Tenant management for Microsoft 365 for enterprise (2024)

Creating a path to your organization's digital transformation with cloud computing requires a firm foundation upon which your workers can rely for productivity, collaboration, performance, privacy, compliance, and security.

Correct configuration of your Microsoft 365 tenants provides that foundation, leaving your workers to focus on getting their work done and your IT department to focus on end-to-end solutions that provide additional business value.

This solution takes you through the configuration of that foundation in these steps:

1. Determine your tenants
2. Optimize your networking
3. Synchronize your identities and enforce secure sign-ins
4. Migrate your Windows devices, Office clients, and on-premises Office servers and data
5. Deploy device and app management

But first, let's take a moment to understand what a tenant is and what a tenant that provides a firm foundation looks like.

A Microsoft 365 tenant defined

A Microsoft 365 tenant is a dedicated instance of the services of Microsoft 365 and your organization data stored within a specific default location, such as Europe or North America. This location is specified when you create the tenant for your organization. Each Microsoft 365 tenant is distinct, unique, and separate from all other Microsoft 365 tenants. You create a Microsoft 365 tenant when you purchase one or more products from Microsoft, such as Microsoft 365 E3 or E5, and a set of licenses for each.

Your Microsoft 365 tenant also includes a Microsoft Entra tenant, which is a dedicated instance of Microsoft Entra ID for user accounts, groups, and other objects. Each Microsoft Entra tenant is distinct, unique, and separate from all other Microsoft Entra tenants. While your organization can have multiple Microsoft Entra tenants that you can set up with Azure subscriptions, Microsoft 365 tenants can only use a single Microsoft Entra tenant, the one that was created when you created the tenant.

Here is an example:

Tenant management is the planning, deployment, and ongoing operation of your Microsoft 365 tenants.

Attributes of a well-designed and operating tenant

Beyond the correct name and location for your tenant, there are additional elements to plan, deploy, and manage to ensure that your user experiences with cloud productivity apps—such as Microsoft Teams and Exchange Online—are effective, secure, and performant.

Here are the elements:

• You have the correct set of products (subscriptions) and licenses.
  • The set of products match your business, IT, and security needs.
  • There is an adequate number of licenses for your workers and anticipated changes in staffing.
• For networking:
  • You have configured the correct DNS domain names.
  • For enterprise networks, you have optimized network traffic to the Microsoft network for onsite workers.
  • You have optimized network traffic for remote workers who are using a VPN client.
• You have synchronized your Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) accounts, groups, and other objects.
  • Your Microsoft Entra tenant accounts are mapped to Exchange Online mailboxes with the correct DNS domains for email addresses.
  • Your user accounts have been assigned the correct licenses from the correct purchased products (such as Microsoft 365 E3 or E5).
• You have configured strong identity and access management.
  • You are requiring secure user sign-in with passwordless or multi-factor authentication (MFA).
  • You have Conditional Access policies that enforce sign-in requirements and restrictions for higher levels of security.
• On-premises Office servers and their data have been migrated to cloud apps or are being used in a hybrid configuration.
• You are managing devices with Intune or Basic Mobility and Security built into Microsoft 365.
  • Your organization-owned devices are enrolled and managed.
  • The apps for personal devices are managed.

Here is an example of a Microsoft 365 tenant with all these elements in place.

In this illustration, the Microsoft 365 tenant includes:

• Products and licenses for Microsoft 365 E3 and E5.
• Microsoft 365 productivity apps.
• Intune with enrolled devices and device and application policies.
• A Microsoft Entra tenant that has synchronized user account (groups and other directory objects are not shown), domains, and Conditional Access policies.

Tenant capabilities for Microsoft 365 for enterprise

The following sections and table list the key capabilities and licensing for the steps in this solution.

Tenant

Networking

Identity

Migration

Device and app management

Next steps

Use these steps to set up and manage your Microsoft 365 tenants.

1. Determine your tenants
2. Optimize your networking
3. Synchronize your identities and enforce secure sign-ins
4. Migrate your on-premises Office servers and data
5. Deploy device and app management

Each step describes deployment options, summarizes the results, and ongoing maintenance tasks.

To understand how a fictional but representative multi-national organization deployed the elements of their Microsoft 365 tenant, see the Contoso case study.