription may be required to access some of these. More on licensing below.

Productivity

Apps most Australians are familiar with, such as Word and Excel, are now cloud-connected, collaborative, and accessible from any device. Copilot has brought an extra level of efficiency to how we use them, injecting the power of AI into everyday workflows. Excel in particular has expanded well beyond spreadsheets into serious data modelling territory.

Communication and Collaboration

Modern workplace communications are built around Microsoft Teams. From company-wide announcements to group project work or individual chats, Teams is where it happens. You don’t need to change platform to engage in video calls, large video conferences or even communal work on a digital whiteboard. It supports routing business calls through Microsoft Teams Calling. Integrating with your calendar, SharePoint and Outlook, scheduling is easy and no document or project has to be worked on in isolation again.

Storage and Intranet

OneDrive gives each user 1TB of cloud storage for personal files and sync. SharePoint sits above that as the platform for shared documents, internal communications and company-wide information. Many businesses build their intranet on SharePoint, making it central to how they share information.

Security

Defender for Business is an enterprise-grade endpoint security solution built for businesses with up to 300 staff. It covers ransomware, malware, and phishing threats across your devices. It works alongside powerful identity and access management with Entra ID, data protection through Purview and device management with Intune.

AI

Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant. We’ll look at this more closely below.

Automation and Low-Code Development

Power Apps is a low-code/no-code means of building apps without requiring a professional developer. It integrates with Copilot so you can describe what you require and it will get built for you. With drag and drop functionality and a connection with over 1200 data sources within your Microsoft tenancy, it’s your pathway to easily automating clunky manual processes in your business.

Microsoft 365 Copilot: AI Built Into Your Workflow

Integrating with the Microsoft 365 apps, Copilot is the AI assistant that can improve overall productivity in your business. It sits within your Microsoft tenancy, drawing on business data to help you create content, summarise information, and reduce repetitive work. Importantly, it respects your existing access controls, with users only seeing information they already have permission to access.

AI will summarise meetings in Teams and highlight action points. It will break down a long email thread into the relevant dot points. You can provide it with a short brief in Word and it will create an entire first draft. It will pull insights from an Excel dataset for you.

It’s important to point out that the full Microsoft 365 Copilot experience is a paid add-on per user. There are some free basic integrations, but to leverage the full power of this AI an extra subscription to it is required. Explore what it can offer and decide if the investment is the right one to make for your business. Most people who spend time with it can’t go back!

The Power Platform

Microsoft 365 connects to the Power Platform, which is where things get interesting for businesses that want to actually change how they operate.

Power Automate creates automated workflows between apps and services. Approval processes, notifications, data transfers between systems, scheduled reports. Paired with AI, it can handle surprisingly sophisticated processes without anyone writing code.

Power BI is Microsoft’s data analytics and visualisation tool. It pulls data from across your systems and produces dashboards and reports your team can use to make real decisions

Power Apps rounds out the three. Build the internal tool your business has always needed but never had budget to commission. Automate and save valuable hours without having to hire a software developer.

Security in Microsoft 365

Improving your business security is a strong argument for moving to Microsoft 365, especially if you come in at the Business Premium tier.

Multi-Factor Authentication is a simple yet effective method of blocking most login hacks. According to Microsoft, it thwarts 99.9% of breach attempts.

Conditional Access goes further, letting you set policies that control when and how users can reach company data. It can block access from unmanaged devices or flag sign-ins from unusual locations.

Microsoft Defender improves endpoint security with AI-driven detection and response, protecting against ransomware, malware and phishing. It also helps identify software and configuration weaknesses before they are exploited.

Microsoft Intune handles device management. It lets you control company data on both personal and business devices, manage which apps can access business information, and wipe a lost or stolen device remotely.

Microsoft 365 Plans

There are three main Microsoft 365 business tiers worth mentioning. Pricing varies by plan, term, and inclusions—and Microsoft 365 Copilot is typically licensed as a paid add-on per user. We’ll break down the three main tiers here, but for a more comprehensive look at them check out the Microsoft plans page. All the plans below offer email plus 1TB of cloud storage per user.

Business Basic

This entry-level tier is suited to teams that don’t require desktop app installations. It covers web and mobile app versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. A key limitation is this plan requires an internet connection to work.

Business Standard

This is a good middle ground for teams requiring the full desktop suite but aren’t prioritising security investment. It adds desktop app installations and features so offline work is possible.

Business Premium

This is the top business tier with the full security stack, designed for businesses that prioritise data protection and manage multiple devices. You will meet your compliance obligations and enjoy the peace of mind of robust and ingrained security.

Why Business Premium is Worth It

The productivity apps are broadly the same across the business tiers. What Business Premium adds is a security stack that would cost significantly more to put together from separate vendors.

Defender for Business, Intune, Conditional Access, Microsoft Purview Information Protection, and Data Loss Prevention. Together these cover identities, devices, data, and applications in a way that lower tiers simply don’t. For businesses with staff working remotely, a BYOD policy, or any obligation around client data, these aren’t optional.

The price difference between Standard and Premium is modest. The gap in protection is not. We have a full breakdown worth reading: Why Microsoft 365 Business Premium is Worth the Upgrade.

Smile IT and Microsoft 365

As a Microsoft partner, we’ve helped countless businesses over the years migrate to Microsoft 365 and enjoy its ever-evolving suite of productivity tools. If you’re setting up a new business or moving from another platform, our team can help get the suite of tools set up and configured for you.

Let’s make technology work for you. Get in touch today.