Microsoft 365 Security & Messaging
Administered as a Service
The security and messaging plane of Microsoft 365 — Defender for Office 365, Exchange Online, Purview DLP, anti-phishing, and Sentinel-lite alerting — administered as a fixed-scope service. No helpdesk. No user provisioning. Just the surface where risk actually concentrates, professionally run. Microsoft Modern Work Solutions Partner.
Baseline Assessment or Ongoing Administration
Start with an independent baseline of your security and messaging posture, or move directly to ongoing administration of the plane where phishing, data loss, and mail-based incidents actually happen.
Security & Messaging Baseline Assessment
A fixed-fee review of your current Defender for Office 365 configuration, Exchange Online mail flow, DLP policy coverage, and anti-phishing posture — with a prioritized remediation plan and no assumption you'll move administration to us.
Ongoing Security & Messaging Administration
ICS administers the security and messaging surface of your M365 tenant continuously — Defender tuning, mail flow, DLP, anti-phishing, encryption, and alerting — while your internal team retains helpdesk and user provisioning.
The Security & Messaging Surface — Fully Administered
Every control point where phishing, data exfiltration, and mail-based compromise happen, tuned and operated on a continuous basis.
Defender for Office 365 Tuning
Ongoing tuning of Safe Links, Safe Attachments, anti-malware, and Defender for Office 365 policies against evolving threat patterns — not a set-and-forget deployment.
Exchange Online Mail Flow & Connectors
Mail flow rule administration, connector governance for third-party mail relays and marketing platforms, and SPF/DKIM/DMARC posture maintenance.
Anti-Phishing & Impersonation Protection
Impersonation protection policies, executive and brand protection, and quarantine policy tuning — reducing both missed threats and false-positive helpdesk noise.
Purview DLP + Sensitivity Labels
Data loss prevention policy administration and sensitivity label governance across mail and messaging — configured to your regulatory obligations, not generic templates.
Message Trace & Mail Hygiene Ops
Ongoing message trace investigations, mail hygiene operations, and spoofing/spam pattern response — the operational work that keeps a mail environment clean over time.
Encryption (OME) & S/MIME
Office 365 Message Encryption policy administration and S/MIME configuration for regulated correspondence — encryption that's actually enforced, not just licensed.
Sentinel Connector for Security Signals
Microsoft Sentinel connector configuration for mail and Defender telemetry, giving your security function (internal or ICS-delivered) a real signal feed without a full SIEM buildout.
Break-Glass & Privileged Mail Escalation
Documented break-glass procedures and a defined escalation path for privileged mailbox access and security incidents affecting the messaging plane.
What We Don't Do at This Tier
Security & Messaging Administration is deliberately fixed-scope. These responsibilities stay with your internal team, or move into Administration & Support (A&S) if you want ICS to own the full tenant.
No User Provisioning
Onboarding, offboarding, and account lifecycle management stay with your team or move to A&S.
No License Procurement
SKU strategy and CSP billing are handled under our License Management tier, purchased separately.
No Endpoint Management
Intune, Autopilot, and device patching are out of scope — a natural extension in A&S.
No General Helpdesk
Day-to-day user support tickets remain with your existing helpdesk function.
From Baseline to Ongoing Administration
A predictable path to steady-state security and messaging administration, with a written deliverable at every stage.
Security & Messaging Baseline
Fixed-fee assessment of Defender for Office 365, Exchange mail flow, DLP coverage, anti-phishing posture, and encryption configuration — delivered as a written baseline report.
Remediation Plan
Prioritized remediation plan for policy gaps, mail flow risks, and DLP coverage holes — reviewed with your security and messaging stakeholders before any changes are made.
Stabilize the Security & Messaging Plane
Close the highest-severity gaps — anti-phishing tuning, DLP policy deployment, encryption enforcement, connector cleanup — before transitioning to steady-state administration.
Ongoing Administration
Continuous Defender tuning, mail hygiene operations, message trace support, and monthly reporting on the security and messaging plane — while helpdesk and provisioning remain with your team.
