| Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based productivity and collaboration suite that bundles email, document creation, video meetings, file storage, intranet, automation, and security into a single per-user subscription. It is the most widely used business platform in NZ and includes far more than most businesses ever switch on. |
Almost every NZ business runs Microsoft 365 in some form. Almost none of them use more than a fraction of what the subscription already includes. Email, Word, Excel, and Teams cover most daily use. The rest of the platform sits quietly in the background, paid for and largely ignored.
That gap between what you pay for and what you use is one of the easiest things to fix in a business technology stack. Closing it improves productivity, tightens security, removes the need for several other paid tools, and gets meaningfully more value out of an existing line item on the bill.
This blog covers what the platform actually includes, how the plans differ, the features most businesses overlook, how to lift security beyond the defaults, and the adoption tactics that actually move the needle. It is written for owners and managers, not for IT teams handling the technical setup.
What Is Microsoft 365 and What Does It Include?
Microsoft 365 is the rebranded and expanded successor to Office 365. It bundles the Office desktop and web apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), business email and calendaring (Exchange Online), team collaboration (Teams), file storage (OneDrive), intranet and document management (SharePoint), workflow automation (Power Automate), and a growing list of security and management tools. Depending on the plan, it also includes Windows licensing and advanced device management.
The shift from the old Office 365 brand was more than a rename. The newer plans bundle in security, device management, and identity capabilities that previously sat in separate Microsoft products, which is what makes the platform interesting to think of as the foundation of a business technology stack rather than just a productivity tool.
What apps come with Microsoft 365?
The core apps are Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint. The wider suite extends to Forms, Lists, Stream (video), Loop (collaborative documents), Planner, To Do, Bookings, Whiteboard, and Power Automate. Business and Enterprise plans also include Defender for Office 365, Intune for device management, and Entra ID for identity. Most businesses already pay for several of these and use few.
How is Microsoft 365 different from Office 365?
Office 365 is the older name for the productivity suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, etc.). Microsoft 365 wraps that productivity suite together with Windows licensing, device management, and the broader security and identity layer that businesses need to operate safely. For an NZ SME, the difference matters because the Business Premium plan in particular delivers a remarkable amount of capability that previously required several separate vendors.
Microsoft 365 Plans and Licensing for Business
Microsoft 365 plans split into Business and Enterprise tiers, with several options inside each. The right choice depends on team size, security needs, device management, and which advanced features the business will actually use. Picking the right plan is one of the most consequential and most-skipped decisions in any rollout.
Business plans vs Enterprise plans
Business plans cover most NZ SMEs and are designed for organisations up to around 300 users. They include the productivity apps, email, Teams, OneDrive, and depending on the tier, advanced security and device management. Enterprise plans are designed for larger organisations and add more advanced compliance, analytics, and identity features. Most NZ businesses do not need Enterprise; they need to make sure the Business plan they choose is the right one.
Add-ons worth considering
Beyond the base plan, Microsoft offers add-ons for things like advanced threat protection, additional storage, voice calling, and Copilot. Add-ons matter because the right one can replace another vendor entirely; the wrong one quietly inflates the monthly bill for capability the business never switches on. Review add-ons at least annually and trim the ones that have not been used.
How to right-size your licences
Most businesses are over-licensed in two places: people who left and were not removed, and people whose plan tier is higher than their actual usage justifies. A licensing review covering active users, plan assignment, and feature usage typically reclaims 5 to 15 percent of spend in the first pass. Build this into the operational rhythm rather than treating it as a once-a-year project.
Reviews like these are part of a wider managed approach. Managed IT Services that include licensing optimisation routinely pay for themselves several times over through right-sizing alone.
The Most Underused Microsoft 365 Features
Most businesses use the platform for email, document editing, and meetings. The features that drive disproportionate value are the ones nobody opens until someone shows them how. Four stand out: SharePoint as a proper intranet, Power Automate for repetitive workflows, the deeper capabilities of Teams beyond chat, and OneDrive Known Folder Move for invisible backup.
SharePoint as a real intranet
Most SharePoint sites in NZ businesses are dumping grounds for files nobody can find. Used properly, SharePoint replaces the company intranet, the policy library, the news feed, and the document control system with one platform. Setting up a clean SharePoint structure early prevents the file-share chaos that grows quietly over years.
