MS-900 Microsoft 365 Fundamentals - Fact Sheet¶

Quick Reference¶

Exam: MS-900 - Microsoft 365 Fundamentals Cost: $99 USD Duration: 65 minutes Questions: ~45 Passing: 700/1000 Validity: Does not expire

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Microsoft 365 vs Office 365 vs M365 Apps¶

These names cause confusion - know them cold.

• Office 365 - the legacy productivity suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange Online)
• Microsoft 365 = Office 365 + Windows + Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) = a broader enterprise bundle
• Microsoft 365 Apps = the standalone apps formerly known as "Office 365 ProPlus" - just Word/Excel/PowerPoint/etc., no email/SharePoint

For exam purposes:

• "Microsoft 365" generally means the full bundle (productivity + security + Windows)
• "Office 365" often refers to legacy SKUs that don't include Windows or EMS
• Microsoft is gradually phasing the "Office" branding out in favor of "Microsoft 365"

Cloud concepts (Domain 1)¶

Service models¶

• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) - VMs, networking, storage. Customer manages OS+. Example: Azure Virtual Machines.
• PaaS (Platform as a Service) - app platform; managed by Microsoft. Example: Azure App Service.
• SaaS (Software as a Service) - end-user apps. Most of M365 is SaaS. Example: Exchange Online, Microsoft 365 apps, Dynamics 365.

Deployment models¶

• Public cloud - shared multi-tenant
• Private cloud - dedicated to one org
• Hybrid - mix of public + private + on-prem
• Multi-cloud - multiple public clouds

Cloud benefits¶

Memorize: scalability, elasticity, agility, fault tolerance, disaster recovery, predictable costs, global reach, security/compliance posture (shared with Microsoft).

Shared responsibility (in M365)¶

Customer owns their identity, data, devices. Microsoft owns the platform.

M365 apps and services (Domain 2)¶

Productivity¶

• Microsoft 365 Apps - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access (Win), Publisher (Win), Teams (mobile/web). Subscription-based.
• Office on the web - browser versions
• Outlook - email client; talks to Exchange Online
• OneDrive - personal cloud storage (1TB+ in most plans)

Collaboration¶

• SharePoint Online - team sites, intranet, document management
• Teams - chat, meetings, calls, collaboration; integrates with all of M365
• Microsoft Loop - real-time collaborative workspace components
• Microsoft Forms - surveys, quizzes
• Microsoft Lists - track items / inventory / issues
• Yammer / Viva Engage - enterprise social

Email and calendaring¶

• Exchange Online - email + calendar
• Microsoft Bookings - appointment scheduling
• Microsoft Planner - lightweight project boards (Trello-style)

Power Platform¶

• Power BI - BI dashboards
• Power Apps - low-code apps
• Power Automate - workflow automation (formerly Microsoft Flow)
• Power Virtual Agents / Copilot Studio - chatbots (now folded into Copilot Studio)
• Dataverse - underlying data platform for Power Platform

Microsoft Copilot¶

• Microsoft 365 Copilot - AI assistant integrated across M365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams)
• Copilot in Edge / Bing - browser/search Copilot
• GitHub Copilot - code assistant (separate license)
• Copilot Studio - build custom copilots

Endpoint management¶

• Microsoft Intune - MDM/MAM for Windows, iOS, Android, macOS, Linux
• Microsoft Endpoint Manager - umbrella that includes Intune + Configuration Manager (older on-prem)

Identity (in M365 context)¶

• Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) - cloud identity for M365
• Tenant = your organization's Entra ID instance
• Hybrid identity: connect on-prem AD to Entra ID via Entra Connect (sync) or pass-through auth

Microsoft Viva¶

The employee-experience platform. Modules:

• Viva Engage (Yammer rebrand) - communities
• Viva Connections - intranet
• Viva Insights - personal/team analytics
• Viva Learning - LMS
• Viva Topics - knowledge graph
• Viva Goals - OKRs
• Viva Pulse - quick employee surveys
• Viva Glint - engagement surveys

Security, Compliance, Privacy, Trust (Domain 3)¶

Microsoft Defender (XDR / per-product)¶

• Defender for Office 365 - email protection (anti-phishing, anti-malware, Safe Links, Safe Attachments)
• Defender for Endpoint - endpoint detection + response (EDR)
• Defender for Identity - on-prem AD threat detection (formerly Azure ATP)
• Defender for Cloud Apps - CASB (cloud app security broker)
• Defender XDR - the unified portal correlating signals across all Defender products

Microsoft Sentinel¶

Cloud-native SIEM + SOAR. Ingests logs from M365, Azure, third-party. Built on Log Analytics.

