Microsoft Defender for Business

Microsoft Defender for Business integrates with Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft Intune.

Microsoft Defender for Business is available as cloud.

Defender for Business is included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium, so a client already on that licence is not paying for it as a separate line item. It is also sold as a standalone add-on for organisations that want Defender for Business without the rest of the Business Premium bundle, priced separately on Microsoft's published licensing pages.

Yes, Defender for Business integrates natively with Microsoft Entra ID for identity and Microsoft Intune for device management, since all three are part of the same Microsoft security and management stack. MSPs managing several client tenants can also use Microsoft 365 Lighthouse to review Defender status across every tenant from one place rather than switching between tenant admin centres.

Defender for Business depends on a client already being, or becoming, a Microsoft 365 customer, since it is managed through the Microsoft 365 admin centre rather than a standalone console. It is not a general-purpose EDR product for environments outside the Microsoft ecosystem, so MSPs with non-Microsoft-365 clients would need a separate EDR product for those endpoints.

No, it is managed from the Microsoft 365 admin centre alongside a client's other Microsoft licensing, rather than a dedicated standalone security console. MSPs managing several clients can use Microsoft 365 Lighthouse for a consolidated view. This suits MSPs already comfortable working inside Microsoft's own admin tools rather than wanting every security product in one separate dashboard.