Mike’s Minute: Negotiating a Microsoft Audit or SAM Engagement

I enjoy reading inspirations and thought provoking quotes every now and again.  I found one recent, that was from John F Kennedy about negotiating that I believe applies to negotiating a Microsoft audit.  Since JFK was a President, he found himself in all kinds of tough negotiating spots and he provided this little bit of wisdom.

Anyway, the quote goes like this:

“Let us never negotiate OUT OF FEAR, but let us never fear to negotiate”

One of the Forgotten Laws of Software Audits and SAM Engagements

An audit is a negotiation.  Understand that your deployment position is a negotiation.  Period!

Let me explain.  Right now, software vendors like Microsoft are auditing or disguising audits as Software Asset Management engagements – (SAM for short) 1000s of companies.  It’s a huge revenue generator for them.  So many companies are falling into the trap that their vendor tells them that the SAM process is to help them understand licensing and their deployments. But it really isn’t, its about generating revenue. And in this free short video, I’m going to show you how they use these audits to generate revenue and what you can do to ensure you only pay for what you are actually using!

A Better Way To Handle SAM Engagements

I’m not only going to show you how, with MetrixData360’s SAM Compass, you can use the same tools the auditors use (most of these are free) , but I will show you the tool we use to clear the noise out of deployment data, structure your data, and how to apply licenses to get the optimal results for you. And guess what! You don’t need to be a licensing PhD to apply these strategies. You can save yourself thousands of dollars just by copying us (or allowing us to do it for you).

More importantly, I’m going to show you the one simple tool that empowers you to do this on your own.  You don’t need an army of IT folks, lawyers, and other resources to do this, and you definitely don’t need a million-dollar budget to implement some fancy Asset Management Tool!

Defending Your Dollars During a SAM Engagement

But let’s back up for a second; about two years ago when Microsoft started auditing more people, our business began to grow.  People were looking for help to defend themselves against what they felt were unjustified audit positions (and they were unjustified) and so we built a lot of manual process to help organizations in negotiating a Microsoft audit.

Over the last two years we have successfully defended almost 100 companies (from 250 users all the way up to fortune 50 companies) with Microsoft Audits or SAM Engagements and shown them how to save millions of dollars in incorrect audit findings.

I’m talking about real dollars saved.  Not just from audit findings, but we were also able to take their actual deployment data and licenses that they owned and create licensing models that worked for them versus the typical Enterprise Agreements they were being sold, saving them even more money.

And here’s the bottom line that I keep coming back to – no matter how big or how small the company, organizing and understanding your data is the key to saving money when negotiating a Microsoft audit.

Use Data to Defeat a Microsoft Audit

For client after client, our manual tools that we developed did TWO things really well.  They helped us organize the data so we could visualize it simply (removing all kinds of noise) and it helped us OPTIMIZE LICENSE ASSIGNMENTS driving savings.

I guess if you can only do two things well and it saves you money, those are two pretty good things.

So let’s start off by talking about organizing data, about how you need to be able to visualize your deployment information in a simple and easy to understand manner.

First let me ask you a question. You are trying to save your company money, right? You want to be able to optimize your Microsoft licensing (whether that is on-premise or cloud based licenses) so you can help your company save money, right?  And you’ve seen the big Asset Management Tool companies promote how their tools give you the rigor and process to save you 20, 30, even 40% on software licenses and audits?  So as someone that is responsible for software licensing, can you tell me how you can save money without being able to correctly visualize and analyze your deployment data?

It’s impossible, right?  And there is a reason for that.

Structuring your data correctly works for a lot more than audits though, but audits are definitely one great area to apply the concept – and what you need to know is what the smartest people who defend software audits know, what those expensive SAM Tool companies know that saves you millions of dollars – it’s something you need to pay attention to.

And I think one of the best things about this tool, is you don’t need to change your current process!  It works with your existing tool, whether that is SCCM, BigFix, Altris, Flexera, etc.  Don’t have an inventory or network management tool? Not to worry, there are some free tools like Microsoft MAP that will do.

Clients Who Saved Big During SAM Engagements

Here are just a few examples of the big audits that I’ve worked up close and personal on where we saved millions of dollars for our clients (identities masked to protect the innocent obviously!)

A large Healthcare Organization was audited by Microsoft.  The auditors had produced findings of $9 Million in non-compliance.  For 6 months they argued with the auditors about the findings.  Figuring the real number was about $1 Million. MetrixData360’s process helped them settle for less than $500,000 in 8 weeks.

A global transportation company was facing an SAM Engagement to validate their use of Microsoft SQL Servers.  Their account team took the raw data that was provided and assumed they needed $5 Million dollars of licenses.  When we formatted the data and gave them a visualization of the data, they soon learned the shortfall was actually $0.

Not as big as these two examples?   Don’t worry!  The bottom line?  These two companies saved Millions of dollars and countless hours of wasted time and aggravation trying to deal with incorrect audit findings.  The best part is the results scale to the size of your organization!

Let SAM Compass Guide You Through Your Next Microsoft Engagement

MetrixData360’s SAM Compass and software deployment visualization process saves you money!

I know you know this, but for whatever reason, you’ve only messed around with deployment data, or you haven’t done it all.  Maybe you think it’s too complicated, or it’s too expensive, or you’re going to wait until you receive an audit notification.  Already engaged in an Audit or a SAM it’s not too late!

Let me save you the trouble – let’s look at someone who’s already used SAM Compass and figured it out.

I want to show you what one of our clients has done with the tool and how they used it to figure out exactly what they had deployed and where they had potential compliance gaps – before they even became a problem.

These guys had a good handle on their licensing but they never had a way to visualize it.  Like many of you out there they were managing everything in many different spreadsheets.  However, once we implemented MetrixData360’s SAM Compass, they were able to see everything quickly and easily.

I know what you are thinking!  That is tough to implement, how do I get the data.  Let me put your mind at ease!

The client I just showed you did not have an inventory tool installed.  All their license management was done in spreadsheets.  As someone requested something new, they just added it to a running total to figure out what their true up would be.  That was until we ran them through the SAM Compass process and automated it for them!

This client (and about a dozen others I’ve worked with in the last 90 days) ran Microsoft MAP Toolkit.  It is a free tool.  It does the same thing as those fancy inventory tools that are out there, and the great thing is it works for someone who has 100 devices to someone who has 100, 000 devices.  Cost to use this tool $0.  Sorry inventory tool vendors.

A One Man Army Against SAM Engagements

The next thing people ask; they must have had an army of people running this MAP thing.  Not at all!  1 IT person with the right credentials, about 10 minutes to set it up and BAM! results.  We used the Assetlabs ECHO tool to validate the data, ask them to make a few changes, and done!

What about having to run all kinds of reports out of that MAP toolkit to get the data!  Nope (we don’t like their reports anyway; we think they are wrong!)  With that ECHO utility that I just mentioned from Assetlabs (free as part of the SAM Compass service) the data automatically gets extracted from MAP.  Five minutes after that you can be in the portal visualizing your data.

Before we built SAM Compass, this process took us days.  We also know that many of you stop building SAM practices because it would have taken you just as long.  When we used manual processes, it was painful. I mean, it hurt to get the data in a consistent format for visualization and licensing optimization!

The thing is I am an audit and licensing expert – I never wanted to be a data analyst.  I want to help clients save time, save money, and save aggravation. I use SAM Compass because it’s more effective than anything I’ve ever done – now I don’t have to manipulate standard reports and stitch data together for hours and hours.