Fixed-Fee Baseline. Monthly Administration. Scoped and Nothing More.
The baseline assessment is fixed-fee with a written report. Ongoing security and messaging administration runs as a monthly retainer sized to mailbox count and policy complexity — priced and scoped independently of licensing, endpoints, or helpdesk services.
The Other Tiers in the ICS Microsoft 365 Stack
Security & Messaging Administration is one of four independently purchasable tiers. Explore the others when your needs extend beyond the security and messaging plane.
License Management (L1)
Fixed-fee license audits, CSP-of-record services, and quarterly governance — the foundational, standalone licensing tier.
Learn More →Administration & Support (L3)
Full-tenant M365 administration — licensing, identity, endpoints, Exchange, SharePoint, Teams, Copilot, and security under one SOW.
Learn More →Enterprise Governance (L4)
Board-ready governed tenant operations wrapped around your existing IT function — RACI, change management, and QBRs.
Learn More →See our Dallas Microsoft 365 security & messaging practice
Dallas-Fort Worth organizations get the full Security & Messaging Administration offering plus on-site posture reviews across Dallas, Frisco, Irving, and Fort Worth — from our Meadow Rd and Preston Rd offices.
See Microsoft 365 Management in Dallas →Microsoft 365 Security & Messaging — FAQ
What exactly is included in Security & Messaging Administration?+
This tier covers the security and messaging surface of Microsoft 365: Defender for Office 365 tuning, Exchange Online mail flow and connectors, anti-phishing and impersonation protection, Purview DLP and sensitivity labels, message trace and mail hygiene operations, OME/S/MIME encryption, a Sentinel connector for security signals, and break-glass escalation for privileged mail access.
What don't you do at this tier?+
We don't provision or deprovision users, we don't procure or manage licenses, we don't manage endpoints (Intune, Autopilot, patching), and we don't run a general IT helpdesk. Those responsibilities stay with your internal team or move to our Administration & Support (A&S) tier, which wraps this plus the rest of the tenant into one engagement.
Why would we buy this instead of full M365 administration?+
Many organizations already have a capable internal helpdesk and provisioning process but lack deep security and messaging expertise — Defender tuning, DLP policy design, and mail hygiene are specialist disciplines. This tier lets you keep what works in-house and add professional administration exactly where the risk concentrates.
How do you coordinate with our internal IT team?+
We define a written boundary of responsibility up front — what ICS owns on the security and messaging plane, what your team owns for provisioning and helpdesk, and a documented escalation path for anything that crosses the line. Most clients set up a shared ticket queue or channel for handoffs.
Do you also offer full Microsoft 365 licensing management?+
Yes, as a separate, independently purchasable tier — Microsoft 365 License Management. Security & Messaging Administration does not include license procurement or SKU governance; clients typically pair the two when they want both planes professionally run without buying full tenant administration.
What if we eventually want ICS to manage the whole tenant?+
Security & Messaging Administration is designed to fold cleanly into Administration & Support (A&S) if your needs grow — the security and messaging work you're already getting from ICS carries forward, and we add identity, endpoints, SharePoint, Teams, and licensing under one SOW.
How is Sentinel used at this tier if we don't have a full SIEM?+
We configure a Sentinel connector scoped to mail and Defender telemetry — enough to give you a real security signal feed on the messaging plane without committing to a full Sentinel SIEM deployment. If you already run Sentinel more broadly, we integrate into your existing workspace instead.
Do you support organizations outside Dallas?+
Yes. ICS serves clients across North America and 5+ countries from our Dallas headquarters, with 24×5 delivery. Dallas-Fort Worth organizations can also access on-site security and messaging reviews — see our Dallas M365 management page.
Ready to Have Your Security & Messaging Plane Professionally Run?
Start with a fixed-fee baseline assessment. Two weeks, written report, prioritized remediation plan. Then decide whether ongoing administration is the right next step.