Choosing the Right Microsoft 365 Plan
Microsoft offers several 365 plans, and picking the wrong one means either paying for features you will never use or missing tools your team actually needs. For most small businesses in Buffalo with fewer than 25 employees, the decision comes down to two plans.
| Feature | Microsoft 365 Business Basic | Microsoft 365 Business Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Email & Calendar | Outlook Web & Mobile | Outlook Desktop, Web & Mobile |
| Cloud Storage | 1 TB OneDrive per user | 1 TB OneDrive per user |
| Microsoft Teams | Included | Included |
| Desktop Office Apps | Not included | Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access |
| SharePoint | Included | Included |
| Best For | Teams that work mostly in browsers | Teams that need full desktop apps |
If your team works primarily from desktops and needs offline access to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, Business Standard is usually the right choice. If everyone works from browsers and mobile devices, Business Basic saves money without sacrificing the core collaboration tools. For businesses with compliance or advanced security requirements, Business Premium adds device management and threat protection features worth considering.
Email Migration Without the Headaches
Moving your business email to Microsoft 365 is one of the most common reasons companies call us, and it is also where the most things can go wrong if handled carelessly. A botched email migration can mean lost messages, broken contact lists, and days of downtime while your team scrambles to figure out their new inbox.
The proper approach starts with preparing your DNS records before making any changes. This means documenting your current MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records so you can update them correctly for Microsoft 365. Next, we create all user accounts and licenses in the admin center, then use the Microsoft migration tools to pull existing email, contacts, and calendar data from your old provider. The switchover happens by updating your domain's MX records to point to Microsoft, and we monitor for 24 to 48 hours to make sure every message routes correctly.
Important: Never delete your old email account immediately after migration. Keep it active for at least 30 days to catch any stragglers and ensure nothing was missed during the transfer.
Setting Up OneDrive and SharePoint for Your Team
OneDrive and SharePoint are two of the most powerful features in Microsoft 365, but many small businesses never configure them properly and end up with files scattered across personal drives, email attachments, and random shared folders.
OneDrive is your personal cloud storage. Every employee gets 1 TB of space where they can store their individual work files, synced automatically between their computer and the cloud. This means if a laptop gets stolen or a hard drive fails, nothing is lost.
SharePoint is your team's shared workspace. Set up a SharePoint site for each department or project, with organized document libraries and consistent folder structures. The key is establishing a clear file organization from day one: decide where contracts go, where marketing assets live, where HR documents are stored, and communicate this to everyone. A well-organized SharePoint site eliminates the "where did you save that file?" conversations that waste hours every week.
Getting Microsoft Teams Right
Microsoft Teams has replaced both the conference call and the office chat for many Buffalo businesses, especially those with hybrid or remote workers. But a Teams deployment with no structure quickly turns into a cluttered mess of abandoned channels and missed messages.
Start by creating Teams based on your actual workflow, not your org chart. A small accounting firm might need a team for each major client engagement plus a general operations team, rather than separate teams for every employee. Within each team, set up channels for specific topics like "Tax Returns 2026" or "Client Communications" to keep conversations findable.
Configure your meeting settings so that external guests can join meetings without needing a Microsoft account, set your default meeting policies for recording and transcription based on your industry's requirements, and make sure everyone knows how to use the calendar integration so meetings actually show up in Outlook.
Admin Console Essentials and Common Issues
The Microsoft 365 Admin Center is where you manage users, licenses, security settings, and billing. For a small business owner, it can feel overwhelming at first, but there are a few settings that matter most.
First, set up security defaults or conditional access policies to require multi-factor authentication for all users. This single step prevents the vast majority of account compromises. Second, configure your data loss prevention policies if you handle sensitive information like credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, or medical records. Third, review your sharing settings to make sure employees are not accidentally sharing files or folders with anyone outside your organization.
Common issues we see with Buffalo businesses managing their own M365 include licenses assigned to former employees who left months ago (wasting money every month), no backup solution configured (Microsoft does not back up your data by default), and admin passwords shared among multiple people with no audit trail. Each of these is a straightforward fix, but they require someone to actually review the admin console regularly.
Why Professional Setup Saves Time and Money
You can certainly set up Microsoft 365 yourself by following Microsoft's documentation. But for a busy small business owner in Buffalo, the question is whether spending 15 to 20 hours figuring out DNS records, migration tools, and admin policies is the best use of your time. When email goes down during a bad migration, every hour costs your business real money in missed communications and lost productivity.
A professional setup from Driram Group typically takes one to two business days from start to finish. We handle the entire process: choosing the right plan, configuring DNS records, migrating your email and files, setting up security policies, organizing SharePoint, deploying Teams, and training your staff on how to use everything. After the initial setup, we provide ongoing support so when someone forgets their password at 8 AM on a Monday or needs a new employee added to the system, you have someone to call who already knows your environment.
Pro Tip: Ask about our M365 managed plans. For a flat monthly fee, we handle all user management, security updates, license optimization, and helpdesk support so you never have to touch the admin console yourself.
IT Service Areas — Erie County
Driram Group provides Microsoft 365 setup and support to businesses throughout Erie County, including: