One Microsoft 365 for business plan, sized right the first time.
How a Mumbai logistics firm found 12 Business Premium seats nobody had logged into in four months. Story below.
Microsoft 365 at a glance
Why Microsoft 365 anchors most Indian productivity estates, and where the confusion usually starts.
- OEM
- Microsoft Corporation, founded 1975, Redmond WA (NASDAQ: MSFT). Publicly listed, over 400 million paid Office 365 and Microsoft 365 seats worldwide, which is the actual reason it is the default choice rather than a marketing line.
- What it is
- A per-user cloud subscription bundling Outlook mail, Teams calls and chat, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, SharePoint and OneDrive storage, with Entra ID identity and Defender security layered in on the higher tiers. One login, not three separate tools stitched together with forwarding rules.
- India hosting
- Data resides in Microsoft’s Pune and Chennai Azure regions for most Indian tenants. Billing is in INR, GST charged extra on every invoice, and the tenant admin can confirm the data region inside the compliance settings.
- Who it fits
- Any Indian business from 5 to 300+ staff that needs email, file storage and video calls to work off one login. Past 300 seats, or once Windows Enterprise licensing enters the conversation, the estate moves to E3 or E5 instead of the Business tiers.
- Entry price band
- From Rs.170 per user per month for Business Basic, up to roughly Rs.4,740 per user per month for E5 at the enterprise end. GST extra, billed annually, and Microsoft revises this list without much notice.*
- Sirius Star’s role
- Sirius Star sells and manages Microsoft 365 as an authorised reseller and Microsoft Partner. We do not work for Microsoft, so read our comparisons knowing that, and read the honest-downside lines in the plan cards below the same way.
- 2026 change to know
- Microsoft’s July 2026 India price list rose 5 to 43 percent across tiers, and Copilot is now bundled into Business Standard and Premium instead of sold as a separate add-on at those tiers. We have seen tenants still paying for a standalone Copilot licence nobody removed after the bundling changed.
The Microsoft 365 plans Sirius Star helps you pick
Series, not SKU. We size the actual mix of Basic, Standard, Premium, E3 and E5 seats in the free 30-minute review, because most tenants we audit are running at least one tier wrong.
Microsoft 365 Business Standard (with Copilot)
The default pick for office staff on a personal laptop. Desktop Office apps plus Copilot built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, no separate add-on to manage. Honest limitation: it carries no Defender or Intune, so a lost laptop on this tier cannot be remotely wiped.
- Desktop + web Office apps
- 1TB OneDrive and Exchange mailbox
- Copilot in every core app, no separate add-on
- Best for sales, admin and finance desk staff
Microsoft 365 Business Basic
Web-only Office for shift workers and shop-floor staff who need mail and files, not the desktop apps. Honest limitation: no offline desktop Word or Excel, which trips up finance teams who build heavy formulas offline during power cuts.
- Web and mobile Office only
- 1TB OneDrive, Exchange mail, Teams
- No desktop app install
- Cheapest real productivity tier in India
Microsoft 365 Business Premium (with Copilot)
For any user who touches PAN, Aadhaar, GSTIN or board-level data. Adds device and threat management on top of Standard. Honest limitation: still capped at 300 users per tenant, and the Intune enrolment step takes real IT hours to do properly, not the fifteen minutes some quotes imply.
- Everything in Business Standard
- Defender for Business threat protection
- Intune device enrolment and wipe
- Sensitivity labels for regulated data
Microsoft 365 E3 / E5 (Enterprise)
For estates past 300 seats or needing Windows Enterprise licensing and deeper compliance controls than Business Premium covers. Honest limitation: the jump from Premium to E3 is a real price step, and E5’s Power BI Pro and Defender Endpoint P2 go unused on plenty of estates that buy it anyway out of habit.
- No 300-user cap
- Windows Enterprise + Entra ID P1/P2
- Purview compliance and audit tooling
- E5 adds Defender Endpoint P2 and Power BI Pro
Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace, Zoho Workplace and Slack
All three are honest choices for different teams. Most Indian buyers with existing Windows desktops and compliance needs land on Microsoft 365, but that is not automatic, and we say so on Microsoft’s own page.
| Brand | Where it wins | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 (via Sirius Star) | Deepest enterprise security stack, Defender, Entra ID, Purview, plus the Office desktop apps most Indian finance and legal teams already know how to use. | Businesses already on Windows desktops, or needing PAN, Aadhaar or GSTIN-grade compliance controls. |
| Google Workspace | Simpler admin console and tighter real-time co-editing inside Docs and Sheets, with fewer moving parts for a small team to break. | Small teams under 20 people, mostly browser-based, with no Windows-specific software to run. |
| Zoho Workplace | Lower per-user price and bundles CRM, invoicing and HR under the same Zoho One umbrella, so one vendor covers more of the stack. | Cost-sensitive SMBs already running Zoho One for sales and finance. |
| Slack | Faster real-time chat culture built for engineering-heavy teams that live in channels rather than long email threads. | Product and engineering teams where Teams’ meeting-first design feels like the wrong tool for daily chat. |
How a Sirius Star Microsoft 365 rollout runs
Free 30 minute review first. Then a written, sized quote in 24 working hours, not a generic price list.
