Microsoft 365 E7 at R1,800/user. Is the Frontier Suite worth it?
On May 1, Microsoft launches its most expensive — and most complete — productivity bundle yet. Microsoft 365 E7, branded the “Frontier Suite,” rolls E5 security, Copilot AI, Agent 365 governance, and the full Entra identity suite into a single SKU at $99 per user per month. That’s roughly R1,800 per user per month at current rates.
The pitch is simple: buy everything in one line item, pay less than buying the pieces separately. But R1,800 per head is a big number, and not every organisation needs everything in the box.
What’s in the bundle
Microsoft 365 E5 is the foundation. Full Office suite, Teams, SharePoint, Exchange, advanced compliance, Defender for Office 365 Plan 2, Phone System, and Audio Conferencing. This is the everything-tier for productivity and security. On its own, E5 goes to R1,080/user/month from July.
Microsoft 365 Copilot adds AI across every M365 app — drafting in Word, formulas in Excel, summaries in Teams, slide generation in PowerPoint. Advanced reasoning, model selection, and agent creation via Copilot Studio. Standalone price: R540/user/month.
Agent 365 is the governance layer for AI agents. Unique identities for every agent, Conditional Access policies for agent behaviour, audit trails for every autonomous action. This is new and it’s important — especially if your organisation is building or deploying agents through Copilot Studio. Standalone: R270/user/month.
Entra Suite completes the identity stack. Entra ID Governance, Entra Internet Access, Entra Private Access, and Entra ID Protection. If you’re running conditional access, identity governance, or Zero Trust networking, this is where it lives.
The maths
Buying these separately after the July price change: E5 (R1,080) + Copilot (R540) + Agent 365 (R270) + Entra Suite (estimated R160) = roughly R2,050 per user per month. E7 at R1,800 saves about R250 per user per month. For 200 users, that’s R600,000 a year.
But that only works if you actually need all four components. If you’re on E3 and don’t need Defender P2 or Phone System, you’re paying for features you won’t use. If you’re not deploying AI agents yet, Agent 365 is dead weight. The savings are real, but only if the bundle matches your actual requirements.
Who should care about E7
Organisations already on E5 with Copilot add-ons: this is a no-brainer. You’re consolidating existing spend into a cheaper single SKU. Talk to your licensing partner (that’s us) about transitioning before May 1.
Organisations on E3 considering Copilot: this is where it gets interesting. The jump from E3 to E7 is steep — roughly R1,100 per user per month more. But if your security posture needs E5-level Defender and you’re going to licence Copilot anyway, E7 could be more cost-effective than E5 + Copilot separately.
Organisations under 300 users: E7 isn’t designed for you. Microsoft has Business-tier Copilot bundles that are far more appropriate. The Copilot SMB discount (R324/user/month) runs until June 30.
What this means for South African businesses
R1,800 per user per month is enterprise pricing. For a 500-person organisation, you’re looking at R10.8 million per year. That’s board-level budget, not an IT decision.
But Microsoft is making a bet that the productivity gains from AI-assisted work — plus the security and governance infrastructure — justify the premium. For organisations that are serious about AI adoption and already deep in the Microsoft stack, E7 simplifies procurement and reduces per-user cost. For everyone else, it’s worth understanding what’s in the bundle so you can make an informed decision about which pieces you actually need.
Braintree’s licensing team can model the cost comparison for your specific environment. Get in touch before the May 1 launch.
