If you're running a business in Perth with more than five employees and you're still on a legacy email system — or worse, consumer-grade Google Workspace accounts — there's a conversation you need to have with yourself.
Microsoft 365 has gone from "nice to have" to "business critical" for Perth SMBs, and the reasons go well beyond email.
The security imperative
The Australian Signals Directorate's Essential Eight framework is no longer just a government requirement. We're seeing more and more Perth businesses — particularly in mining services, professional services, and healthcare — being asked by their enterprise clients to demonstrate cybersecurity maturity.
Microsoft 365's built-in security features (Conditional Access, Data Loss Prevention, sensitivity labels) make Essential Eight alignment significantly easier and cheaper than bolt-on solutions. But here's the thing: 90% of M365 environments have these features sitting there unused because nobody configured them properly.
What most Perth IT providers get wrong
The typical M365 migration from a Perth MSP looks like this: migrate mailboxes, set up basic OneDrive, hand over the admin credentials, send the invoice.
What gets missed:
- Conditional Access policies — controlling how and where people access your data
- DLP rules — preventing sensitive information from being emailed to the wrong person
- Secure Score optimisation — Microsoft literally scores your security posture, and most SMBs sit below 40%
- Intune device management — your team's phones and laptops accessing company data with zero controls
This isn't negligence; it's just workflow. Most MSPs are volume operations. They don't have time (or incentive) to go deep on each client's security posture.
What to look for in an M365 partner
When evaluating Microsoft 365 consultants in Perth, ask these questions:
- Will you run a Secure Score assessment before and after? If they don't know what Secure Score is, walk away.
- Do you configure Conditional Access? This is table stakes for a proper M365 deployment.
- What's your approach to data classification? Sensitivity labels should be part of every implementation.
- Do you offer ongoing managed services? A migration is day one. Security is day two through forever.
The bottom line
Microsoft 365 isn't just email. It's your security platform, your collaboration platform, and your compliance platform. But only if it's set up properly.
If you're a Perth business thinking about M365 — or worried that your current setup isn't right — get in touch for a free health check. It takes 30 minutes and you'll know exactly where you stand.