Evaluating the Need for a GCC High Tenant in Non-Government Organizations

Is Maintaining a GCC High Tenant Worth It for Non-Government

Office 365 Government Community Cloud High GCC High is a cloud platform developed by Microsoft to meet the unique security needs of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) as well as its contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers holding or processing DoD- controlled unclassified information (CUI). For DoD contractors handling CUI, GCC High can be a critical resource as it provides unique security and compliance features unavailable in Microsoft’s commercial tenants that can help them maintain compliance with NIST, CMMC, DFARS, and ITAR regulations.

Yet, what happens if an organization migrates to a GCC High environment to meet the compliance requirements outlined in a government contract but they are no longer engaged in government work? Is it beneficial for these organizations to maintain a GCC High tenant? Or should they consider transitioning back to a commercial Microsoft tenant? Ultimately, it will be up to your business to decide whether maintaining a GCC High environment is viable. While maintaining a GCC High tenant for non-government organizations can be costly, it can also provide unique benefits over Microsoft’s commercial plans. To help you decide which route your organization should take, keep reading as we explore the differences between GCC High and Microsoft’s commercial tenants and how you’ll know whether maintaining GCC High is right for your organization.

Understanding GCC High and Commercial Tenants

As you likely already know, Microsoft 365 GCC High is a specific service offering of the Microsoft 365 suite designed to meet the unique security and compliance needs of government agencies and their partners. As cyber threats grow more prevalent and complex, organizations that handle sensitive government information need to take extra precautions to protect national security. Migrating to a GCC High environment can be an integral part of this process for government contractors, as Microsoft’s government tenant provides enhanced cybersecurity features. Yet, what exactly sets Microsoft 365 GCC High apart from Microsoft 365 Commercial? Let’s take a deeper look at what each of these tenants includes and how they differ.

GCC High

Microsoft 365 GCC High is built on Azure Government and is meant to provide enhanced cybersecurity for organizations in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). GCC High helps DoD contractors maintain compliance with federal regulations and cybersecurity requirements including CMMC, FedRAMP High, CJIS Policy, ITAR, NIST 800-171, and DFARS 7012. This is achieved in part because all data stored within the GCC High environment is housed within a dedicated US Sovereign Cloud separate from Microsoft’s commercial servers. Additionally, all this data resides in U.S. data centers and is supported by background-checked Microsoft employees who are U.S. citizens. This creates a secure environment in which organizations within the DIB can store, transmit, and share CUI and other sensitive government data.

Microsoft Commercial

One of the most commonly used Microsoft products, Microsoft 365 Commercial is a suite of business productivity and cloud management products that anyone can use and is a staple in the business world. While this environment is built to FedRAMP High standards and can help organizations meet NIST SP 800-171 standards when leveraged properly, this product is not ideal for government organizations and contractors because it shares a global infrastructure and workforce, and it does not currently meet ITAR, DFARS 7012, or CMMC 2.0 L2 standards.

How Are They Different?

The main difference between Microsoft 365 GCC High and Microsoft 365 Commercial primarily comes down to how data is stored. GCC High ensures data is stored domestically, and it offers additional security features to protect government data. Another significant difference between the two is that GCC High isn’t available to the general public, as it is reserved for federal agencies, defense contractors, and other organizations handling sensitive government data such as CUI. Before an organization can migrate to GCC High, they must first request validation of eligibility, provide necessary documentation, and work with an AOS-G partner, like Agile IT, to submit a licensing request.

Pros of Maintaining a GCC High Tenant

Given the significant differences between GCC High and Microsoft’s commercial tenants, how will you know whether migrating back to a Microsoft 365 Commercial plan is right for you? Let’s look at a few of the benefits of maintaining GCC High for non-government organizations:

• Enhanced Security and Compliance: Even if you don’t handle government data, you may find it useful to maintain your GCC High tenant if your organization handles sensitive/proprietary data that you want to keep secure. The fact is that GCC High offers the most robust cybersecurity protections of any Microsoft product, helping your organization maintain an advanced security posture.
• Data Sovereignty and Access Control: If your organization handles sensitive proprietary data, maintaining your GCC High tenant may also be beneficial because doing so ensures data residency within U.S. borders, and access to your data is limited to U.S. persons who have undergone strict background checks, helping keep your sensitive data secure.
• Future-Proofing for Potential Government Contracts: Just because you don’t currently have any government contracts doesn’t mean that you can’t do so again in the future. By maintaining your GCC High tenant, you can future-proof your business for potential government contracts. Should you be approached with a government-related opportunity, having GCC High will ensure that you’re ready to meet stringent compliance standards such as ITAR, DFARS, and FedRAMP High without the need for re-migration.

Cons of Maintaining a GCC High Tenant

Of course, if you currently don’t have any government contracts and you don’t plan on obtaining any in the near future, the costs of maintaining your GCC High tenant may be too high to justify. Some of the downsides of maintaining a GCC High tenant as a non-government organization include:

• Higher Costs: One of the biggest reasons to transition to a Microsoft 365 Commercial tenant is that maintaining a GCC High tenant can be costly. Due to its specialized security and compliance features and maintenance requirements, organizations generally pay 50% more to license and maintain GCC High than an equivalent commercial license. That’s a significant price to pay if you do not need the compliance features GCC High offers.
• Limited Features and Integrations: While Microsoft is continually working to ensure feature parity between GCC High and their commercial offerings, many M365 features aren’t available or don’t work the same in GCC High because they don’t meet compliance requirements. This can cause issues when using certain productivity and collaboration tools, and it can limit cross-organizational collaboration when working with external partners who don’t use GCC High.
• Complex Administration: GCC High is also more complex to administer, as it requires ongoing monitoring and maintenance to maintain compliance. This may require hiring specialized IT personnel or working with an MSP experienced in managing a GCC High environment, adding to the cost of maintaining GCC High.

Key Considerations Before Making a Decision

So, how will you know if you should migrate from GCC High back to a commercial license? Ultimately, this will depend on your business’s needs and whether you think you will have any future business engagements related to government contracts. Evaluate your data sensitivity and compliance requirements, and if you don’t think you’ll be taking on any more government contracts, and you think you can keep your data secure with a commercial license, then migrating away from GCC High may be the best option. However, before you make a final decision, you should perform a cost-benefit analysis of maintaining versus transitioning tenants, and you should consider the impact of migration on your organizational productivity and IT infrastructure.

Not Sure Whether Maintaining GCC High is Right for Your Organization? Agile IT is Here to Help!

For non-government organizations maintaining a GCC High environment, it can be difficult to decide whether migrating back to a commercial Microsoft tenant is the right choice. While GCC High is more expensive than a commercial license, it also provides the compliance and cybersecurity features you’ll need if you decide to take on government work again in the future. Thusly, this decision should not be taken lightly, and you should take some time to think about your organization’s strategic goals, compliance needs, and other operational considerations.

If you’re not sure whether maintaining GCC High is right for your organization, consider reaching out to Agile IT. As an experienced MSP and Microsoft AOS-G partner, we have the knowledge and experience to assess your organization’s needs and determine the most suitable Microsoft 365 environment for your operations.