If you missed our recent learning session where Mike Austin shared insights on managing Microsoft EA renewals, you can still watch it here on demand. In this article, we provide highlights from this session to help you implement proven strategies for managing Microsoft contract renewals, reducing costs, and ensuring compliance.
Navigating Microsoft’s Complex Licensing and Cost Management
Microsoft’s licensing structures are inherently complex, encompassing numerous programs, license types, and bundles. A lack of transparency in pricing models compounds this complexity. For example, distinguishing between the Enterprise Agreement (EA) and the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program is not always straightforward, which can hinder informed decision-making. Adding to this, Microsoft’s recent strategy to transition smaller organizations into the CSP program introduces additional challenges. This shift aligns with Microsoft’s efforts to manage rising costs and renewals, illustrated by the upcoming 10% price increase for Windows Server in 2025.
To navigate these challenges, organizations must adopt a proactive and strategic approach to managing Microsoft renewals. Key steps include initiating renewal discussions at least 12 months in advance and maintaining active oversight of agreements throughout the contract lifecycle.
Mapping actual usage data is vital to uncover savings opportunities. For instance, analyzing Microsoft 365 E5 licenses often reveals that many users do not require the full suite of features. By downgrading to more suitable license types, organizations can realize significant cost savings. One of our clients, a large utility company, achieved an annual savings of $1.2 million by transitioning non-essential users to lower-tier licenses.
Alternatives to Microsoft’s Upsell Tactics
Organizations should critically evaluate Microsoft’s upsell strategies and explore cost-effective alternatives. This may include transitioning from E5 to E3 licenses or reverting from Microsoft 365 to Office 365, depending on specific requirements. Conducting a detailed evaluation of your security stack and considering competitive products can also yield substantial savings.
Developing a negotiation roadmap at least nine months before renewal is crucial. This roadmap should identify potential cost levers, such as Azure credits, support discounts, or license downgrades. For example, negotiating Azure agreements with tiered spending commitments can unlock incremental discounts, leading to meaningful cost reductions.
Adapting to Microsoft’s Reseller Model Changes
Microsoft’s recent changes to its reseller model have shifted more responsibilities to customers. By transitioning their top 20% of customers to a direct model and reducing Licensing Solution Providers (LSPs) fees, organizations now face tasks traditionally managed by LSPs, such as reporting and purchasing. Understanding the differences between LSPs and CSPs and the services they offer is critical to making informed decisions and ensuring all necessary support structures are in place.
Aligning with Microsoft’s Strategic Priorities
To optimize costs, organizations should align their strategies with Microsoft’s current product priorities. Products like Copilot, Power Platform, and Microsoft 365 E5/E3 are strategic focus areas for Microsoft, often accompanied by discounts and incentives. Conversely, securing discounts on products like Windows and SQL Servers is increasingly difficult unless the deals are substantial. Aligning your organizational needs with Microsoft’s goals can improve your negotiation position.
Moving Beyond Unit Price Negotiations
Relying solely on unit price negotiations is no longer effective. As Microsoft reduces discounting flexibility and raises prices, alternative cost-saving measures must be prioritized. Key strategies include optimizing license assignments, implementing archival practices, and eliminating unused licenses. For instance, regularly auditing licenses can prevent costs associated with blocked accounts or inactive users.
Communication and Planning: Keys to Success
Open and early communication with Microsoft is critical. Engaging in frequent discussions about your organizational needs ensures better alignment with Microsoft’s strategic goals and minimizes surprises. Building strong business cases and conducting pilots for new solutions, like Power Apps, can secure internal buy-in and ensure smooth implementation.
Proper planning and monitoring are essential to avoid pitfalls, such as poor adoption. One client struggled to transition from Zoom to Teams due to inadequate training and user engagement, leading to missed opportunities for savings and efficiency.
The Path to Optimized Renewals
To effectively manage Microsoft renewals, organizations need a comprehensive, proactive strategy that includes:
Understanding Microsoft’s licensing structures.
Initiating renewal discussions early (12+ months in advance).
Mapping actual usage data to uncover savings.
Exploring alternatives to Microsoft’s upsell tactics.
Building a robust negotiation roadmap.
Leveraging tools like SLIM 360 (MetrixData 360’s Microsoft license and cost optimization platform) can further optimize license usage by identifying opportunities for reclamation and cost savings. By implementing these strategies, your organization can reduce costs, ensure compliance, and confidently navigate the complexities of software asset management.
The manager explains the company’s cost graph on the laptop computer for employees to listen to and share the analysis.
Azure zombie resources are cloud resources that are no longer in use but remain active and consuming resources, resulting in unnecessary charges. Zombie resources can occur when cloud resources are not adequately decommissioned or deleted or when resources are left running but are no longer needed.
These resources can be a significant problem for organizations using Azure, as they can result in unexpected and potentially significant Azure bills. To avoid this issue, it is vital to regularly review and clean up your use of Azure to ensure that all resources are appropriately decommissioned or deleted when they are no longer needed. Several factors can contribute to the development of Azure zombie resources.
For example, zombie resources can occur when:
Resources need to be correctly decommissioned: When resources are no longer needed, it is vital to decommission them properly by deleting or deallocating them. Without this step, the resources will continue to consume and generate charges.
Resources are left running when not in use: Some resources, such as virtual machines, can be left running when not in use, resulting in ongoing charges. To avoid this issue, stopping or deallocating resources when they are not needed is essential.
Resources are not adequately managed: Resource management is critical to avoiding the development of Azure zombie resources. This includes regularly reviewing resource usage and taking steps to decommission or delete resources that are no longer needed.
There are many tools and strategies that organizations can use to identify and remove Azure zombie resources, including:
Using Azure Resource Manager policies: Azure Resource Manager policies can enforce resource management standards and automatically decommission or delete resources that are no longer needed. For example, you can use policies to specify that resources must be deleted after a certain period of inactivity or to delete those terminated automatically.
Using Azure Cost Management tools: Azure Cost Management tools, such as Azure Advisor, can help organizations identify resources that are consuming significant resources or generating high costs and suggest ways to optimize their usage. For example, Azure Advisors can identify underutilized or overutilized resources and recommend actions to maximize their use.
Review resource usage: Reviewing resource usage can help organizations identify resources that are no longer needed and take steps to decommission or delete them. This can be done manually or automated using tools like Azure Resource Manager policies.
Azure is a powerful and feature-rich cloud platform that offers a wide range of services and tools to help organizations build, deploy, and manage applications and
Data The Cloud Storage Information Concept
Workloads. However, the cost of using Azure can be a significant concern for organizations, particularly as the scale and complexity of their Azure environment grow.
Optimizing Azure costs requires a strategic approach considering the organization’s needs and requirements. To help organizations optimize their Azure costs, we recommend the following strategies:
Understand your workloads: One of the critical steps in optimizing Azure costs is to understand the specific workloads and resources consumed in your environment. This includes identifying which services and resources are used, how they are used, and how much they cost.
Right-size your resources: Ensuring your resources are appropriately sized for your workloads is critical to optimizing Azure costs. This can involve scaling resources up or down as needed to meet the demands of your workload or selecting cost-effective resource sizes that meet your performance requirements.
Utilize Azure Cost Management tools: Azure provides various tools and services to help organizations optimize costs, including Azure Cost Management, Azure Advisor, and the Azure Pricing Calculator. These tools can help you identify optimization opportunities, track your costs over time, and plan for future growth.
Use resource tagging: Resource tagging is a powerful tool for optimizing Azure costs. It allows you to assign metadata to your resources and track their usage and costs more granularly. This can help you identify and optimize underutilized or overutilized resources and allocate costs more effectively.
Optimize resource deployment: The way that you deploy resources in Azure can have a significant impact on your costs. To optimize your costs, consider using resource groups to manage and deploy resources more efficiently and leverage deployment automation tools like Azure Resource Manager templates to streamline resource deployment.
By following these strategies, organizations can optimize their Azure costs and get the most value from their investment in the cloud.
Azure cost management best practices:
Effective Azure cost management requires a strategic approach considering the organization’s needs and requirements. To help optimize Azure costs, we recommend the following best practices:
Understand your workloads: One of the critical steps in optimizing Azure costs is to understand the specific workloads and resources consumed in your environment. This includes identifying which services and resources are used, how they are used, and how much they cost.