Microsoft Purview¶

Compliance and governance umbrella. Modules:

• Information Protection - sensitivity labels (Public / Confidential / etc.)
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP) - prevent leaks of sensitive content
• Records Management - retention policies, legal hold
• Communication Compliance - monitor for harassment / IP leakage in chat/email
• Insider Risk Management - detect risky user behavior
• eDiscovery - find and preserve content for legal cases
• Audit - compliance audit logs

Compliance Manager¶

Score-based compliance posture tracker. Maps your tenant config against controls in regulations (GDPR, HIPAA, FedRAMP, etc.).

Privacy and trust¶

Microsoft commitments:

• Trust Center - public docs on Microsoft's security/compliance/privacy posture
• Service Trust Portal - SOC, ISO, FedRAMP audit reports for download
• Compliance offerings - Microsoft maintains 100+ compliance certifications (SOC ½/3, ISO 27001, FedRAMP High, HIPAA BAA available, GDPR, etc.)

Zero Trust principles¶

• Verify explicitly - always authenticate and authorize
• Use least privilege access - JIT, just-enough-access
• Assume breach - segment access, encrypt end-to-end, telemetry-driven detection

Microsoft positions Entra ID + Conditional Access + Defender + Intune as the Zero Trust stack.

Conditional Access¶

Policy engine in Entra ID. Examples:

• "Require MFA for users in sales group accessing Salesforce from outside the corporate network"
• "Block sign-in if device isn't compliant with Intune policies"
• "Require trusted device for accessing Finance apps"

Multi-factor authentication¶

Always-on MFA recommended for all users. Push notifications via Microsoft Authenticator app (preferred), SMS (legacy), hardware keys (FIDO2).

Pricing, Licensing, Support (Domain 4)¶

M365 SKUs (high level)¶

Licensing models¶

• Per user, per month - normal subscription
• Per device - some SKUs (kiosk machines)
• Annual commitment with monthly billing - most common
• Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) - via Microsoft Partners; flexible, monthly
• Enterprise Agreement (EA) - large enterprise; 3-year commitment
• Microsoft 365 Direct - direct purchase via admin portal
• Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) - modern flat agreement

Add-ons¶

Common: Audio Conferencing, Phone System, Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Power BI Pro/Premium, Project, Visio.

Support¶

• Standard support included in subscriptions
• Microsoft Unified Support (formerly Premier) - paid, with TAM and faster response, for large enterprise
• Service Health Dashboard - real-time service incidents in admin center
• Microsoft 365 Roadmap - public roadmap of upcoming features

FastTrack¶

Free Microsoft-led deployment support for eligible M365 customers (typically 150+ seats). Helps with onboarding and adoption.

Adoption resources¶

• Microsoft 365 Adoption - free guidance + templates for change management
• Productivity Score - measure adoption metrics in your tenant

High-yield exam facts¶

1. M365 = Office 365 + Windows + EMS at the enterprise tier
2. Microsoft 365 Apps = standalone apps (formerly "Office 365 ProPlus")
3. E3 vs E5: E5 adds Defender XDR, Sentinel features, Power BI Pro, Phone System, Audio Conferencing
4. Defender XDR = unified threat portal across Defender for Office 365 / Endpoint / Identity / Cloud Apps
5. Purview = compliance umbrella (IP, DLP, Records, eDiscovery, Insider Risk, Communication Compliance)
6. Conditional Access = policy engine in Entra ID for adaptive auth
7. Zero Trust pillars = Verify explicitly / Least privilege / Assume breach
8. Compliance Manager = score-based posture tracker
9. Service Trust Portal = where to download SOC/ISO/FedRAMP audit reports
10. FastTrack = free Microsoft-led deployment support for eligible customers (150+ seats)
11. Frontline F-SKUs = optimized for shift workers; F1 minimal, F3 more features
12. CSP, EA, MCA = procurement models (CSP via partner, EA for large enterprise, MCA modern)

Common exam triggers¶

• "Cheapest M365 SKU with desktop apps for SMB" → Microsoft 365 Business Standard
• "Add advanced security + Intune to a small business" → upgrade to Business Premium
• "E3 vs E5 for advanced security and analytics" → E5
• "Centralize threat investigation across email + endpoints" → Defender XDR
• "Detect risky user behavior" → Insider Risk Management (Purview)
• "Tag a document as Confidential and prevent sharing externally" → Sensitivity Label + DLP policy
• "Force MFA when accessing email from outside corporate network" → Conditional Access policy
• "Public health/financial regulator audit reports" → Service Trust Portal
• "Free deployment help for new tenant" → FastTrack
• "Real-time service incidents" → Service Health Dashboard in admin center

Companion services not always tested¶

• Microsoft Copilot - know it exists; specific Copilot exam (MS-4007) is separate
• Microsoft Mesh - immersive collaboration
• GitHub - integration with M365 (signed by Microsoft)
• Microsoft Whiteboard - collaborative whiteboarding
• Microsoft Stream - video sharing (now mostly replaced by Stream on SharePoint)