Forum Discussion
M365 Defender for Endpoints | Licensing
rish_07 Have a look at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/minimum-requirements?view=o365-worldwide There is a standalone product called Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
ambarishrh
So, continuing Microsoft's wonderful process of muddying the waters of understanding their levels, suites, and licensing options and overly complicating things, I'm trying to understand why our organization has access to Microsoft 365 Defender site (which would appear to include Microsoft Defender for Endpoint because all of our machines are there and being managed) when we don't own a Microsoft 365 license of any kind.
The page you listed shows that (among other options) Microsoft 365 being one of the the available licenses that include for Defender for Endpoint (or stand alone licensing for DFE being another option).
We have EMS E5 licenses assigned to our users, and this appears to be giving use Defender for Endpoint licensing as well, even though on several sites (including the O365 portal itself) indicating that EMS does not give you Defender for Endpoint licensing.
However this site indicates it does (or least lists it as a pre-request for DFE).
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender/prerequisites?view=o365-worldwide#:~:text=Microsoft%20365%20Defender%20prerequisites%201%20Licensing%20requirements.%20For,GCC%2C%20GCC%20High%2C%20and%20other%20US%20government%20institutions
I"m assuming we aren't accidentally getting DFE, and it must be EMS E5 that's giving us the access.
Nonetheless, Microsoft's convoluted licensing practices continue to confuse something that should be much easier to understand.
- ambarishrhJan 02, 2022Iron Contributor
TedLarsen Agree that MS licensing is very confusing even for the most experienced ones. Recently found a site that made a great effort to simply the licensing https://m365maps.com/