Right-size your resources: Ensuring your resources are appropriately sized for your workloads is critical to optimizing Azure costs. This can involve scaling resources up or down as needed to meet the demands of your workload or selecting cost-effective resource sizes that meet your performance requirements.
Use resource tagging: Resource tagging is a powerful tool for optimizing Azure costs. It allows you to assign metadata to your resources and track their usage and costs more granularly. This can help you identify and optimize underutilized or overutilized resources and allocate costs more effectively.
Optimize resource deployment: How you deploy resources in Azure can significantly impact your costs. To optimize your costs, consider using resource groups to manage and deploy resources more efficiently and leverage deployment automation tools like Azure Resource Manager templates to streamline resource deployment.
Leverage Azure Cost Management tools: Azure provides tools and services to help organizations optimize costs, including Azure Cost Management, Azure Advisor, and the Azure Pricing Calculator. These tools can help you identify optimization opportunities, track your costs over time, and plan for future growth.
Azure cost management tools:
Azure provides a range of tools and services to help organizations optimize their costs, including:
Azure Cost Management: Azure Cost Management is a comprehensive platform that provides visibility into your Azure costs, usage, and trend data. With Azure Cost Management, you can track your costs in real-time, optimize your resource usage, and optimize your Azure spending.
Azure Advisor: Azure Advisor is a free service that provides recommendations to help you optimize your Azure resources. Advisor analyzes your resource utilization and workload patterns and provides recommendations to help you optimize your costs, improve performance, and increase security.
Azure Pricing Calculator: The Azure Pricing Calculator is a tool that allows you to estimate the cost of running your workloads on Azure. You can use the calculator to estimate costs based on specific services, regions, and resource sizes and compare the cost of running your workloads on Azure to other cloud platforms.
Azure cost management strategies:
Effective Azure cost management requires a strategic approach considering the organization’s needs and requirements. To help organizations optimize their Azure costs, we recommend the following strategies:
Adopt a cost-conscious mindset: To optimize your Azure costs, adopting a cost-conscious mindset and approach to resource management is essential. This involves being aware of the cost of your resources and actively seeking ways to optimize those costs.
Develop a cost management plan: A cost management plan is a roadmap for optimizing your Azure costs over time. Your plan should outline your cost management goals, the strategies and tactics you will use to achieve those goals, and the metrics you will use to track your progress.
Utilize Azure Cost Management tools: Azure provides tools and services to help organizations optimize costs, including Azure Cost Management, Azure Advisor, and the Azure Pricing Calculator. These tools can help you identify optimization opportunities, track your costs over time, and plan for future growth.
Use resource tagging: Resource tagging is a powerful tool for optimizing Azure costs. It allows you to assign metadata to your resources and track their usage and costs more granularly. This can help you identify and optimize underutilized or overutilized resources and allocate costs more effectively.
Optimize resource deployment: How you deploy resources in Azure can significantly impact your costs. To optimize your costs, consider using resource groups to manage and deploy resources more efficiently and leverage deployment automation tools like Azure Resource Manager templates to streamline resource deployment.
Azure cost management tips:
In addition to the strategies and best practices mentioned above, there are several additional tips that organizations can follow to optimize their Azure costs:
Monitor your costs regularly: Monitoring your Azure costs can help you identify optimization opportunities and make changes to reduce your costs. Azure provides a range of tools and services, such as Azure Cost Management and Azure Advisor, that can help you to track your costs and identify areas for improvement.
Consider using reserved instances: Reserved instances can help you to save on Azure compute costs by allowing you to reserve capacity for your workloads at a discounted rate. When you purchase a reserved instance, you commit to using a specific computing capacity for a certain period in exchange for a discounted rate.
Use Azure Hybrid Benefit: Azure Hybrid Benefit is a licensing benefit that allows organizations with Windows Server and SQL Server licenses with Software Assurance to use their existing licenses to save on Azure compute costs. By leveraging Azure Hybrid Benefit, organizations can reduce their Azure compute costs by up to 55%.
Utilize Azure Cost Management policies: Azure Cost Management policies allow you to set rules and alerts to help you optimize your Azure costs. You can use policies to define budget thresholds, set alerts for when costs exceed a certain threshold and enforce resource tagging standards.
Use Azure Cost Management APIs: The Azure Cost Management APIs allow you to access your Azure cost and usage data programmatically, enabling you to build custom cost management solutions or integrate your Azure cost data with other tools and systems.
