Top 7 IT services to manage Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 runs the email, files and collaboration of most Swiss SMEs, but the platform does not administer itself: accounts to create and close, access to secure, data to back up, sharing to govern. Here are the 7 IT services that make the difference between a well-managed Microsoft 365 tenant and a ticking time bomb, with the costs charged in Switzerland and what you can reasonably handle yourself.

1. Account, licence and onboarding-offboarding administration

The most basic service, and the most underestimated. Every new employee needs an account created, the right licence assigned, and access to the right groups and teams; every departure needs the reverse, immediately. A former employee's account left active is one of attackers' favourite entry points, and licences assigned to inactive accounts are money thrown away every month. A quarterly review of accounts and licences almost always pays for itself.

2. Access security: MFA and conditional access

More than 99% of Microsoft 365 account compromises affect accounts without multi-factor authentication. Enabling MFA for all users, without exception, is the single best cost-benefit security measure there is. One level up, conditional access blocks sign-ins from countries where you do not operate, from unknown devices or from connections deemed risky. It is one of the priority measures in our 2026 SME cybersecurity guide, and a pillar of any SME cybersecurity programme.

3. External backup of Microsoft 365

The point almost every SME discovers too late: Microsoft guarantees the availability of the platform, not the recovery of your data. An email permanently deleted, a SharePoint library overwritten, a OneDrive encrypted by ransomware through sync: once the native retention periods have passed (30 to 93 days depending on the service), that data is gone. A third-party backup, stored outside Microsoft's infrastructure and ideally in Switzerland, protects Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams for CHF 3 to 8 per user per month.

4. Email protection against phishing

Email remains the number one attack vector for SMEs, and Microsoft 365's default filters let part of targeted phishing through. A serious protection service adds advanced filtering (links rewritten and analysed at click time, attachments detonated in an isolated environment), the correct configuration of SPF, DKIM and DMARC so that nobody can spoof your domain, and awareness campaigns so your employees recognise the attempts that get through anyway.

5. Governance of Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive

Without rules, a Microsoft 365 tenant quickly becomes the wild west: duplicate Teams teams, sensitive files shared with "anyone with the link", client data in personal OneDrives. A governance service defines who can create teams, how external sharing is allowed and reviewed, how data is classified, and what happens to the content of inactive teams.

6. Monitoring, alerts and reporting

A sign-in from an unusual country at 3am, an auto-forwarding rule quietly created on a mailbox, an abnormal volume of downloads: the signals of a compromise are visible in Microsoft 365's logs, provided someone is looking at them. A monitoring service configures the relevant alerts, has them followed up by humans able to react, and provides you with a readable monthly report: licence status, incidents handled, attempts blocked, recommendations.

7. User support and training

The last service is the one your employees feel every day: a helpdesk that answers in their language (and fast) when Outlook refuses to open, when a share does not work or when Teams loses its audio mid-meeting. Training matters as much as troubleshooting: most SMEs pay for licences of which they use a fraction, and a few hours of training on Teams, Planner or SharePoint often pay off more than any new tool.

All-in-one or à la carte?

These 7 services can be purchased separately, but in practice most Swiss SMEs are better off bundling them into a global managed IT contract: same tools, same contact, same SLA, and a per-workstation cost lower than the sum of the isolated services. Our article on managed IT services for SMEs in Switzerland details this model. If your email or files are still on ageing local servers, the question of cloud migration comes first.

At AlpenData, complete Microsoft 365 management, administration, MFA, external backup, email protection and support, is part of the standard scope of AlpenCare, our managed IT offering for SMEs.

Frequently asked questions

Does Microsoft back up my Microsoft 365 data?

No, not in the sense of a real backup. Microsoft guarantees platform availability and keeps deleted items for a limited time (30 to 93 days depending on the service), but does not protect against permanent deletion, ransomware encrypting your synced files, or a compromised account. Microsoft's own services agreement explicitly recommends third-party backup.

How much does Microsoft 365 management cost for an SME?

Expect CHF 10 to 30 per user per month for complete management (administration, security, external backup), on top of Microsoft licences. In a global managed IT contract, this management is usually included in the per-workstation fee. External backup alone costs CHF 3 to 8 per user per month.

Is MFA included in Microsoft 365?

Yes, basic multi-factor authentication is included in all Microsoft 365 business licences, but it is not always enabled by default on existing tenants. Conditional access (blocking sign-ins by country, device or risk level) requires a Business Premium or Entra ID P1 licence, and configuration by a professional.

Can Microsoft 365 data be hosted in Switzerland?

Yes, Microsoft operates datacenters in Switzerland (Geneva and Zurich regions) and lets you choose Switzerland as the data residency zone for Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams. For an existing tenant hosted in Europe, the move is possible but subject to conditions. It is a point to check for your Swiss data protection compliance, alongside the separate question of subcontractors and the US CLOUD Act.

Who should manage Microsoft 365 in an SME without an IT employee?

A local IT provider with documented Microsoft 365 expertise is the safest option: the admin console gives access to every mailbox and every file in the company, so it is not a role for the employee 'who knows computers a bit'. The essential point is to keep ownership of the tenant and an emergency administrator account in your own hands.