Licence + seat audit
Free, 30 minutes. We map your headcount against Basic, Standard, Premium, E3 and E5 seats, and flag dormant licences nobody remembered to cancel.
Tenant + security review
We check Defender posture, Entra ID conditional access and Intune enrolment against DPDP requirements, and note where the current setup would not survive an audit question.
Migration or right-size plan
New tenant setup or an in-place licence rebalance, scheduled around your busiest hours, not ours. Mailboxes move in batches with the old system left live until the new one is confirmed working, so nobody loses a day of email mid-move.
Managed retainer starts
Ongoing tenant admin, patching and licence right-sizing, so nobody keeps paying for a Premium seat doing Basic-tier work six months later.
Buying Microsoft 365 in India, a field guide
The deeper read for office managers and IT heads sizing Basic, Standard, Premium, E3 and E5 seats.
- The full Mumbai logistics story
- Which tier actually needs Copilot
- The DPDP checklist for Defender and Intune
- How the July 2026 price rise changes the maths
Microsoft 365 India FAQ
Common questions from Indian buyers before they sign. Hover any underlined term for a plain-English definition.
How much does Microsoft 365 cost in India in 2026?
Microsoft 365 India pricing runs across six real tiers after the July 2026 price update. Business Basic is around Rs.170 per user per month for web Office, Exchange mail and 1TB OneDrive. Business Standard with Copilot is around Rs.1,955, Business Premium with Copilot around Rs.2,660. For estates past 300 seats, E3 runs around Rs.2,995 and E5 around Rs.4,740. All figures are per user per month, billed annually, GST extra, and change without much notice.*
Which Microsoft 365 plan should a small business in India buy?
Most Indian offices under 50 people land on Business Standard for desk staff and Business Basic for shift or shop-floor workers who only need mail and web Office. Move any user who handles PAN, Aadhaar, GSTIN or board-level data to Business Premium so Defender and Intune cover the device. We size the exact mix in the free review rather than guessing from headcount alone.
Is Copilot included in Microsoft 365 Business plans?
As of 2026, Copilot is bundled into Business Standard and Business Premium at no extra per-user charge, a change from the earlier separate add-on pricing. Business Basic and Apps for Business still do not include it, and we have seen tenants still paying for a standalone Copilot add-on that the bundling made redundant.
What is the difference between Microsoft 365 Business Premium and E3?
Business Premium covers up to 300 users and adds Defender for Business and Intune at SMB pricing. E3 removes the 300-user cap and adds Windows Enterprise licensing, Purview compliance tools and Entra ID P1, for estates that have outgrown the Business tier. E5 adds Defender Endpoint P2 and Power BI Pro on top of E3, which not every estate needs.
Does migrating to Microsoft 365 cause email downtime?
Not if it is sequenced properly. We move mailboxes in batches with the old system kept live until each batch is confirmed working on the new tenant, and we schedule the cutover window around your busiest hours, not ours. The parallel-running period costs a few extra days of admin time. It is far cheaper than a mailbox going dark mid-week.
Does Microsoft 365 meet DPDP Act requirements?
Microsoft 365 gives you the controls, Defender, Entra ID conditional access, Purview data classification, but DPDP compliance depends on how you configure them, and where your tenant’s data region is actually set. Our tenant review checks this against the DPDP Act 2023 before we call a tenant compliant, rather than assuming the licence alone covers it.
Ready for a written Microsoft 365 quote?
Tell us your headcount and which roles touch sensitive data. A sized licence quote lands in 24 working hours.
Pair this on one PO
What buyers typically add to a Sirius Star Microsoft 365 order. Each link is a live page on the Sirius Star site.
Related reading from the Sirius Star blog
Long-form context from our team. Each link is a live post on siriusstar.in.
Industry Watch: what’s changing in Microsoft 365
What moved on Microsoft 365 pricing and packaging this month, and what it means before your next renewal.
- July 2026 price rise is live
- Microsoft’s new commercial pricing took effect on 1 July 2026. Most Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites rose 5 to 16 percent, and Frontline F1 and F3 rose 25 to 43 percent. Existing customers move to the new list at their next renewal, so the seat you renew in a hurry costs more than the one you plan for. ProArch
- Copilot is now in the box
- Business Standard and Business Premium now include Copilot Business at no separate add-on, and Microsoft has added a new top E7 tier. We still find Indian tenants paying for a standalone Copilot licence the bundling made redundant, which is a quick line to cut in a review. Sherweb
- A low-risk way to test Copilot
- “Copilot in 30”, a 25-user, 30-day Copilot Business trial for organisations under 300 staff, opens through the CSP channel from 1 August 2026. A sensible way to prove value on a few seats before committing the whole floor. Microsoft
Curated by the Sirius Star editorial team, Vashi Navi Mumbai. Not sure which seats you actually need? Get a free Microsoft 365 licence review.