What does this mean to you?  It means you don’t need a multi-million dollar budget to get started in SAM.  Just sign up for SAM Compass!  If you don’t have an inventory tool – just install Microsoft MAP!  You don’t need an expensive inventory tool!  I will make you a bet – if I showed you the results from someone who had a multi-million dollar implementation of a fancy SAM tool and the same results with SAM Compass, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.  Well that’s not exactly true, SAM Compass will give you better, more actionable results and data you can easily visualize!

Get Guidance Through Your Next Microsoft SAM Engagement

So why don’t you know what your license position is?  Are you able to easily defend yourself in an audit?  Do you have easy access to all your deployment data?  Is it easy to visualize and understand?  Is your Enterprise Agreement optimized based on your actual usage?

You know what?  Don’t answer that because I don’t want to incriminate you!

Send an email to info@metrixdata360.com and ask for us to schedule a demo of SAM Compass for you today and let’s discuss how you too can save time, money and aggravation!

Working From Home? Will Your Microsoft License Allow It?

Your Microsoft License and You: How Your Microsoft Licenses Can Complicate Working from Home

With the COVID-19 pandemic shaking the foundation of our global community, companies find themselves in a position where they must either find ways to get their employees working from home or lay them off entirely. This is a time of quick changes and with little to no advance warning; we find ourselves being asked to work remotely as a part of our new normal. In this hasty transition, it’s important to ask if your licenses can come home with you. At MetrixData 360, we want to make sure that these challenging times don’t have a negative impact on your Microsoft license usage rights, so here are some things to consider when moving from the boardroom to the living room!

 

Outlook: Plan Restrictions for Working from Home

Outlook, which is included in Microsoft 365, Office 365, and Office Professional or Standard, is one of the most popular products from Microsoft, and therefore should be any company’s top concern as they transition their staff to working remotely.

How you purchase your Office licenses (as part of Microsoft 365 or Office 365)can greatly affect whether you can continue working from home with the license you have or if you need to talk to Microsoft as soon as possible to get something figured out for the time-being.

Using a Work Device

If you are working from home on a dedicated company laptop, then you don’t have to worry. There’s no change to your licenses and you can continue to work as normal. After all, it will make little difference whether you’re working on the couch or in the office, it’s not like the laptop will know the difference.

Working from Home Using a Personal Device

If you are working on a personal PC or tablet, that’s where things can get sticky. Your personal laptop could be anything from the latest and greatest in technology to a dinosaur computer, so it raises a risky question about whether your company should allow potentially out-of-date, unpatched, and unprotected devices to have access to their environment. Security breaches may be the last thing on our minds right now during a pandemic, but it is still something to consider. You will need to install Office onto your own PC or tablet. If you are running an Office 365 Plan through a Citrix Server, then it will need to be Click to Run in Share Activation.

On-Prem Licenses with Office

If you are installing your Office License onto your personal device it is important to establish if you have software assurance as it will allow for Roaming Rights, which Microsoft defines as:

An SA benefit that permits the Primary User of a Licensed Device certain access and use rights. The Primary User may use a Qualifying Third Party Device to (i) remotely access and use permitted Instances or copies of the software running on Servers dedicated to Customer’s use, (ii) locally use a permitted Instance or copy in a Virtual OSE, or (iii) locally access a permitted Instance or copy of the software on a USB drive via Windows to Go, in each case solely for work-related purposes while the user is not on Customer’s premises. No other user may use the software under the same License at the same time. Despite anything to the contrary in Customer’s volume licensing agreement, Qualified Desktops and Devices do not include any Qualifying Third-Party Devices from which Customer’s users’ access and use the software and any (other) enterprise product solely under Roaming Rights.”

A Glossary to Help You Understand What You Just Read, also defined by Microsoft:  

Primary User means someone who has used the Licensed Device more than 50% of the time over the last 90 days.

 

Licensed Device means a single physical hardware system, dedicated to Customer’s use, to which a License is assigned. Dedicated devices that are under the management or control of an entity other than Customer or one of its Affiliates are subject to the Outsourcing Software Management clause. For purposes of this definition, a hardware partition or blade is considered to be a separate device.

 

Qualifying Third Party Device means a device that is not controlled, directly or indirectly, by Customer or its Affiliates (e.g., a third party’s public kiosk).

 

Server means a physical hardware system capable of running server software.

 

Virtual OSE means an OSE (Office Server Extension) that is configured to run on a virtual hardware system

 

License means the right to download, install, access and use a Product.

To summarize, it means that you are allowed to access your Office plan remotely. However, if you do not have Software Assurance, then that means you don’t have roaming rights, so you’ll have to get a Work from Home License, an Office 365 Office Pro License, or an E level plan with Office.

Immovable Licenses?

If you can’t take your needed devices home with you, then you have a few options available to you. For one thing, you could use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), but while this comes with many advantages, it poses a similar risk since it’s still your potentially outdated or malware-ridden device that could possibly leak into your company’s assets. To solve this issue, Microsoft has a feature of Windows Server available called Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). RDP allows users to open and use their Windows desktop remotely from a wide variety of devices. However, in order to access this solution, you will need an RDP-specific license.

Related: Has COVID-19 required you to temporarily layoff your workforce? Find out what this means for your software licenses.

Consider the Free Things… And Keep track of Them

Microsoft has been pretty good to its customers during this turbulent time, so make sure that you are accessing all the help that they are offering. For instance, if you don’t have the right plan for Office 365, then you might not have Microsoft Teams, which has become quite a helpful tool for coping with this sudden transition to a working from home environment.  Microsoft has announced that it will offer a free trial version of Teams. You can access this newly available free Teams in a few ways.

Directly Through Microsoft:

Microsoft has offered an Office E1 license, which includes Teams for free for the next six months. An Office 365 E1 trial of six months is also available for nonprofit organizations along with a similar Office 365 G1 for government customers, and Office 365 A1 for academic institutions licenses are available for free.

Through CSP:

Connecting with Microsoft through their CSP program is also a valid way of getting your six-month trial of Microsoft Teams. It will get you up to 1,000 seats and is extended to incorporate the following scenarios:

  • You have new customers that don’t have an Office 365 tenant
  • You have customers with an Exchange Plan 1 or an Exchange Plan 2
  • You have customers with an Office 365 Pro Plus Plan
  • You have customers with an Office 365 Business Plan
  • You have customers with a Dynamics 365 Plan

Want to learn more about Microsoft’s CSP?
We’ve got an article for that.

If you choose to keep your Team plan after the six-month period has ended, Connection will walk you through how to upgrade so that Teams can become a permanent addition to your software environment.

The Limit of Microsoft’s Generosity

It is important to pay attention to the fact that while this offer from Microsoft is generous, it is also fleeting. All of these generous plans have an expiration date, with Teams going back to its regular price after six months. Subscription-based licenses often offer you the ability to cancel at any time but they are also in no hurry to remind you to cancel. Make sure if you decide to use the free version of Microsoft’s Teams during this time that you equally pay attention to retiring it after those six months have transpired. In the market right now, we are seeing a lot of panic as businesses scramble to come up with their new pandemic normal; but it is equally important to think about what happens after the pandemic has passed.

Save your organization money from your home!

These are scary and panicked times we live in as businesses are rushing to ensure that they have as little downtime as possible. However, now that your morning commute involves walking from your bed to your couch, kitchen table or home office, it’s important to ask the question whether or not your software licenses are flexible enough to account for the changes required. The last thing your company needs right now is an unexpected spike in software costs and penalties.

At MetrixData 360, our goal is to save you money and our clients have consistently found that the cost of our services we offer were a fraction of the overall return on investment from our engagement. If you would like to know more about how and where your company can save money on software during a crisis, you can download our 10 Tips to Save money on software during a Crisis by filling out the form.

