Introduction

When a company is thinking about transitioning to Microsoft 365 Government Community Cloud High (GCC High), it's important to assess the costs and operational requirements of the business. This blog answers key questions. Should a company use GCC High for all users or just some? What licenses does a company need based on how it handles sensitive data? By carefully considering these factors, a company can maintain compliance while managing costs effectively.  

What questions should I consider when moving to GCC High?  

Microsoft 365 GCC High is expensive. As a result, businesses must carefully weigh the risks and benefits of deploying GCC High to all employees.

Cost-conscious small businesses should consider whether only a subset of users needs GCC High. This means keeping those users and the information they handle separate from other systems not able to handle controlled data.  

We usually advise customers to think about a split deployment of GCC High. This is important if less than 50 percent of their users handle data that needs GCC High.  

If less than 50% of users require GCC high, the next question to ask is if there are logical business separations between different business units of the company. For example, does the company have employees who work exclusively on defense contracts? Are those employees also handling commercial data? If there is not a clear business logic separation, there runs the risk of accidental sharing of controlled information that may be against contractual requirements.  ‍

What type of license should I purchase?

The key question is whether controlled information will be accessed outside the Microsoft 365 Government Community Cloud High environment. If a company does not edit or create derivative-controlled information, working with the slightly cheaper GCC High Office 365 licenses may be possible.  

However, if a company plans to handle defense data on company computers, it will likely require the additional Enterprise Mobility and Security license offered by the more expensive Microsoft 365.  

To learn more about Microsoft 365 Government Community Cloud High, download our FREE GCC High Guide or schedule a meeting with one of our cybersecurity experts!