Mixed mode Defender subscription & licensing for endpoints
I was recently asked by a customer about the possibility of using mixed licensing for Defender for Endpoint for endpoints. They had both MDE plan 1 and plan 2 licenses as part of M365 E3 and E5 respectively, but wanted all the Windows endpoints to be moved to MDE plan 1 capabilities until all the features under plan 2 were tested out. For a long time this was not possible and in cases of multiple subscriptions, the highest functional subscription would take precedence in the tenant. But not anymore. Microsoft now supports use of a mixture of subscriptions & licenses. Some of the most common scenarios are - 1. Mixed tenant - Different sets of capabilities for groups of users and their devices based off licenses like MDE plan 1 & plan 2, Microsoft 365 E3 & E5. 2. Mixed trial - Mixture of full and trial licenses like MDE plan 1, M365 E3 (purchased for all users) & MDE plan 2, M365 E5 trial (purchased for some users) 3. Phased upgrades - Upgrade user licenses in phases by m