Ten tips to save software budget in a crisis


EA vs CSP: Microsoft Enterprise Agreement vs Cloud Solution Provider

Is the CSP the New EA?

Wondering what the difference between an EA and the CSP program is, as well as the advantages and disadvantages? Well, that’s what MetrixData 360 is here for.

The traditional EA comes with many advantages, mainly allowing businesses to add licenses to their profile throughout the year and only pay for the licenses that they had added during their annual true-up. It cut back on the hassles of bickering with Microsoft over price, but it can often prove the biggest IT expense in many organizations.

In recent years, a new potential alternative has entered the scene. Cloud Solution Providers offer a tempting alternative to EA customers. With so many businesses, moving to the Cloud, having the licensing that matches that migration is critical for your business, but is a CSP right for you?

At Metrixdata360, software licensing is our bread and butter, and we pride ourselves with diving into the nitty-gritty details to see where you can cut your software spending and optimize value. Let’s take a closer look at how the Microsoft CSP compares to the Microsoft EA.

Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider

The new CSP licensing model is designed to give large businesses more control over their licensing. Like most of the licensing available on the Cloud, CSP follows a subscription payment system, where you pay a monthly fee to cover only what you have used.

 

Benefits of Microsoft CSP

Pricing Flexibility
With the CSP, you pay only for what you need and only for as long as you need it. There are no hefty upfront payments and no lump sum payment that you must commit to yearly like with the EA’s true-up. This also means you will not see any surprise costs throughout the year.
No minimum number of users or devices
Unlike with the EA, which has a minimum number of users or devices of 500, the CSP is much more flexible with the number of devices and users you can have under this agreement, making it ideal for smaller companies.
Licensing flexibility
With the EA, we have often seen that companies will bulk up their purchases beyond what they actually need in order to secure a better deal overall but with the CSP, there remains the Cloud Subscription principle of paying only for what you use and what you need.
Support
Unlike with the EA, where you are expected to manage your own licensing, there is additional support available to CSP customers through your CSP provider, which will offer you around-the-clock support.

Disadvantages of Microsoft CSP

It’s only for the Cloud
This is a bit of a given since it’s a Cloud Solution Provider program, but if your company hasn’t made the transition of moving its business to the Cloud and has no intention of doing so, then you won’t be able to get much value out of the CSP. Microsoft’s CSP is also only for Microsoft’s Public Cloud with Office 365, Sharepoint, Skype for Business, and other such productivity-centered solutions online, although there is also additional security you can get if the Public Cloud feels too public for you. For your On-prem software, you will need another contract in place in addition to your CSP with Microsoft to account for them.
With the Cloud comes Cloud Related Problems
Moving your business to the Cloud isn’t the end to your software problems or the end to the potential for wasted spending. Some of the most common concerns we see surrounding having your software exclusively on the Cloud are:
  • Security: it is a heated debate about whether your data is safer on-prem or on the Cloud. While the most popular platforms are equipped with high-quality security, there are the occasional breaches that tend to have terrible effects.
  • Soft Costs: From our experience, many companies that we have worked with have stopped their Cloud transition half-way through after being nickeled and dimed to death through the accumulation of seemingly small Cloud fees when spread across their entire software architecture.
  • Licensing metrics: When moving to the Cloud, many companies often find that their licensing metrics change and they are left with a few missing licenses, leaving them exposed to compliance issues in their next software audit.

Microsoft Enterprise Agreement

Microsoft’s EA has been a popular solution for many companies throughout the years. Its appeal came from allowing businesses to add licenses to their agreement as they go.

Advantages to the Microsoft EA

 

Software Assurance
For companies where mobility to the Cloud simply isn’t an option, the EA remains an appeal because of the software assurance, which offers customers valuable access to upgrades, IT training, and support. These benefits are required for licensing mobility, disaster recovery and can prove a vital asset during a software audit. Many companies consider keeping their Software Assurance as a mission critical priority and for this reason will often take the punch with the changes to their EA, so long as their Software Assurance remains intact.
Volume Discounts
Microsoft offers a lowering price to their customers who buy in bulk or those who are government and academic organizations. However, this has become steadily more difficult to obtain as Microsoft pushes their customers into the Cloud.

Disadvantages of the Microsoft EA

 

Minimum of 500 Users or Devices
In 2016, Microsoft announced that the minimum number of devices to qualify for the EA licenses went from 250 to 500, giving companies with EAs and less than 500 devices a grace period of 36 months before the change was implemented and July of 2019 saw the end of that grace period. What this means is that companies either have to pay for more licenses than they need, or they need to find alternative licensing options.
Lack of Flexibility
Compared to the CSP, the EA has very little wiggle room that can be adjusted to your unique business model. Don’t want the Software Assurance? Don’t want to sign up for the full three-year term? Don’t have a single company-wide standardized Microsoft product? Want to reduce your Enterprise Products to a number below your initial purchase? You’ll find yourself fresh out of luck.

Trouble Deciding Between Microsoft CSP and Microsoft EA?

With July being the time of true-ups for many companies in an EA with Microsoft, it’s important to consider the options you have at your disposal, unless you’d care to spend the next three years stuck in an arrangement that doesn’t suit your business needs.

At MetrixData 360, we aim to educate our customer base so that they can feel confident that the decisions they make regarding their software will provide the best value for their company. If you’d like to learn more about Microsoft EAs and how MetrixData 360 can help you get the most out of your software licenses, check out our Software Contract Negotiation page.

Office 365 Reporting – Simple and Insightful Licensing & Usage Reports… or Lack Thereof

Are you responsible for managing and budgeting your organization’s Microsoft Office 365 footprint?  If so, have you ever found yourself looking for a report, any report, that will help you understand what Office 365 products your organization has subscribed, deployed and are actively being used by each licensed user?  Although the new Office 365 Portal has a number of nifty looking reports and views, none provide the information that you need to do your job effectively.  However, I will show you a handful of Office 365 Portal reports that could give you a fighting chance.

Getting decent usage reports in the Office 365 Portal:

First step is to open the Office 365 Admin Portal by navigating to https://portal.office365.com, providing your login credentials and then clicking on the Admin card.

Getting decent usage reports in the Office 365 Portal

The Admin Portal will load the Home screen which consists of a navigation menu down the left side of the page and some widgets in the main body of the page.

Image 02

Navigating to the Billing widget (or Billing > Subscriptions on the left navigation menu) will open the subscriptions page where you can see your organization’s Active, Expired and / or Disabled Microsoft Office 365 subscriptions.

Navigating to the Billing widget

Clicking the “Assigned” hyperlink (identified by red box in screenshot above) will show all of the users that have been assigned a license from the selected subscription (names and/or emails have been redacted in the following screenshots to protect the innocent).

Clicking the “Assigned” hyperlink

Then clicking Billing > Licenses on the left navigation menu opens a table based view that shows the number of Valid, Expired and Assigned licenses by subscription.

Licenses on the left navigation menu opens

Selecting Reports > Usage (left navigation menu) or Active Users (Home Screen) will load the Usage report/dashboard.

Selecting Reports

Although not particularly insightful, this report shows an aggregated view of your Office 365 usage – Active Users by day, Email Activity (sent, received, read), OneDrive files (storage), Sharepoint files (#), Skype for Business activity (by activity type), Office Activations and Yammer activity.

Office 365 usage

It isn’t obvious, but each of the component specific widgets displays the number of Active users at the bottom of each widget (versus the number of licensed users), identified by the red boxes in the above screenshot.  This may be helpful for you to determine if your organization is over-licensed at a high level.