Azure cost management tools – documents that can help:
Azure provides a range of documentation and resources to help organizations optimize their Azure costs, including:
Azure Cost Management: The Azure Cost Management tool and its documentation provide detailed information on how to use the Azure Cost Management platform, including how to track your costs, optimize your resource usage, and manage your Azure spending.
Azure Advisor: The Azure Advisor documentation provides information on using the Azure Advisor service to optimize your resources and reduce costs. The documentation includes information on how to use Advisor to identify optimization opportunities, get recommendations, and track the progress of your optimization efforts.
Azure pricing: The Azure pricing tool provides detailed information on the cost of Azure services, including pricing details for specific regions, resource sizes, and services. The documentation also includes Azure pricing plans, discounts, and billing options.
Azure cost management pricing:
The cost of using Azure varies depending on the specific services and resources consumed. Azure offers a range of pricing plans and options to suit the needs of different organizations, including:
Pay-as-you-go pricing: With pay-as-you-go pricing, you pay for the specific Azure services and resources you consume based on the published rates. This pricing model is ideal for organizations with variable or unpredictable workloads or wanting the flexibility to scale their resources up or down as needed.
Commitment-based pricing: Commitment-based pricing allows you to purchase Azure services at a discounted rate in exchange for a commitment to use a certain number of resources over a specified period. This pricing model is ideal for organizations that have predictable or stable workloads and can commit to using a certain number of resources over a more extended period.
Azure Hybrid Benefit: Azure Hybrid Benefit is a licensing benefit that allows organizations with Windows Server and SQL Server licenses with Software Assurance to use their existing licenses to save on Azure compute costs. By leveraging Azure Hybrid Benefit, organizations can reduce their Azure compute costs by up to 55%.
Azure cost management resources:
In addition to the documentation and tools mentioned above, there is a range of additional resources available to help organizations optimize their Azure costs, including:
Azure Cost Management blogs: The Azure Cost Management blog provides updates and best practices for optimizing Azure costs, case studies, and success stories from organizations that have successfully optimized their Azure costs.
Azure Cost Management webinars and training: Azure provides various webinars and training resources to help organizations learn more about Azure cost management and optimization. These resources include online courses, in-person training sessions, and virtual events.
Azure Cost Management Community: The Azure Cost Management community is a forum for Azure users to share best practices, ask questions, and connect with other users and experts. The community is a valuable resource for organizations seeking guidance and support on optimizing their Azure costs.
Azure Cost Management support: Azure provides a range of support options for organizations looking for help with Azure cost management. These options include online, phone, and support from Azure partners and third-party vendors.
By leveraging these resources and strategies, organizations can optimize their Azure costs and get the most value from their investment in the cloud.
As technology evolves and organizations become more reliant on it, managing software licenses and deployments has become increasingly complex and critical. Microsoft’s Windows and SQL Serverare among the most widely used software platforms, making it essential for IT departments to ensure that they are adequately licensed and optimized. This is where MetrixData 360’s Microsoft True Up Support comes in.
Our Microsoft True Up Support is designed to help IT departments navigate the complexities of Windows and SQL Server licensing and optimize their deployments for maximum efficiency and cost savings. With our team of licensing experts and powerful tools, we can help you ensure that you comply with Microsoft’s licensing requirements and take advantage of all the benefits your licenses offer.
One of our clients, a Fortune 500 Customer, saw significant benefits from using our Microsoft True Up Support. The Director of Infrastructure at this organization stated, “MetrixData 360’s Microsoft True Up Support provided us with the expert guidance and tools we needed to optimize our Windows and SQL Server licenses. We reduced our licensing costs by over 30% and ensured that we fully complied with Microsoft’s requirements. The value we received from this service was tremendous, and I highly recommend it to any organization looking to optimize their Microsoft licenses.”
SQL Server Deployments And Additional Tools
In addition to expert guidance and powerful tools, our Microsoft True Up Support also includes the following:
A comprehensive assessment of your current Windows and SQL Server deployments
A report outlining any compliance risks or inefficiencies in your current licensing and deployment strategies
Recommendations for optimizing your licenses and deployments for cost savings and efficiency
Ongoing support to ensure that you are fully up-to-date with the latest licensing requirements and best practices
We understand the importance of accessing reliable and accurate information when managing software licenses. That’s why we are dedicated to providing IT departments with the expert guidance and tools they need to optimize their Microsoft licenses and deployments. Our Microsoft True Up Support is a cost-effective solution that can help you save time, money, and resources while ensuring that your organization fully complies with Microsoft’s licensing requirements.
