Implementing and managing Microsoft 365 is far from a plug‑and‑play experience, no matter how often it’s marketed that way. MSPs quickly discover that success requires real strategy, hands‑on expertise, and a commitment to building repeatable standards. From understanding what isn’t turnkey, to developing baselines, training your team, balancing Microsoft 365 with your RMM, and embracing multi‑tenant management, there’s a lot more involved than pushing buttons in a portal. This article covers the hard truths in my time working with MSPs on Microsoft 365 implementation over the past 5 years.
#1 – Not turnkey
I’m sorry to tell you, Microsoft 365 implementation and management is NOT turnkey. Most of the MSPs I work with engage me to help with implementation of Microsoft 365 Business Premium productivity and security features. There are only certain configurations which are turnkey. You have to put on your consulting hat and educate your staff and customers on the technology before you start with dialing knobs and pushing buttons. Where there are some “tools” and “solutions” out there which may help with some of the lower hanging fruit of configuration, there is nothing with an easy button.
#2 – Need for standards
Baselines, templates and standards, oh my! There are more than enough baselines and templates for Microsoft 365 configuration out there for your reference, and that’s exactly what they are “references”. At the end of the day, you have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. You have to know the different configuration options available to you in the different portals in Microsoft 365. You MUST have hands-on experience implementing, supporting, and troubleshooting these configurations. The best way to do this is to implement in your MSP or partner Microsoft 365 tenant first and develop your standards in your environment before you implement for your customers.
#3 – Training for staff
Microsoft 365 implementation and management is complex. I’m not going to sugar coat this for you. You and your team have to put in the time. There are plenty of training resources available and endless hours of YouTube videos, but do you know what training you actually need. My recommendation is to spend time implementing Microsoft 365 in your partner Microsoft 365 tenant, or in a trial/demo environment before you implement for your customers. This way you and your team get the knowledge and hands-on experience you need first.
# 4 – Not an RMM replacement
Microsoft 365 is a powerhouse full of features and functionality, but it’s not going to replace your remote management and monitoring (RMM) solution. There will be things which are better served in Microsoft 365, and there are things which are meant to stay in your RMM. If you really wanted to get the KoolAid all over your face, I guess you and your team could try, but do yourself a favor and use both. For example, use Windows Autopilot and Microsoft Intune for Windows deployment, enrollment, and policy management. Deploy your RMM agent with Microsoft Intune, so you can use your RMM software for screen sharing, managing third-party apps, running ad-hoc scripts, etc. Do yourself and your team a favor and keep your familiar RMM interface for the day to day.
#5 – Multi-tenant management is imperative
I’ve learned this lesson the hard way over the past couple of years. Microsoft 365 is NOT multi-tenant management friendly. Yes, there is Microsoft Lighthouse, but let’s be real, the wheels fell off of this solution fairly quickly. If you don’t want to spend all your time manually exporting and importing configurations or trying to morph PowerShell scripts into a multi-management solution, you need to invest in a multi-tenant management solution. You’ll need this for creating and managing Microsoft 365 security configurations, conditional access, Intune policies and configurations, etc. This is a must have for your MSP toolbox.
MSPs who treat Microsoft 365 as a true practice, not a checkbox, will consistently outperform those looking for a magical turnkey solution. When you invest in your team, refine your own tenant first, use Microsoft 365 alongside your RMM (not instead of it), and adopt proper multi‑tenant management tools, you set yourself—and your customers—up for long‑term success. Microsoft 365 isn’t simple, but with the right approach, it becomes one of the most powerful offerings in your entire stack.
