Microsoft 365 GCC High Licensing

This page is for defense contractors and suppliers who need GCC High, or think they might.

The deciding factor is the data you hold and what your contracts say, not the fact that you work in defense. You're in the right place if:

• Your contract includes DFARS clause 7012 and you receive or create covered defense information.
• You hold ITAR or EAR technical data, so export rules control who can access it.
• A prime or a contract requires GCC High in writing.

If you hold only Federal Contract Information, Microsoft says commercial Microsoft 365 supports CMMC Level 1. GCC High costs more, trails commercial on some features, and fewer apps support it. With DoD CUI that trade is usually worth it. Without it, it isn't.

One rule doesn't bend: CUI should never sit on commercial Microsoft 365.

More on the decision in GCC High or Commercial: which do you need? and what counts as CUI.

Cloud Kings resells three Microsoft licensing programs:

• Microsoft 365 GCC High. Mail, files, Teams and identity in Microsoft's government cloud, for organizations holding DoD CUI or subject to ITAR.
• Azure Government. The licensing for the servers, file services, databases, apps and virtual desktops that sit inside the same boundary as your GCC High tenant. We design, build and manage these environments too. More in Azure Government for defense contractors.
• Microsoft 365 Commercial. For businesses, or parts of a business, with no CUI obligation.

The government licensing comes through an authorized government channel. We pick the plan from what your obligations require, not the most complete option.

We don't carry GCC or Azure Government Secret. GCC is not a cheaper GCC High. Microsoft describes it as the offering for customers that don't hold FedRAMP High or DoD CUI.

GCC High is not on Microsoft's web store, and there are no trials. Microsoft sells GCC High licensing only through Enterprise Agreement licensing solution providers and its AOS-G partners, not through the ordinary CSP route or web direct. Azure Government is also available only after Microsoft validates eligibility.

For a private company, eligibility rests on the regulated data you hold, such as CUI or ITAR data, and Microsoft requires proof. Microsoft can re-verify eligibility later and suspend service for customers who no longer qualify.

Here's how it works with us:

• We establish what data you hold and what your contracts require.
• We walk you through Microsoft's GCC High sign-up and eligibility procedure. You submit it, because Microsoft needs it from your organization.
• Once Microsoft validates eligibility, we provision the licensing through an authorized government channel.

Validation takes time. Treat it as lead time and start before you have a contractual deadline. Nothing else can be provisioned until it's done.

Buying GCC High licenses doesn't move anything. GCC High is a new tenant in Microsoft's government cloud, not a setting on the one you have. Microsoft doesn't support cross-cloud tenant-to-tenant mailbox migration, so mail, files, Teams and identity are planned and moved into the new tenant workload by workload.

That's why licensing is one step in a bigger plan. The CUI boundary decides who needs a GCC High license. Moving everyone gives one high bar everywhere. A smaller enclave can help manage costs, at the price of two identities for some people and a line that has to be enforced. How to choose is in GCC High enclave or full migration.

The full sequence, from eligibility to retiring the commercial tenant, is on the Microsoft 365 GCC High migration page. What moves the number is in what a GCC High migration costs.

GCC High covers mail, files, Teams and identity. File servers, databases, line-of-business apps and virtual desktops that handle the same data need a home inside the same boundary, usually Azure Government.

Azure Government runs in physically isolated US datacenters, limits potential access to systems processing customer data to screened US persons, and runs in the US Gov Arizona, Texas and Virginia regions. A Microsoft Entra Government tenant can support both Office 365 GCC High and Azure Government, so identity lines up.

We design, build and manage Azure Government environments as part of the same migration plan, and we can supply the licensing for them. Details in Where the environment lives: GCC High and Azure Government.

• Features. GCC High trails commercial Microsoft 365 on some features and release timing. Viva Engage isn't available, and PSTN Calling and Conferencing aren't either. Phone System and Audio Conferencing are delivered through Direct Routing.
• Apps. Fewer third-party apps support GCC High. Check anything your business depends on first.
• Your obligations stay yours. Microsoft's DFARS guidance says your organization is wholly responsible for compliance with applicable laws and regulations. A GCC High license doesn't make you CMMC compliant. We are not a C3PAO and we do not certify anyone.

We do not quote this work before seeing your environment. What it costs depends on what you already have, how much of it there is, and how quickly your side can make decisions. A number produced without knowing those is a guess you'd end up budgeting against.

What we will commit to is a start: work begins within five business days of signature.

More on this in what it costs. Ongoing support sits under CMMC compliance.

• Microsoft 365 GCC High migration
• Azure Government environment
• Microsoft licensing
• Microsoft 365 Commercial licensing
• CMMC compliance
• Shared responsibility matrix