Power Automate for repetitive workflows
Power Automate (formerly Flow) connects apps together to handle the small repetitive tasks that quietly consume staff time. Approval routings, alert emails, scheduled data exports, and inbox triage are all candidates. The platform is included with most Microsoft 365 plans, so the only real cost is the time to build the flows. The pay-off is measured in hours per week per team.
Teams beyond chat and video meetings
Teams is treated as a chat-and-video tool by most businesses. Its actual remit is broader: it is the front door to SharePoint, the location for shared apps, the home of channel-based collaboration, and the integration layer for line-of-business tools. Teams done properly is the daily working surface for the business, not just where meetings happen.
OneDrive Known Folder Move
Known Folder Move automatically redirects Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders to OneDrive on every device. The effect is silent, continuous backup of files staff would otherwise lose when a laptop fails or gets stolen. It is one of the highest-impact configuration changes available, takes minutes to enable, and is missed by most NZ businesses.
Microsoft 365 Security: Beyond the Default Settings
The platform is reasonably secure out of the box but its defaults are conservative, not strict. Real security comes from turning on a handful of features that ship with the platform but stay off until somebody flips the switch. Three of these deliver outsized impact: enforced MFA with conditional access, Defender for Office 365, and data loss prevention with sensitivity labels.
Multi-factor authentication and conditional access
MFA stops the vast majority of password-based attacks. Most plans now include MFA by default for new tenants, but legacy tenants often still have users without it enabled. Conditional access goes further by restricting sign-in based on device, location, or risk level. Together these two changes alone block the most common attack patterns NZ businesses face today.
Even with strong technical controls, users remain the most-tested defence layer. Employee Security Awareness training that fits alongside the Microsoft 365 rollout dramatically reduces the proportion of successful attacks.
Defender for Office 365 and threat protection
Defender for Office 365 (included in higher Business and Enterprise plans) provides anti-phishing, safe attachments, safe links, and anti-malware that catch attacks before they reach the user. It is one of the strongest layers of email defence available to NZ SMEs, and it sits unused in many businesses because nobody enabled the relevant policies after the migration.
Email-borne threats remain the leading attack vector in NZ. Our blog on Phishing Scams covers the techniques attackers use and how Defender policies match up against them.
Data loss prevention and sensitivity labels
Data loss prevention (DLP) automatically detects when sensitive content (credit card numbers, IRD numbers, health data) is being shared inappropriately, and either blocks the action or alerts the right people. Sensitivity labels let documents and emails be tagged so the protection follows the content wherever it goes. Both are included in higher-tier plans and most businesses do not enable them until after an incident reminds them why they exist.
Driving Adoption to Get Real Value
The platform only delivers value when staff actually use what it offers. Adoption is the work that turns a paid subscription into productivity gain, and it is the part most businesses underinvest in. Three things separate strong adoption from weak: training that targets specific workflows, internal champions, and measurement that tracks usage and outcomes rather than just licence assignment.
Training that targets specific workflows
Generic “how to use Microsoft 365” training does not change behaviour. Targeted training on specific workflows (“how the finance team will share month-end packs”, “how the sales team will manage proposals in Teams”) does. Build training around the actual day-to-day work, run it in short sessions, and follow up with reference material people can find when they need it.
Picking champions inside teams
Adoption spreads faster through peers than through IT communications. Identify one or two enthusiastic users in each team, give them slightly deeper training, and let them help colleagues with the new ways of working. Champions cost nothing, lift adoption significantly, and surface the practical issues that formal training programmes miss.
Measuring usage and value
The Microsoft 365 admin centre reports show which apps and features are actually being used across the business. Reviewing these monthly highlights what is working, what is being avoided, and which licences are paying back versus which are not. Adoption that is measured improves; adoption that is assumed quietly stalls.
Common Microsoft 365 Mistakes Businesses Make
A handful of mistakes recur in these deployments across NZ businesses, often quietly compounding over years. Catching any of them early saves money, reduces risk, and improves how the platform feels to use.
Leaving default security settings in place
Defaults are conservative for good reason but they are not the right long-term setting for most businesses. Tenants that have never had a proper security review tend to have weaker MFA enforcement, looser sharing policies, and unused defences sitting dormant. A focused review at least once a year catches the drift before it matters.
The same goes for the broader threat picture. Malware Protection configured at the Microsoft 365 layer stops a meaningful proportion of attacks before they reach endpoints, but only if the policies are turned on and tuned to the business.