In order to try to determine the users that are not actively using the licenses they have been assigned, you can to drill into each component by clicking on the widget.

Email Activity

Email Activity

Although the graphic presented at the top of the Email Activity report may look impressive, it adds little to no value in your hunt to track down inactive users (in my opinion).  Your attention should focus on the bottom table where you can sort the table by any column.  Send actions or Read actions would be where I would start since Receive actions occur as the assigned user’s inbox receives a message regardless of whether the user has actively opened their email client or not.

OneDrive Usage

OneDrive Usage

In this report, sorting by Active files (identified by the red box) can help identify the users who have not saved, synced, modified or shared a file within the reporting period.

SharePoint Activity

SharePoint Activity

In this report, one or more the data columns in the Details table can help you determine the users that are not active within SharePoint.

Skype for Business activity

Skype for Business activity

In this report, one or more the data columns in the Details table can help you determine the users that are not actively using Skype for Business.

Office activations

Office activations

Unfortunately, the Office activations widget only provides the number of licenses activated versus subscribed.  Clicking on this widget loads the Microsoft Office activations report.

Office activations widget

Although this report may not be particularly insightful in terms of your organization’s active usage of Office 365 and / or it’s underlying products, it (or perhaps an exported version of the data table) can provide you with the ability to identify users who have activated an Office 365 product on more than a certain number of devices which could bring your organization out of compliance.

Common Features

Like with all of the Office 365 Reports, you can…

  1. Adjust the reporting period by selecting one of the provided duration options.Common Features
  2. Show/Hide columns in the data table by clicking on the three black lines in the top right corner of each table column header.Show/Hide columns in the data table
  3. Learn more about the specific report by clicking the Help link (identified by the red box in the screenshot below).

specific report by clicking

Key Takeaways:

When all is said and done, neither the high level dashboard nor the (more detailed) component specific reports currently include any active usage report information on the Office 365 Suite (Standard, Pro, Pro Plus) or additional applications such as Project, Visio, etc…  But using the information that is available along with role based user profiles, you may be able to safely determine specific users/groups where you can downgrade their current subscription(s) or eliminate it all together. By compiling the data you do have, and knowing how to apply it, you can create active usage reports that can uncover hidden savings.

The New Way to Get Accurate Office 365 Usage Reports:

 

Microsoft licensing is serious business with huge money at stake. At MetrixData 360 we know that IT leaders are stretched thin and stressed out about the multiple responsibilities that get passed on to their plates. For this reason, we’ve developed a custom Office 365 usage reporting tool that our clients love to use to take care of the heavy lifting when it comes to mining actionable licensing usage reports.  Here, take a look at how it works:

See what SLIM 360 Can Take Off Your IT Table:

Office 365 vs Microsoft 365

It doesn’t matter if you’re working from your office or at home or up a tree, it seems that companies are rushing to take their business to the Cloud, and that includes where employees are expected to do their work. Microsoft has been quite aggressive in their focus to move their industry (and their customers) to their Cloud platforms, including their two most popular Cloud productivity services. Today we’re breaking those services down in a head-to-head comparison. It’s Microsoft Office 365 vs Microsoft 365.

While they may seem similar in name, they both offer unique levels of functionality and cost. So, which one is best suited to your needs?

At MetrixData360, although we are unaffiliated with Microsoft, we pride ourselves in educating our clients, so that businesses everywhere can make informed spending decisions regarding their software.

Office 365

To put it succinctly, Office 365 offers a variety of the most popular Microsoft products like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneDrive, all of these offered programs are geared towards business productivity such as Skype for Business, SharePoint, Teams, Yammer, and Planner.

These services can be found either online or on-premise through a subscription-based payment plan. Plans with Office 365 offers to host Microsoft Exchange mailboxes. There are also additional add-ons that you can pay for, this includes additional security.

This is the main argument Microsoft will use to get you to switch to Microsoft 365, since with Microsoft 365, these add-on features are included in the package, as opposed to having to pay for additional fees. However, that doesn’t always mean the transition is worth it, especially if you are not expecting to use every feature in Microsoft 365.

To give you a taste of all the plans that are available to you, here are two different versions of Office 365:

Office 365 Business

This plan is an excellent, low-cost way for getting key components of Office 365 to your company with either the Essential, Business, or Business Premium plans. However, this skin-and-bones plan comes with a few drawbacks:

  1. It doesn’t allow for remote desktops to have access to Office 365.
  2. Office 365 Business is not compatible with Nerdio for Azure (NFA) environment, for instance.

If you’d like to compare Office 365 Business package pricing, you can find a basic outline of the plans here.

Office 365 Enterprise

ProPlus, E1, E3, and E5 all offer varying levels of Office 365 Enterprise, which is aimed primarily towards providing Enterprise productivity.

Excluding the E1 license (which actually doesn’t include any application offered with it, only the services), all of these plans come with Office ProPlus and are suitable for Remote Desktop Service (RDS) environments. If you want to maintain any Nerdio environments, at minimum you’ll need an E3.

Changes to Office 365 ProPlus Licensing

Microsoft announced that beginning in the summer of 2020, Office 365 ProPlus plans would allow licenses to be assigned to Windows 10 devices as opposed to it being assigned to the user.

The same can be applied to Office 365 ProPlus for education. This can prove highly beneficial if multiple users are sharing one device. However, there are some catches when it comes to the device-based licensing. For instance, commercial customers can only use Office ProPlus through their EAs, and for education customers, they will only be able to access Device-based licensing for Office 365 ProPlus through their Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES).

In order to use this device-based licensing, customers must meet certain requirements:

  • They must have Version 1907 or later for Office 365 Plus or Version 1803 or later if they have a Windows 10
  • All Window 10 devices must be joined to Azure Active Directory or joined to hybrid Azure AD.

If you’d like a full examination of the different Office 365 Enterprise Plans, you can find the outline here.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 can basically be thought of as Office 365 with added bonuses. It’s a bundled offer of existing products, including Office 365, along with Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise Mobility + Security.

Windows 10 serves as Microsoft’s safest and latest operating system, complete with BitLocker and Windows Defender Anti-Virus. Mobility + Security is an extra layer of security for your data, including mobile device and identity management.

Microsoft 365 is the response for small- to medium-sized businesses who were going to purchase Microsoft 365’s three major components (Office 365, Windows 10, and Mobility + Security) separately on three different platforms. So, Microsoft 365 is marketed towards businesses who want to have a single, secure platform that can be shared across the company.

If you are negotiating any sort of contract renewal with Microsoft and you already have Office 365, you can expect pressure from Microsoft to scale up to Microsoft 365 from Office 365.

There are some obvious benefits to getting Microsoft 365; the fact that it is an all-inclusive package that provides a single platform for everything, creating an easier end-user experience, makes a compelling case. If you choose Microsoft 365, there are a few choices that are available to you.

Microsoft 365 Business

Centered around SMB deployment and designed for 300 users or less, this plan includes Office 365 Business and some of the most basic device management, although it is considered the next step up from Office 365 Premium plans.

It should be noted that this plan doesn’t use Office ProPlus in its package, which has significantly more features than Office Business. It’s really a win-some and lose-some situation.

Here’s a link for more information on the Microsoft 365 Business Plans.

Microsoft 365 Enterprise

This plan is marketed heavily towards larger businesses with an emphasis around strong security and device management functionality.

It bears a lot of resemblance to Office 365’s E3 and E5 plans with a bonus of Windows 10 Enterprise, EMS features, Azure Information Protection, Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection, and Microsoft Intune with availability on-prem and on the Cloud.

Microsoft Enterprise is broken down into three plan options: F1, E3, and E5.

Click here if you’d like more information on the Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans.

Microsoft 365 Education

Microsoft 365 Education is another exclusive offer that is given to schools that can be used by both teachers and students. There are three plans that are offered with Microsoft 365 Education:

  • A1 – The basic package which includes the lowest tier information protection, and a free, although limited, version of Office for students and teachers.
  • A2 – The standard suite, which includes everything in A1 with the addition of all the Office desktop apps and strong information protection and security.
  • A3 – The premium tier includes everything from A3, plus advanced security and compliance tools, along with top analytic systems.

Click here for more information on Microsoft 365 Education plans.

Office 365 Reporting Tool: Why is it Important?

Regardless of which plan you pick, it’s important that while you are using Office 365, you have a means to effectively monitor your usage. This will allow you to predict and potentially eliminate any consumption issues before they arise in an audit.

To address this issue, at MetrixData360, we have our exclusive Office 365 Consumption Reporting Tool available for installation. There are a few main benefits that come from having Office 365 Consumption reporting on your side, including but not limited to:

  • Detecting Multiple Subscriptions

    MetrixData360 have often seen that our clients will have multiple subscriptions for Office 365 that they have accidentally repurchased over time. These redundancies often make for a quiet drain on the IT budget.

  • Tracking Consumption of Subscriptions Over Time

    Being able to track your use of subscriptions will allow you to track not just how much you owe, but also what sort of value these subscriptions are bringing to your company.

  • Detecting Blocked Users

    How do you know you have a subscription when you don’t have access to an application or program?

    It may seem as though those two situations are polar opposite of each other, but we have often seen that case appear unknowingly in the software profiles of the clients that we have examined.

    Sometimes this blockage is intentional, but other times the customer is unaware of these users and by removing their subscriptions they can save a lot of money.

  • Detecting Last Usage

    MetrixData 360’s Office 365 Consumption Reporting tool can pick up if an account hasn’t been active in 90 days or longer.

    Such inactivity usually means that the account has been retired (or at least attempted to be) or it simply belongs to a user who doesn’t need the subscription.

    Either situations can easily remain a drain on your budget and presents the potential to reclaim licenses.

For more information on how MetrixData360’s Office Consumption Reporting Tool can give you control over your software spending and usage, check out our tools page for more information!

To Summarize

With so many different plans and packages to pick from, the Office 365 vs Microsoft 365 debate comes down to what is right for you.

So long as you have a means of keeping track of that consumption, you can certainly find a package that fits your interests without proving a drain to your software budget.

At MetrixData360, we have often seen companies either underestimate their usage, leaving them at risk for compliance issues; or we have seen them overspend eroding their IT budget.

We know how to navigate our customers around such pitfalls when it comes to their software. If you’d like to learn more about how MetrixData360 can give you the visibility you need, contact us and we’d be happy to answer any of your software licensing related questions.

Negotiating a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement: What to Expect

Microsoft is Changing How it Negotiates EA Renewals:
Here’s What You Need to Know to Prepare

If you’re a part of a large company with at least 250 devices, chances are you have some sort of an Enterprise Agreement (EA) in place with Microsoft. The EA offers Microsoft products at reduced prices, gives you the opportunity to add licenses while paying (true up) later, and it allows an easy way to purchase online services such as Microsoft 365.

Given the right circumstances, this can prove exceptionally valuable and highly cost-effective. If you find yourself in the wake of a looming EA renewal, there are some recent changes that you should take into consideration before entering negotiations with Microsoft.

At Metrixdata 360, after over a decade of experience dealing with Microsoft, we have noticed a change in how Microsoft approaches these renewals that may make your renewal more challenging than they have been in the past. We’ve outlined the some of those changes to how Microsoft handles Enterprise Agreement renewals below.

Pressure to Move to the Cloud

While Microsoft’s Azure may not have as many features or as wide availability as Amazon’s Web Service (AWS), Azure popularity is skyrocketing, and its sales organization is highly motivated to push you to the Cloud.

Now, Microsoft has become quite aggressive in moving its business – and subsequently its clients – to the Cloud and away from traditional on-premise licensing. This means you can expect a lot of pressure from Microsoft to get you to sign up for some commitment to Azure and other subscription-based licensing models (Office 365, Security Products, Teams Voice Features, etc.).

The particular complication that Azure presents that we have often seen occurs when companies sign up for Azure services and find out that there are many hidden or unexpected costs that can quickly add up, making it difficult to predict what the total cost will be for your company. Services that are sold for only a few cents per minute could easily cost thousands of dollars when scaled.

A big indicator that points to Microsoft’s desire to move the Cloud comes in the form of traditional on-premise products often being ignored by Microsoft. If you had discounts on these products in the past, Microsoft is removing those discounts and the revenue that is associated with these purchases is no longer of much interest to the Microsoft sales teams.

For more information on moving to the Cloud, check out our article 4 Best Practices For Cloud Optimization.

Microsoft Will Use Tight Timelines

In the past, Microsoft had internal pressure to ensure that Enterprise Agreement contracts were renewed on time.

We have seen a shift where they are now using this deadline against customers. This pressure leaves companies feeling forced to sign a contract that may not be the most beneficial for them.

Running the clock down to make a Microsoft representative sweat may have resulted in a better proposal when the actual expiration date drew near. Now, however, this strategy no longer yields the results customers are looking for as Microsoft has shifted the pressure to the customer and may not make any improvements on their proposals even when the date for renewal approaches.

Since tight deadlines no longer hold much sway, we would suggest giving yourself ample time to prepare. Previously, you may have only needed three to six months to prepare, but now, you may need nine to twelve months. The first six months should be used to ensure you have a complete handle on what you actually require from Microsoft and the remaining three to six months should be used to actually negotiate the renewal.

Microsoft Needs You to Keep Buying and Upgrading in Order to Consider You a Partner

Are you just starting to deploy to Office 365? Perhaps Microsoft will pressure you into buying security products as well. What does it matter to them that you already have a contract with another vendor, or that to make the transition from your current vendor would be a needlessly laborious task? You can expect no concession from Microsoft when it even comes to the time that it would take for you to actually move or justify those purchases.

If you own E3 licenses, you can be expected to be pressured to buy E5s and if you have Office 365, you’ll see pressure to purchase Microsoft 365.

Large commitments to Azure are constantly being pushed on customers, and we have also seen an increased interest in selling LinkedIn Services within the EA, this includes services that revolve around recruiting, sales, and marketing.

This raises a question: if you already have top-level products like E5s and there’s nowhere you can upgrade to or you simply don’t need anything new, how will you be able to get those price concessions from Microsoft that you need if you seemingly have no bargaining chips?

Download our PDF on Software Sales Rep Motivations:



Microsoft Needs You to Keep Buying and Upgrading in Order to Consider You a Partner

Are you just starting to deploy to Office 365? Perhaps Microsoft will pressure you into buying security products as well. What does it matter to them that you already have a contract with another vendor, or that to make the transition from your current vendor would be a needlessly laborious task? You can expect no concession from Microsoft when it even comes to the time that it would take for you to actually move or justify those purchases.

If you own E3 licenses, you can be expected to be pressured to buy E5s and if you have Office 365, you’ll see pressure to purchase Microsoft 365.

Large commitments to Azure are constantly being pushed on customers, and we have also seen an increased interest in selling LinkedIn Services within the EA, this includes services that revolve around recruiting, sales, and marketing.

This raises a question: if you already have top-level products like E5s and there’s nowhere you can upgrade to or you simply don’t need anything new, how will you be able to get those price concessions from Microsoft that you need if you seemingly have no bargaining chips?

Our Recommendations for Your Next EA Contract Renewal

At MetrixData360, we recognize that things are not the same with Microsoft as they have been in the past and going into your EA renewal, you’ll be confronted with a new process that is far more frustrating than it used to be, so here are some tips to help you deal with these changes:

Air Your Frustrations – Tactfully

We’re not suggesting you flip a table (despite how satisfying that might be), but be prepared for this situation to be exasperating. Microsoft will use all of the corporate structures as justification for drawing out the process and as a way to avoid legitimate business requests.

Make sure you let Microsoft know how irritated you are with this process and talk to them frequently. It will be helpful to move things along if you set up, early in the process, a weekly meeting with Microsoft and present them with small tasks to do during these meetings. This will allow you to track their progress.

Anticipate That You May Need to Purchase More Licenses Than You Use

It may seem counter-productive if you’re looking to save money and cut spending, but Microsoft is known to reward those who buy into their strategies early. Sometimes, you can get concessions that may be worth the purchase, even if you end up buying things you don’t need, such as E5 licenses and LinkedIn services.

Make sure you have a strong understanding of what a reasonable price would be for the bare minimum you require for your company. This is done through understanding your company’s usage regarding these Microsoft products. A 20% discount will still mean losses if it turns out you’re overspending by 45%, so keep that balancing act in mind if you decide to scale up.

If you’d like to learn more about the value gap in Microsoft Negotiations, check out our Youtube video from the SAM Channel.

Know Your Options and Be Assertive

Microsoft will push you to get things done quickly, and to increase your spending, so you have to be prepared to push back.

You may need to be prepared to move beyond the expiration date in order to see flexibility from Microsoft. We have seen organizations that have gone two months past the expiration date to finally reach agreement with Microsoft.

The only other option available to you to get around this unfortunate situation is to start earlier and get serious about the negotiations as soon as possible. In the past, the intensity of the negotiation came to its peak around one to three months before the renewal but now, in order to reach the most ideal agreement, negotiations should begin in earnest around three to six months before the renewal.

You also need to be prepared to escalate within your organization and with Microsoft’s.

Having a strong understanding of your software usage and current spending will give you the knowledge you need to create two or three pricing options that will allow you to decrease costs or at least to not increase it.

Don’t expect Microsoft to be any help to you in these areas, their goals are very clear, they want you to increase your spending regardless of whether it will provide greater value to you.

Hire a Professional Negotiator

There are many stakeholders involved in a contract renewal, each with different goals that need to be persuaded, what words do you use to convince them all?

You will need an in-depth look into your spending and your software usage. This will empower you to pursue the best deal possible for your company.

Also, if you do manage to lower your spending with Microsoft, it is likely that they will attempt to make up for any shortfalls in their revenue target by sending you some version of an audit, either a friendlier SAM engagement or a straight-up audit.

For this reason, it is important you get a professional to help you prepare for your EA renewal as though it were a software audit because it could very easily turn into one, depending on how things go.

If you want to know about your options for the management of your software, see our article Hire a Software Asset Management Expert or Do it Yourself? The Pros and Cons of Each.

Microsoft Negotiation Services for Your Business

Enterprise Agreements are a vital part of your business, and it’s important you prepare for your EA renewal sooner rather than later, lest you be stuck with an overpriced agreement that fails to deliver on value.

Your best defense is to be prepared and to know your data backwards and forwards.

At MetrixData 360, we pride ourselves in providing our customers with solid data that is easy to understand. If you’d like to know more about how MetrixData360 can provide you with the deals you need and the prices you want, clicking the link below will take you to our Contract Negotiation page.

Download our PDF on Software Sales Rep Motivations:

Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud: A Cloud Service Comparison

Azure vs AWS vs Google Cloud:
What’s Right For You?

Deciding to move your company’s digital environment to the Cloud is no small task. When comparing AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud, there are several factors that need to be considered, including your budget and necessary functions for your business. Moving your environment to the Cloud can be a costly experience if done incorrectly, but in this cloud services comparison, we hope to help you avoid common pitfalls. Things like improperly sized instances, different licensing metrics, and unmonitored usage can trip up an otherwise smooth move to the Cloud.

While we most often are asked about Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS), we also field enough questions regarding Google Cloud that it would be a disservice to not include it in this comparison.

At MetrixData360, we strive to help our customers find the right software solution for their environment while keeping costs to a minimum. We’ve helped companies make their move to the Cloud that you can find your perfect home in the Clouds.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Starting our comparison of AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud is Amazon’s IaaS offering. Having pioneered the industry 18 years ago, AWS currently dominates the Cloud market. In 2018, AWS generated $7.3 billion, making up more than half of Amazon’s total earnings for the year.

How Much Does AWS Cost?

One of the most appealing features about AWS is its more affordable pricing compared to its competitors. AWS charges a pay-as-you-go styled billing system that requires no upfront payments or long-term commitments, which can make it quite cost-effective for startup businesses on a budget.

Amazon is constantly trying to make AWS cheaper, decreasing their price on fifteen different occasions over the past four years. AWS also has a calculator that can provide a quote for your business.

How Secure is AWS?

AWS has built industry leading security infrastructure for their clients, claiming to possess the largest ecosystem of security partners and solutions. Their system is fine-tuned to prevent attacks, detect any suspicious activities, respond to incidents quickly and effectively and remediate your AWS environment.

AWS also offers courses to promote best security practices. AWS claims that its high quality security is similar to the security that would be available to you on-prem with the advantage that your AWS security can be scaled up to match your company’s growth.

What are the Leading Features of AWS?

Getting to start with AWS can be incredibly easy, barely any more trouble than ordering something from Amazon. You set your features, apply your payments to your credit card and email, and click “start.”

AWS also has a massive computing profile when compared to its competition, with hundreds of thousands of clients around the globe, the sheer scale of it is something to note along with the fact that it is accessible from over 190 countries.

What are the Disadvantages of AWS?

The main disadvantage of AWS is that the price you sign up for doesn’t cover the other services you might eventually need. AWS doesn’t offer customer technical support by default. Instead, it comes with an added fee.

There is also a cap on the resources on their platform. AWS does have resource caps to help avoid system overload, which comes with the added benefit of making sure users don’t tear through their IT budget. The cap is placed at a setting that the average user isn’t expected to exceed, and you are able to request an increase, but you’d have to pay more for the additional space.

Although it is easy to get started with AWS, it’s another thing entirely to actually understand how to run it. There is an expected learning curve while you get a handle on AWS’s platform.

Microsoft Azure

The second contender in our AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud battle of the tech giants is Microsoft’s entry. While Azure might be smaller and newer to the Cloud market than AWS, Azure reports that their Cloud business is growing at a faster rate than AWS did when it was at Azure’s size. However, the umbrella term “Cloud” includes several Microsoft programs like Office 365 and Dynamic 365, which makes it difficult to judge how Azure’s growth actually compares with AWS. This tight integration with other Microsoft products also makes it highly appealing to companies who already have Microsoft deployed in their software estate.

How Much Does Microsoft Azure Cost?

Azure charges based on the minutes of consumption used with the option for lump sum payments for short term commitments offered at a discount. There are many features that can affect your final monthly cost with Azure, including per-gigabyte fees that are applied to both storage and usage. Azure also offers prospecting customers a calculator to estimate your monthly cost.

How Secure is Microsoft Azure?

Microsoft has invested over one billion USD into Azure’s multi-layered security system, proving it to be one of their main priorities. Roughly 6.5 trillion threat signals are analyzed on a daily basis in Azure through AI-driven security signals.

You can opt into certain security features when setting up your Azure account, which will increase the protection of your data. You can encrypt all your data stored on the server-side, which will prevent readable copies from being available if your profile is breached.

There is also an advanced-encryption standard, which is one of the more popular security options on Azure.

What are the Leading Feature of Microsoft Azure?

Azure hybrid benefits are easy to use and its system of high redundancy promises minimal down time. Azure’s storage also provides easy and painless access to files. Reviews also report that it is easier to set up, change and configure VMs to your Cloud estate.

What are the Disadvantages of Microsoft Azure?

While Azure offers many benefits to its users, it doesn’t offer to manage your company’s data. Activities like server monitoring and patching will still have to be done in-house or outsourced to another vendor.

There is also a steep learning curve that comes with the management of this network and compared to other platforms it is more difficult to use.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud is one of the newer players to the cloud platform, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in the sheer volume of investment. For this reason, Google Cloud has massive projections in growth. Google Cloud enters the market with the vast technical expertise of having Google behind it, so how does Google Cloud fare against AWS and ?

How Much Does Google Cloud Cost?

When you sign up for Google’s free trial of Google Cloud, Google will actually provide you $300 worth of credits to spend on their Cloud. Google Cloud also provides their potential clients with a calculator, in order to determine their end price.

Google charges per minute use and offers sustained-use discounts after a certain product is used more than 25% of a month. There are many potential variables to affect the end price with Google Cloud.

How Secure is Google Cloud?

Google Cloud security comes with an edge over its competitors by offering its customers the choice between letting Google Cloud manage your profile keys or letting you manage your own. By managing your own, you can quickly rotate through keys, dispose of old keys, manage key permission, and audit key use.

If you chose to enable two factor authentication (2FA), it will provide you with an additional layer of security so that even if a weak password is cracked, your system will not be exposed to hackers.

What are the Leading Features of Google Cloud?

One feature programming customers will enjoy is the fact that Google’s Cloud functions are written in JavaScript (Node.js), Python, and Go. The platform utilizes some of the most popular languages in use today, giving developers an ease of access that other platforms lack.

You are also allowed to use all your GCP, Firebase, Google Assistant, and 3rd-party Cloud services as building blocks to construct your Cloud empire.

What are the Disadvantages of Google Cloud?

The main disadvantage with Google Cloud comes from the fact it’s newer to the market and therefore lacks many of the advanced features that AWS and Azure have in their tool belts. For this reason, many clients chose to use it as a secondary provider, hosting some of their data on Google Cloud and the rest elsewhere on a more robust platform. As the platform continues to grow, however, there is a good chance that Google will be developing similar features to flesh out their cloud platform.

AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud: Who is Right for You?

Moving to the Cloud should be quick, painless, and cost effective but we all know that life doesn’t always work that way. This is why it is always best to do your research beforehand and make a calculated decision that is best for your company. Ultimately, the best choice for your environment boils down to your needs: budget minded users will likely be drawn to AWS, but those with a Microsoft heavy environment may be drawn to Azure for its integration with other Microsoft programs.

At MetrixData360, our goal is to help you make smarter spending decisions when it comes to your software, so that you are only paying for what you need. If you would like to learn more about how MetrixData360 can help your company make a smooth transition into the Cloud, click the link below to check out our Service Page.

Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, and Adobe Software Audits at a Glance

The Top Four Software Vendors Sending Out Software Audits

It is likely that your software budget is shrinking yet your software vendors are looking for you to spend more money with them every year. When software companies can’t get the revenue they expect from you, they will often turn to software audits as a way to make up the difference. Software audits are many things: stressful, frustrating, leave you thinking that living in a cave, herding goats might have been an easier career path. But for the software publishers’ audits are quite profitable, and they have come to exploit this as a way to make their annual revenue growth targets.

Gartner has said that there is a 60% or greater chance that enterprises will be audited by at least one software publisher in any given year. The best way for you to handle the rising tide of software audit requests is by knowing your software environment and performing routine health checks to uncover areas of exposure. We cover the top areas where a company is exposed to in a software audit in our article Software Audit Preparation: What You Need to Know.

The Biggest Companies Performing Software Audits Are:

  • Microsoft
  • IBM
  • Oracle
  • Adobe

At MetrixData360, we have extensive experience working with all of these vendors, and we know how to handle an audit from each. In this post we’ll discuss some of the things you need to know about each of the software vendors and how to handle them during a software audit.

Microsoft Audit

Microsoft often claims that their audits are simple, short, and painless. In our eight years of defending companies during their software audits, we’ve yet to see a Microsoft audit that has matched this description.

Instead, we have seen audits that take almost 18 months to finalize as customers try to dig through rising mountains of data that are required as part of a Microsoft Audit (or SAM Engagement). Here are just a few tips for dealing with a Microsoft software audit:

    • SAM Audit or Review?

From our experience, Microsoft can either offer you SAM reviews or audits. SAM reviews are technically optional but refusing will likely result in getting audited. For a full breakdown of the difference between a Software Audit and a SAM review, visit our post Software Asset Management (SAM) Review vs Audit: What’s the Difference?

    • Respond to Your Vendor

We are often asked if you need to respond to an audit or a SAM letter. The short answer is yes, it is highly advisable that you respond to both. Not responding to a software audit, can find you in breach of your contract and leave you facing potential legal ramifications and hefty fines up to $100,000 USD. Although you could technically refuse a SAM Engagement, you could also find yourself running the risk of being in breach of your contract.

It has been our experience that refusing a SAM review will often result in Microsoft responding by sending you a full audit that you can’t refuse. Therefore, it would be more beneficial for you and your company to negotiate with Microsoft to perform a self-assessment as opposed to having a Microsoft partner perform the audit. A SAM engagement will be nearly identical to an audit after the data collection stage has begun and you will struggle to see the difference between the two processes until the negotiation stage has been reached.

    • Software Reviews vs Software Audits

The real difference between a SAM review and an audit can be seen when examining the penalties of each and how they are resolved. In a SAM review, you will be allowed to purchase your missing licenses at your contracted prices or at your historically discounted rate. In an audit, on the other hand, Microsoft has the right to charge any shortfalls at List Price in addition to a 5% penalty, although this may vary depending on your contract.

    • Paying For An Audit

Another difference between a SAM review and full audit appears when asking who will pay for the whole process. Microsoft will pay for the cost of the SAM engagement themselves whereas in an audit if you are found to be greater than 5% out of compliance you will be responsible for paying for the audit yourself in addition to any penalties you are incurred during the audit.

IBM Audit

IBM audits can be especially tough, since many of their license metrics require you to accurately have installed their ILMT tool in order to effectively capture your estimated license position (we have found that the majority of IBM’s customers have not done this correctly). Here are some things to consider that can help in the case of an IBM audit:

    • True Up Costs

Once your software audit has concluded, IBM will often let you settle at your discounted price with an additional fee for the maintenance that was used for the upkeep of the product when it was unlicensed.

    • Watch For Licensing Changes

IBM is also prone to make licensing changes which can apply to a wide range of their products in the wake of acquiring a new software company to their profile or releasing new versions of their software. When these events occur, be sure to look at your licenses with IBM to check for relevant updates.

    • Properly Set Up and Use ILMT

Our CEO Mike Austin says that you need to understand ILMT and how it works to effectively manage most IBM Software Audits.
According to Mike, “IBM isn’t typically auditing their Passport Advantage program, they are going after the complexity of sub-capacity and PVU based licensing. In order to pass an audit if you are licensing at sub-capacity, you need to have ILMT up and running. You will also need a have a history of reports. Installing and configuring ILMT is tricky and not many companies have done it correctly. In a lot of our work around IBM Audits, we are fixing ILMT reporting before we even start the work of defending an audit.”