Customers Reviews On Microsoft Licensing and Microsoft True-Up Support
Customer quote 1: “MetrixData 360’s Microsoft True Up Support was a game-changer for our organization. The team provided a comprehensive assessment of our current licensing and deployment strategies. It recommended several cost-saving measures that we would never have thought of. The tools and support that we received have made it much easier for us to manage our licenses and ensure compliance with Microsoft’s requirements.” – CIO, a large financial services organization.
Customer quote 2: “We have been using MetrixData 360’s Microsoft True Up Support for several years, and it has been an invaluable resource for our IT department. The team’s expertise and attention to detail have allowed us to optimize our Windows and SQL Server licenses and reduce our costs significantly. We highly recommend this service to any organization looking to manage their Microsoft licenses effectively.” – IT Manager, a large healthcare organization.
At MetrixData 360, we aim to help organizations like yours achieve the greatest value from their Microsoft office licenses. Our Microsoft True Up Support provides you with the expert guidance, tools, and support you need to optimize your deployments and ensure that you fully comply with Microsoft’s licensing requirements.
If you’re interested in learning more about how our Microsoft True Up Support can help your IT department, we would be happy to arrange a consultation with one of our experts. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at MetricData 360 to schedule a time that is convenient for you. Alternatively,you can also answer the questionnaire.
Harness the Data You Need to Optimize Your Software Licensing
MetrixData 360 and SLIM 360, as software licensing management tools, provide the data you need to optimize your software licensing, reduce costs, and ensure compliance. With comprehensive and customized reporting, you can gain visibility into utilizing all your software assets and make informed decisions about the software you acquire.
The software industry is making incredible strides at all ends of the spectrum, bringing new challenges that organizations, large and small, must act on to remain competitive. One of the most critical areas executives must monitor license compliance. Ensuring your organization complies with thousands of software titles can become a nightmare. However, there’s finally a solution to this problem: SLIM 360.
Unlock Powerful Insights
MetrixData 360 and SLIM 360 software tools offer potent insights into utilizing your assets, helping you make informed decisions about software acquisition and usage. A comprehensive dashboard and detailed reporting allow you to monitor usage, track compliance easily, and identify cost-reduction opportunities.
Reduce Your Software Costs
With our software procurement solution, you can quickly reduce your software costs by taking advantage of volume discounts and other cost-saving measures. Our software procurement solution makes it easy to stay on top of your software costs and ensures that you always get the best deals on software licenses.
Say Goodbye to Manual Software Tracking
Manually tracking software licenses and costs is a time-consuming process that can be difficult to keep up with. With our software procurement solution, you can easily keep track of your software licenses, costs, and contracts in one place. You’ll have access to real-time data on your software usage and can make informed decisions about your IT procurement strategy.
Simplify Your Procurement Process
Our software procurement solution simplifies the procurement process by automating the process of purchasing software licenses. Our intuitive interface makes tracking your software licenses and costs easy and ensures you have the proper licenses for your organization. With our software procurement solution, you can rest assured that you’re always up-to-date with your software licensing agreement and costs.
Optimize Your Software Licenses
Software licenses can be complicated and expensive. Mike Austin, an experienced director who knows the challenges of managing software licenses and costs, decided there was a need for a software licensing management tool that users needed to provide the data needed to optimize their software licensing agreement and reduce cost.
With Mike Austin’s help, you can ensure you get the most out of your licenses. Mike will review your current licenses, identify opportunities for savings, and help you get the best deals for your next software purchase.
It’s no news that there are many ways to save money on your software licensing. But how do you know which one will be best for you? Are they worth the investment? What if you invest, but it never pays off? These are all questions that software buyers may have in mind, and SLIM 360 aims to provide insight into the answers.
Ready to understand your software costs? The ability to document past decisions, current status, and future projections means that you’ll have a much more effective discussion with your team members to look at your options and make an informed decision.
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SQL Server Deployments And Additional Tools
