Managed Microsoft 365 for UK Businesses
AMVIA manages your Microsoft 365 environment end-to-end — including licensing, migration, security configuration, and ongoing support. As a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, we handle everything so your team gets the full value of Microsoft 365 without the complexity.
Microsoft 365 is far more than email and Office apps — it includes Teams, SharePoint, Intune device management, and enterprise-grade security tools. Most SMEs use fewer than 30% of the features they pay for. AMVIA manages M365 deployments for 1,200+ UK businesses, optimising licensing, security configuration, and user adoption.
What Does Managed Microsoft 365 Mean?
Microsoft 365 is Microsoft's cloud productivity suite — combining email (Exchange Online), document collaboration (SharePoint and OneDrive), team communication (Teams), desktop Office applications, and security tools (Defender, Intune, Entra ID) in a single subscription. 'Managed Microsoft 365' means that an external provider — in this case AMVIA — handles the configuration, security, licensing, user management, and ongoing support of your M365 environment, rather than leaving this to your internal team or ad-hoc IT support. AMVIA is a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), which means we can provide Microsoft 365 licences directly, often at lower cost than purchasing from Microsoft directly, and bundled with our management service.
What AMVIA Manages in Your M365 Environment
End-to-end management of your Microsoft 365 tenancy — from licences and migration to security and day-to-day support.
User & Licence Management
Adding, removing, and modifying user accounts and licences as your team changes — with same-day turnaround and proactive licence optimisation to prevent overspending.
Security Configuration & Hardening
Conditional Access policies, MFA enforcement, Defender for Business configuration, and email security — properly configured from day one and reviewed quarterly.
Email Migration
Managed migration from Google Workspace, on-premises Exchange, hosted email, or other platforms — with minimal downtime and full data integrity verification.
SharePoint & Teams Configuration
Structuring your SharePoint intranet, Teams workspace, and document libraries to match your business workflows — and training your team to use them effectively.
Intune Device Management
Enrolment and policy management for all corporate devices via Microsoft Intune — applying security baselines, enforcing compliance, and enabling remote wipe if devices are lost or stolen.
Microsoft 365 Backup
Third-party backup of Exchange, SharePoint, and OneDrive data — because Microsoft's data retention policies are not a substitute for a proper backup. Point-in-time restore for deleted or corrupted data.
Microsoft 365 Security Checklist
Key security configurations that should be in place for every Microsoft 365 tenancy — use this to identify gaps in your current setup.
MFA enforced for all users
Including shared mailboxes, service accounts, and admin accounts — not just end-user accounts.
Conditional Access policies active
At minimum: block legacy authentication, require MFA for all cloud apps, and require compliant devices for sensitive applications.
Microsoft Defender for Business configured
Defender for Business policies deployed to all devices. Threat & Vulnerability Management enabled and remediation items tracked.
Email security policies tuned
Anti-phishing policies configured with impersonation protection. Safe Links and Safe Attachments active. DMARC, DKIM, and SPF configured for all domains.
Privileged accounts protected
Global admin accounts cloud-only, MFA enforced, and using dedicated admin accounts not used for day-to-day activity.
Microsoft 365 data backed up
Third-party backup covering Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams data. Restoration tested within the last 12 months.
Why Microsoft 365 Needs Active Management
Microsoft 365 is not a set-and-forget platform. Out of the box, many of its most important security features are either disabled by default or require configuration before they provide meaningful protection. Conditional Access policies, Defender for Business, Intune device compliance, and email security are all configured — or not — by whoever manages your tenancy.
84.2% of phishing attacks passed DMARC authentication in 2024 — meaning the most common email authentication standard provides limited protection against sophisticated attacks (Egress Phishing Threat Trends Report). (Microsoft)
Stolen or compromised credentials were the initial attack vector in 22% of data breaches in 2024 — the single largest cause of breaches, surpassing phishing (16%) and software vulnerabilities (Verizon DBIR 2025). (ITPro)
Phishing-resistant, passwordless authentication grew 63% in one year, rising from 8.6% to 14.0% of authentication events (Okta, 2025). (Okta)
AMVIA regularly reviews new Microsoft 365 tenancies taken over from other providers and finds the same patterns: MFA not enforced, legacy authentication not blocked, no Conditional Access policies, Defender for Business unconfigured, and no backup of Exchange or SharePoint data. These gaps leave businesses exposed to credential compromise, phishing, ransomware, and data loss — all while paying for a subscription that includes the tools to prevent them.
Microsoft 365 Licence Tiers
Microsoft 365 is available in several licence tiers, each including different combinations of features. For most UK SMEs with under 300 users, Microsoft 365 Business Premium is the appropriate licence. It includes the full Office desktop applications, Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, Microsoft Defender for Business, Intune, Entra ID P1, and Conditional Access — everything needed for a strong security baseline at a competitive price.
For organisations with over 300 users or specific enterprise compliance requirements, Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 may be more appropriate. AMVIA provides free licence review consultations to ensure you are on the right tier — neither overpaying for unused features nor missing capabilities you need.
Email Security in Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1, providing advanced email security beyond Exchange Online Protection's baseline filtering. This includes Safe Links (real-time URL scanning when clicked), Safe Attachments (sandbox detonation of email attachments), and anti-impersonation policies protecting against display name and domain spoofing.
These features require configuration to be effective. AMVIA configures anti-phishing policies with impersonation protection for your key personnel and domains, tunes Safe Attachments policies for your business workflows, and implements DMARC, DKIM, and SPF records to prevent your domain from being spoofed in outgoing attacks on your suppliers and customers.
Device Management with Microsoft Intune
Microsoft Intune provides Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Mobile Application Management (MAM) capabilities for all devices accessing your Microsoft 365 environment. When integrated with Conditional Access policies, Intune ensures that only managed, compliant devices can access corporate data — blocking access from personal or unmanaged devices that fall outside your security controls.
AMVIA deploys Intune as part of all new managed Microsoft 365 engagements. We enrol all corporate devices, configure security baselines (screen lock, encryption, patch status requirements), and apply application management policies that allow employees to use their personal mobile devices for Teams and email without corporate data leaking into personal apps.
Microsoft 365 Backup — Why It Matters
A common misconception is that Microsoft 365 includes a comprehensive backup. Microsoft provides data retention and recovery tools — deleted item recovery, version history, and recycle bin — but these are not a backup in the traditional sense. They have limited retention periods, do not protect against certain ransomware scenarios, and do not provide point-in-time restore across your entire tenancy.
AMVIA provides third-party Microsoft 365 backup using Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 — covering Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. Backups are stored in a separate Azure region from your tenancy, providing geographic resilience. Retention is configurable up to seven years — meeting the requirements of financial services, legal, and other regulated industries. Restoration can be performed at the individual item, user, or tenancy level.
Microsoft Teams for Business Communication
Microsoft Teams is included in all Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise plans. AMVIA configures Teams to support your business workflows — setting up team structures, channels, meeting rooms, and governance policies that prevent sprawl and data leakage as the platform grows.
For businesses wanting to use Teams as their primary phone system, AMVIA provides Teams calling integration via our managed VoIP service — enabling external calls to be made and received directly within the Teams interface, using your existing business numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions — Managed Microsoft 365
A Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider is a company authorised by Microsoft to sell and manage Microsoft 365 and Azure subscriptions directly to customers. As a CSP, AMVIA provides licences at competitive pricing, handles all billing, and takes responsibility for managing your Microsoft environment. You deal with AMVIA for all Microsoft-related support and billing — not directly with Microsoft.
Yes — this is one of the most common requests we receive. AMVIA performs a security audit of your existing tenancy, identifies gaps and misconfigurations, and implements a remediation plan before transitioning to ongoing management. The process typically takes two to four weeks depending on the size of your tenancy and the number of remediation items. There is no need to create a new tenancy or migrate data.
For most UK businesses with under 300 users, Microsoft 365 Business Premium offers the best balance of features and security value. It includes Defender for Business, Intune, Entra ID P1, Conditional Access, and the full Office application suite. If you have specific requirements — such as advanced compliance features, SIEM, or need to support more than 300 users — AMVIA will recommend the appropriate E3 or E5 licence. We offer free licence review consultations with no obligation.
Microsoft provides limited data recovery tools — deleted items can be recovered for up to 30 days (or longer with litigation hold), and SharePoint has version history. However, these are not a substitute for a proper backup. AMVIA recommends all businesses have a third-party Microsoft 365 backup solution covering Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. Without it, data deleted beyond the retention window or corrupted by a ransomware event may be unrecoverable.
Get Expert Microsoft 365 Advice
AMVIA's Microsoft-certified engineers will review your current M365 environment, identify security gaps and licence inefficiencies, and recommend a managed service tailored to your business.
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