Unused licences nobody trims
Departing staff often keep their Microsoft 365 licences for months or years after leaving. So do contractors who finished work last year. Plan tiers also drift higher than actual usage justifies. None of these get flagged automatically; they need someone to look. A quarterly licensing tidy-up is the simplest, highest-ROI piece of housekeeping any business can do.
SharePoint and OneDrive chaos
Without early structure, SharePoint and OneDrive turn into the digital equivalent of an overstuffed cupboard within two years. Files get duplicated, permissions get over-shared, naming conventions diverge, and nobody can find anything. The fix takes weeks once the problem is established; the prevention takes a few days of planning before rollout.
Treating Microsoft 365 as backed up by default
The platform keeps data safe from infrastructure failure but does not protect against accidental deletion, ransomware, or malicious insider activity in the way most businesses assume. A third-party backup that captures Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams data daily is now considered standard practice rather than optional.
Get More From Your Microsoft 365 Investment
It is one of the most powerful business technology platforms available, and almost every NZ business is leaving capability and value on the table. Exodesk works with businesses across Christchurch, Dunedin, and the South Island to right-size licensing, enable the security features that actually matter, lift adoption across teams, and embed the operational habits that turn the platform into ongoing value rather than a quiet monthly cost.
Contact us today to discuss how we can help your business or connect with us on LinkedIn to stay updated with more insights.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Microsoft 365 in simple terms?
Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based subscription that bundles email, document creation, video meetings, file storage, intranet, automation, and security tools into a single per-user service. It is used by most NZ businesses as the foundation of their digital workplace. The platform is updated continuously and includes far more than most businesses ever switch on.
What is the difference between Microsoft 365 and Office 365?
Office 365 is the older name for the productivity suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams). Microsoft 365 wraps that suite together with Windows licensing, device management, and the broader security and identity layer. For NZ businesses, the difference matters because Business Premium in particular includes capabilities that previously required several separate vendors.
What apps are included in Microsoft 365?
The core apps are Outlook (email), Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Teams (chat and video), OneDrive (file storage), and SharePoint (intranet and document management). The wider platform also includes Forms, Lists, Stream, Loop, Planner, Power Automate, and a growing list of additional tools. Business and Enterprise plans add Defender, Intune, and Entra ID for security and management.
Which Microsoft 365 plan should I choose?
The right plan depends on team size, the features the business actually needs, and the security posture required. Most NZ SMEs are well-served by Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Business Premium. Pricing is set by Microsoft and changes over time, so accurate current figures should come from your IT partner or the Microsoft pricing page rather than older internet sources.
Does Microsoft back up my Microsoft 365 data?
Microsoft 365 keeps your data safe from infrastructure failure but does not protect against accidental deletion, ransomware, or malicious deletion in the way most businesses assume. A third-party backup product that captures Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams data daily is considered standard practice, and this is one of the more commonly overlooked aspects of deployment.
Is Microsoft 365 secure by default?
The platform is reasonably secure out of the box but the defaults are conservative rather than strict. Real security comes from enforcing multi-factor authentication on all users, enabling conditional access, configuring Defender for Office 365 policies, and turning on data loss prevention. These features are included in most Business and Enterprise plans but stay off until someone enables them.
How do I migrate to Microsoft 365?
A typical NZ SME migration takes four to eight weeks, depending on the size of the mailbox data and the complexity of existing file shares. The work involves planning, identity setup, email migration, file migration, security configuration, and user training. Skipping the planning and security phases is the most common cause of disappointing outcomes.
What are the most underused Microsoft 365 features?
The features delivering the most untapped value are SharePoint used as a proper intranet, Power Automate for workflow automation, the broader collaboration capabilities in Teams beyond chat and video, and OneDrive Known Folder Move for silent file backup. Most businesses pay for all of these in their existing plan and use few of them.
Does Microsoft 365 work well on mobile?
Yes. All the major apps (Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, OneDrive, SharePoint) have full-featured mobile versions for iOS and Android. Mobile users get a near-equivalent experience to desktop for most everyday tasks. Mobile device management capabilities included in many plans also let businesses enforce security policies on phones and tablets.
Who benefits most from Microsoft 365?
The platform suits any NZ business with knowledge workers, customer-facing teams, hybrid or remote staff, or compliance requirements that demand consistent security and data handling. Businesses with growing teams and multiple locations gain the most because the platform scales without infrastructure work. Businesses with very small teams still benefit but get less leverage from the management and security capabilities.
