Microsoft Defender India: Complete 2026 SMB Setup Guide
Microsoft Defender for Indian SMBs, one licence, eight security layers, from ₹305 a user.
Free inside M365 Business Premium or standalone from ₹305 a user. Sirius Star turns Defender on, tunes the policies, writes the DPDP document.
4-hour quote SLA · 200+ Indian businesses · Microsoft Partner · Free 48-hour security review
Microsoft Defender EDR fee reclaimed
₹10.8 Lakh
over three years on a 50-user SMB when Defender, already paid for inside Business Premium, replaced a standalone third-party EDR subscription at ₹600 per endpoint per month. That is ₹3.6 Lakh a year sitting unused in your Microsoft contract. One vendor, one console, one renewal date.
We’ll calculate yours. Free.
What is Microsoft Defender for Business?
Microsoft Defender for Business is the SMB-tier endpoint security plan from Microsoft for tenants up to 300 users that delivers next-generation antivirus, endpoint detection and response, attack surface reduction, automated investigation and remediation, threat and vulnerability management, and web content filtering across Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. The licence is included free inside Microsoft 365 Business Premium at ₹1,560 per user per month, or sold standalone at ₹305 per user per month on an annual commitment. Microsoft Defender sits in the same tenant as Microsoft 365, Entra ID, and Intune, so there is no separate console to learn and no separate identity store to reconcile.
Most Indian SMBs already paying for Business Premium have the Defender licence sitting unconfigured. Turning it on takes a 48-hour review and a 30-day configuration project. Confirm baseline coverage against the official Microsoft Learn Defender for Business documentation and the live CERT-In advisories for current Indian threat actors. Sirius Star runs that baseline and hands over a written report.
3 ways to buy Microsoft Defender in India
Same Microsoft Defender platform. Same Entra ID identity. Same security policies. Three commercial wrappers, picked from whether you already own Business Premium and want Sirius Star to run it.
Microsoft Defender bundled in M365 Business Premium
The Defender endpoint plan included free with Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, Intune and Entra ID P1. Best fit for the typical 25 to 300 user Indian SMB. The licence is already paid for, so the only work left is configuration, policy tuning, and the DPDP write-up. Layer Secure Data Guard on top for the data-loss-prevention half of DPDP.
From ₹1,560 / user / month
Microsoft Defender standalone
For tenants that do not need full Business Premium. EDR, ASR, antivirus and web filtering on up to 300 users. Pairs with an existing Google Workspace or Zoho tenant.
From ₹305 per user per month
Managed Microsoft Defender monitoring
Sirius Star runs the console. Alert triage, monthly posture review, quarterly tabletop. Audit-log forward into Microsoft Sentinel on request.
From ₹350 per user per month
How a Microsoft Defender rollout runs in India
Read-only review to first endpoint reporting in and first alert closed by automated investigation. Zero working-day disruption for your team.
Free Microsoft Defender security review
Read-only Global Reader access. We baseline antivirus, EDR, ASR, MFA, and Conditional Access. Written report inside 48 hours. No payment, no obligation.
Free · 48 hours
Defender policy and onboarding design
Security baselines per device group. Intune onboarding scripts. Entra ID Conditional Access wired. Web filter categories tuned.
Days 1 to 7
Defender pilot wave, 10 users
A 10-user pilot over 14 days. Alerts triaged. Automated investigation and remediation tuned to your environment. Exclusions documented before the full push.
Days 8 to 21
Full rollout and DPDP policy
Every endpoint onboarded to Defender. Written DPDP-aligned MeitY information security policy handed over. Audit trail aligned to ISO 27001.
Days 22 to 30
Is Microsoft Defender the right fit?
Microsoft Defender for Business from Sirius Star Enterprise Technologies is an SMB endpoint security deployment, policy configuration, and managed monitoring service for Indian businesses running 25 to 300 users on Microsoft 365, delivered from Vashi, Navi Mumbai with a free 48-hour security review, a 30-day configuration project, and a written DPDP-aligned information security policy.
You are the right buyer if:
- 25 to 300 users in India on Microsoft 365
- Existing antivirus is consumer-grade or absent
- Hybrid workforce on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
- Cyber insurance renewal asks for EDR evidence
- DPDP Act 2023 readiness on the 2026 board agenda
- You want one Microsoft Partner running the stack end-to-end
If you run more than 500 endpoints with a dedicated SOC team and regulated-data telemetry depth dominates the buying criteria, CrowdStrike Falcon or SentinelOne Singularity is the sharper choice. We will tell you so in the Defender review.
Microsoft Defender vs CrowdStrike, SentinelOne and Sophos, honest call
Microsoft Defender for Business wins for Indian SMBs already on Microsoft 365 because the licence is already paid for inside Business Premium and integrates natively with Entra ID, Intune, Microsoft Purview and Microsoft Sentinel. CrowdStrike Falcon wins on detection telemetry depth and threat-hunting maturity for regulated estates above 500 endpoints. SentinelOne Singularity wins where autonomous remediation and on-agent ransomware rollback dominate the brief. Sophos Intercept X MDR wins where the buyer wants a managed-service-first contract from day one. The honest cross-tool call lands in the readiness review, not on a comparison chart. Pair Defender with Secure Data Guard for the DPDP data-loss-prevention layer.
Microsoft Defender FAQ for Indian SMBs
What is Microsoft Defender for Business and how does it work in India?
Microsoft Defender for Business is the SMB endpoint security plan from Microsoft for tenants up to 300 users, delivering next-generation antivirus, endpoint detection and response, attack surface reduction, automated investigation and remediation, threat and vulnerability management, and web content filtering across Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. For Indian SMBs it is included free in Microsoft 365 Business Premium at ₹1,560 per user per month, or standalone at ₹305 per user per month. Sirius Star turns the licence on, tunes the policies, and writes the DPDP-aligned document inside 30 days.
What does Microsoft Defender for Business cost in India in 2026?
Microsoft Defender standalone is ₹305 per user per month on an annual commitment. Microsoft 365 Business Premium at ₹1,560 per user per month includes Microsoft Defender plus Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, Intune and Entra ID P1. Managed Microsoft Defender monitoring from Sirius Star is ₹350 per user per month for 10am to 10pm IST Monday to Saturday, or ₹650 per user per month for 24×7 coverage on tenants up to 200 users.
Is Microsoft Defender for Business enough for DPDP compliance in India?
Defender covers the cybersecurity half of DPDP Act 2023 reasonable security safeguards through next-generation antivirus, endpoint detection and response, access control and audit logging. The data handling half of data loss prevention, retention, breach notification workflow, and written policy requires Secure Data Guard or Microsoft Purview on top. The full DPDP-aligned stack costs roughly ₹2,059 per user per month and Sirius Star documents the lot inside 30 days.
How does Microsoft Defender for Business compare with CrowdStrike, SentinelOne and Sophos?
Defender wins for Indian SMBs already paying for Business Premium because the licence is included and the integration with Entra ID, Intune and Purview is native, avoiding a separate EDR procurement at ₹600 to ₹1,200 per endpoint per month. CrowdStrike Falcon and SentinelOne Singularity win on telemetry depth above 500 endpoints. Sophos Intercept X MDR wins where managed-service from day one is non-negotiable. Sirius Star will tell you which fits in the free Microsoft Defender review.
One Microsoft Defender licence. Every endpoint, every user, every alert.
Free 48-hour security review. Read-only Global Reader access. Written baseline report inside two business days with the standalone-versus-Business-Premium SKU split, the policy gaps against the Microsoft security baseline, and the 30-day configuration plan.
200+ Indian businesses · Microsoft Partner · care@siriusstar.in