One of the best ways a managed services provider (MSP) can keep a client’s Office 365 environment secure is by performing a Microsoft 365 security assessment.
At its core, a Microsoft 365 security assessment is a structured review of how identity, devices, information, apps, and infrastructure are configured and protected, ending with a prioritized list of recommendations.
The assessment is often used to spot the security vulnerabilities in a client’s Microsoft 365 setup that could be exploited by attackers. By proactively identifying and addressing these vulnerabilities, you can help enhance your client’s overall security posture.
Additionally, many industries have regulatory requirements that dictate how data should be handled and protected. An M365 security assessment can help ensure that your client’s use of Microsoft 365 complies with legal and regulatory standards.
So, today, we’re going to give you a simple step-by-step guide on how you can conduct an Office 365 security assessment for your clients. This simple 5 step guide should work in most cases, however, always adjust based on your client to ensure a strong security posture.
Key Takeaways
- Identify Vulnerabilities: Regular assessments uncover security gaps in M365 setups before attackers can exploit them.
- Ensure Compliance: Align client environments with industry-specific regulatory standards and CIS benchmarks.
- Follow a 5-Step Process: Move from initial assessment and configuration review to compliance, implementation, and monitoring.
- Prioritize Risk: Focus remediation efforts on issues with the highest impact on business operations and legal standing.
- Leverage Automation: Use specialized tools to generate security reports and apply baselines across multiple clients quickly.
5-step Microsoft 365 security assessment for MSPs
| Step | Focus Area | Key Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Initial Assessment | Baseline Discovery | Audit MFA, admin counts, and app usage. |
| 2. Configuration Review | Security Hardening | Compare settings against CIS benchmarks. |
| 3. Compliance Verification | Regulatory Alignment | Document gaps in HIPAA, SOX, or GDPR. |
| 4. Apply Recommendations | Remediation | Deploy tools and tighten security policies. |
| 5. Continuous Monitoring | Ongoing Protection | Set up alerts and staff training. |
1. initial assessment
Conduct an in-depth analysis of your client’s current Microsoft 365 usage and security posture. Gather information about their infrastructure, employee usage patterns, and their existing security features and policies. This step will help you identify areas that require attention and sets the baseline for the rest of your assessment.
Some questions you may want to ask during this initial assessment include:
- Is your client set up with multi-factor authentication (MFA)? If so, how?
- Are their security settings higher than the default?
- Is the number of administrators in the M365 environment appropriate for your client’s needs?
- Is auto-forwarding enabled in Outlook?
- Are there any third-party security solutions integrated with Microsoft 365? If so, which ones?
- Have they installed all of Microsoft’s recommended updates?
- How many applications are they using? How many do they actually need?
2. configuration review
Review the security configurations of your client’s Microsoft 365 services against CIS benchmarks. This step involves checking settings in services such as Teams, Exchange Online, and SharePoint to ensure they comply with the best security practices. This review helps identify misconfigurations that could expose your client to security risks.
By performing a detailed configuration review, you also gain a better understanding of how your client may want their environment set up. That allows you to perform more precise adjustments where necessary that enhance their security maturity without compromising their preferred setup.
Don’t stop at workload settings. Identity misconfigurations are still among the most common weak points, so expand your checklist to include:
- MFA enforcement settings and any legacy authentication still in use
- Conditional Access policies for admins, guests, and risky sign-ins
- Role-based access control to confirm least-privilege assignments
3. compliance verification
Evaluate your client’s Microsoft 365 digital environment against relevant compliance standards based on their industry, location, or any regulations they tell you they must follow. Document compliance gaps and perform a risk assessment to help prioritize compliance needs.
After the assessment, focus on the compliance issues that pose the highest risk to security and/or business operations and go from there. Other factors that may affect prioritization include:
- Legal requirements
- Resource availability
- Business impact
- User impact
Make sure you consult your client and any supplementary compliance documentation as well.
4. apply recommendations
Suggest security enhancements based on your findings from the initial assessment, configuration review, and compliance verification combined. Recommendations could include tightening security policies, adjusting security controls, and deploying additional security tools.
Package those findings into clear deliverables your stakeholders can act on:
- Executive summary that distills the highest-priority risks and next steps
- Comprehensive security & compliance report detailing every check performed
- Gap analysis and roadmap mapping each finding to recommended remediation
Consider your client’s security capabilities and assess what you will have to do compared to what their in-house employees can do. From there, you can implement your recommendations appropriately. If you offer IT procurement services, you can also use these recommendations to guide your team as they find the right new tools for your client.
5. training and continuous monitoring
Remember, regular check-ins keep the tenant aligned with evolving best practices and compliance requirements, so schedule repeat assessments at least annually.
If needed and/or offered by your business, provide training sessions for your client’s staff to educate them on best practices for using Microsoft 365 securely. Additionally, whether or not training is part of your services, you should still set up ongoing monitoring of their Microsoft 365 environment to help yourself detect and respond to cybersecurity risks promptly.
Both of these measures help ensure that your newly implemented recommendations yield the intended results. Continuous monitoring can also pinpoint areas where additional analysis may be necessary.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Microsoft 365 security assessment?
A Microsoft 365 security assessment is a detailed review of a tenant’s settings, user activity, and compliance posture. It checks how identity, devices, data, and apps are protected, then lists the gaps and recommends fixes.
Are Microsoft 365 security assessments free?
Microsoft offers free tools like Secure Score and Compliance Manager. However, a full assessment—especially one done by an MSP—usually includes paid labor or third-party software. Augmentt gives you a free Microsoft 365 security report and paid plans for deeper, automated reviews.
What is the CIS Microsoft 365 assessment tool?
The tool runs your tenant’s settings against the Center for Internet Security (CIS) Microsoft 365 Benchmark. It pulls Secure Score and Compliance data, then scores each control so you can see exactly where you meet—or miss—CIS best practices.
How often should an MSP run a Microsoft 365 security assessment for a client?
Run a full assessment at least once a year, plus:
- Quarterly mini-reviews of high-risk settings
- After major tenant changes (mergers, new apps, migrations)
- Immediately following any security incident
Which key areas should an MSP review during a Microsoft 365 security assessment?
Focus on these five pillars:
- Identity & Access: MFA, admin roles, legacy auth
- Configuration: Teams, Exchange, SharePoint, Intune settings
- Threat Protection: Defender policies, anti-phishing, Safe Links
- Compliance & Data: Labels, retention, DLP rules
- Monitoring & Response: Log alerts, Continuous Access Evaluation, audit trails
Simplify your next security assessment with Augmentt
Planning and following a tailor-fit security assessment checklist based on our 5 key steps will help you protect your clients from most cybersecurity threats. However, you can make the assessment process much simpler by using the right technology.
Augmentt offers assessment tools that follow CIS and can detect compliance gaps for HIPPA, SOX, and more. We also provide simple, at-a-glance roadmaps that allow you to quickly plan effective recommendations for each client. Instantly apply security baselines using pre-set templates or your custom designs to secure more clients faster than ever before.
Start today with your free M365 security report.
