Take Command of Your Cloud: Microsoft 365 and Azure

Microsoft 365 governance is the set of policies, configurations and ongoing management practices that keep your cloud environment secure, compliant and cost-efficient. Without governance, security settings drift over time, user permissions accumulate beyond what’s appropriate and licensing costs creep up without anyone noticing. Microsoft provides the tools, but governance is what makes those tools work for your business instead of against it. For small businesses without a dedicated IT team, a governance partner fills that critical gap.

No, and this is one of the most common and costly misconceptions. Microsoft operates on a shared-responsibility model: they keep the service running and protect the infrastructure, but safeguarding your data is your responsibility. Default retention for deleted items is only 14 to 30 days, and Microsoft explicitly recommends third-party backup. G6 implements enterprise-grade backup and retention policies so your data is protected even if files are accidentally deleted, an account is compromised or ransomware encrypts your environment.

If no one has audited your licenses in the past 12 months, you almost certainly are. The most common sources of waste include orphaned accounts still assigned expensive licenses, users on premium plans who only need basic features, duplicate tools across overlapping subscriptions, and unused add-ons that were never canceled after a trial. Industry data shows the average organization wastes 25 to 40 percent of its Microsoft licensing spend. G6 runs a thorough license audit during our initial assessment and repeats it quarterly to keep costs optimized as your team changes.

No. Certain Microsoft 365 plans are HIPAA-capable, meaning they include the features required for compliance, but those features must be properly configured. Microsoft also requires a signed business associate agreement before any HIPAA obligations apply. Out of the box, audit logging may not be enabled, data loss prevention policies may not be configured and retention settings may not be aligned with HIPAA requirements. G6 configures your environment for HIPAA compliance, documents the controls for audits and monitors them on an ongoing basis.

The risks we see most consistently for small businesses are accounts without multi-factor authentication enabled, overly broad file-sharing permissions that give employees and AI tools like Copilot access to data they should not see, a lack of conditional access policies allowing logins from unauthorized devices, no data loss prevention rules to stop sensitive information from leaving the organization, and disabled audit logging that makes incident investigation impossible. Every one of these risks is fixable with proper configuration and ongoing governance.

Pricing is typically structured per user per month or as a flat monthly fee, depending on the scope of management and the size of your organization. Cost varies based on user count, environment complexity, compliance requirements and whether you need Azure management in addition to Microsoft 365. The best way to get an accurate picture is to schedule a cloud strategy session to assess your specific needs. Many businesses find that the cost of professional management is more than offset by savings from license optimization alone.

Business Basic includes web and mobile versions of Office apps plus 1 TB of OneDrive storage, but no desktop applications. Business Standard adds full desktop app installations and more advanced collaboration features. Business Premium adds everything in Standard plus advanced security, including device management, threat protection and information protection — making it the minimum recommended plan for businesses with compliance requirements or sensitive data. Matching the right license to each user role is a core part of our optimization work.

Yes, but it requires the right licensing and careful configuration. CMMC compliance for defense contractors typically requires Microsoft 365 Government GCC or GCC High plans, which are hosted in FedRAMP-authorized cloud environments separate from standard commercial tenants. Standard Microsoft 365 plans do not meet CMMC requirements on their own. G6 has experience supporting government and defense-adjacent clients and can assess your CMMC level requirements, recommend the appropriate licensing, and configure your environment accordingly.

A migration involves moving your email, files, contacts and calendars from your current platform into Microsoft 365. The process includes planning and assessment, user communication, data migration performed after hours or over a weekend to minimize disruption, security and compliance configuration, and team training. A small business with 20 to 50 users can typically be fully migrated in two to four weeks. Larger or more complex environments may take six to eight weeks. G6 manages every step so the transition is smooth and your team stays productive throughout.

Properly managing Microsoft 365 and Azure requires specialized knowledge that evolves constantly; Microsoft releases hundreds of updates and configuration changes every year. Self-managed environments consistently show higher rates of security misconfiguration, compliance gaps and licensing waste than professionally managed environments. A local partner like G6 gives you the added advantage of understanding your regional business environment, availability for in-person strategy sessions and emergency response, and a long-term relationship where your technology partner knows your business inside and out.