    • ILMT Does Not Hold All The Answers

However, installing ILMT doesn’t mean you are 100% safe from IBM’s audits, you can still be found out of compliance.

    • Avoid Scope Creep

Our IBM Audit teams says to make sure you define the audit scope, as IBM is quite notorious for scope creep. You will want to ensure you know which products and contracts are included (and excluded) from the audit.

    • Put The Onus On IBM

You need to get an agreement with IBM (not the reseller- they can’t promise this) stating that IBM will take on the responsibilities to ensure that the product being deployed is correctly licensed. If they fail to then deploy ILMT after such a deal has been reached, then it might be possible to get a concession during an audit.

    • Defend Yourself With Data

Even if IBM doesn’t take responsibility for the licensing of deployed software, you might have a case to circumnavigate adverse findings that can come up due to ILMT’s failures, if you can collect historical system-generated reports that demonstrate the following things:

1) the processor resources that were allotted to the VMs running the PVU-licensed products have been or are capped and are not subject to any automated augmentations-based on system demands and

2) the historical usage of these products never exceeded licensed levels. However, this data has proved difficult for companies to obtain in the past.

Oracle Audit

From our observations, Oracle Audits incur the largest compliance findings typically. We’ve dealt with Oracle many times in the past, and here are some things you should know about how Oracle conducts their audit.

    • Only Pay For What You Use

According to the ITAM Review’s article Oracle Audit: Top 20 Frequently Asked Questions, for Oracle, the installation of software and the licensing of that software are two different events, with the exception of Database Enterprise Editions, so be careful when initially deploying software as it will likely be the cause of issue during an audit. For example, Oracle optional features, such as RAC, get turned on by default when installing databases, these options may only be licensable if you actually use them, not if you have them installed. This is a subtle difference, but it can have a profound impact and it is an area that is often found as being licensable by LMS. However, we have often found that it can be negotiated out with usage data.

    • Oracle Software Review vs Oracle Software Audit

Oracle has Oracle License reviews and Oracle License audits. These are the exact same thing – “review” just sounds friendlier. Both should be treated with the same level of severity.

    • Understand Your Contract

According to Scott & Scott, LLP’s article, Seven Lessons I Learned Representing Clients in Oracle Audits, take extra care to understand Oracle’s policies around usage. Since many of Oracle’s policies will not be included in the license’s documents, there tends to be a lot of confusion generated around this topic. Some areas that produce the largest findings in an Oracle Audit are VMWare and Oracle’s policy stating that all Processors in a cluster must be licensed. This policy has caught many organizations off guard and is the crux of the major lawsuit between Oracle and Mars Corporation.

    • More Gaps Cost More Money

As with Microsoft, if you are found out of compliance on a Oracle Audit you will have to cover the expense for the audit.

    • Use Your Own Tools

Our Oracle Audit Experts state that you are not required to use Oracle’s scripts to collect your data, especially if you have your own methods in place for gathering your data. LMS will try very hard to get you to use their scripts. We recommend, however, that you use your own processes first, if possible.

    • Tools Are Only As Good As The People Using Them

ITAM Review’s article Oracle Audit: Top 20 Frequently Asked Questions, states that Oracle has several approved SAM tools like Lime Software, Easyteam, BDNA, Hewlett-Packard, Flexera Software, Nova Ratio, and iQuate. However, these tools only collect raw data and won’t provide you with the interpretation of that data which will tell you what you need to license. Therefore, just because you have Oracle-approved tools, it doesn’t mean you’re completely safe in an Oracle audit.

    • Get A Paper Trail

In all audits, but especially ones with Oracle, it is highly recommended that you get a closing statement to close out the audit (indemnification is the most ideal). This is especially important with Oracle, as they are a very litigious vendor. You will be happy that you have a closing statement in case the audit ever goes to court and your company’s reputation is suddenly on the line.

Adobe Audit

Compared to the other heavy hitters, Adobe’s software audits can seem like little more than a friendly reminder. However, Adobe’s products can be quite expensive, so it’s important not to let this vendor slip from your mind. Here are some tips about Adobe licensing:

    • Friendlier, But Not Friendly

According to a study released by Gartner in 2016 and presented in their article What Does an End to Adobe Auditing and License Compliance Activity Really Mean?, Adobe has steadily moved away from auditing their customers, focusing instead on their Software as a Service platform and subscription-based licensing. That does not mean your company no longer has to deal with compliancy risks from Adobe, as Adobe still maintains the right to verify compliancy, giving their customers 30 days to provide data to ensure proper usage.

    • Buy What You Need, Not What You Want

The Gartner article also states that with a focus on SaaS and the subscription-based nature of Adobe, along with the lack of an “off-switch” for Adobe products, the main focus of Software Asset Management when it comes to Adobe should be proper sizing and monitoring usage.

    • For Adobe, It’s The Little Things That Count

According to TechRepublic’s article How to Prevent or Navigate an Audit by Adobe, Adobe monitors their customers differently from other vendors. Where Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM are interested in unlicensed software, Adobe is more interested in the protection of their intellectual property and making sure their product is used correctly. Are you correctly licensing any fonts with Adobe? These small questions can accumulate if they are not properly answered.

    • Adobe Does It Themselves

TechRepublic’s article also states that Adobe performs their own compliance verification review as opposed to hiring a third-party auditor, which can either be good or bad depending how far out of compliance you are.

    • Watch For Creative Suite License Changes

One best practice we advise our client’s to adhere to when dealing with Adobe says that you will have to pay particular attention to Creative Suite, as it is prone to change almost every year and these constant updates make it difficult to keep track of products. It will often leave programs as obsolete and the licensing for it makes it difficult to understand what is truly needed.

    • Upgrade Licenses Can Downgrade Your Compliance

Finally, according to TechRepublic’s article How to Prevent or Navigate an Audit by Adobe, Adobe also has no program in place to account for upgrades. Upgrade licenses, therefore, can sometimes stretch back several years – so, keep track of how far back these licenses go and be sure not to leave yourself over-confident (don’t forget that sometimes you can only go back three versions – so tracking that can also be very difficult).

How MetrixData360 Can Help

Software audits have been known to put a strain on any company’s software budget, so knowing about the software vendors that tend to resort to such methods will leave you with a better knowledge of what to expect. At MetrixData360, we believe that you should not have to pay the software vendors more than what you owe them, so it’s important to invest in software asset management long before you’re confronted with a software audit. By clicking the button below, you will be taken to our audit services page, where you can learn more about how we can help you survive a software audit.

Don’t Wait Until June To Negotiate with Microsoft

Waiting for June to Negotiate with Microsoft? Don’t Bother!

There is a piece of common wisdom that has been rolling through the Software Asset Management community for a while now: negotiate with Microsoft in June to strike better deals on your licensing contracts. Unfortunately, like most tall tales, it lives purely because it continues to be repeated without regard to data or evidence. In fact, after completing hundreds of Microsoft negotiation projects over nearly a decade and negotiating over $1 billion in license contracts, we can confidently tuck this myth away as little more than folk wisdom. So where did this myth come from? And why has it become so prevalent in the SAM industry? Let’s dig deep and dispel this myth once and for all.

June is Microsoft’s Fiscal End of Year

The myth that Microsoft is willing to give better deals stems from the fact that June is the end of Microsoft’s fiscal year. While many businesses try to shore up any negotiations to boost their end-of-year earnings, we assure you that Microsoft is well ahead of you. For a corporation as large as Microsoft, making a last-minute sale of even a few million dollars at a huge discount for the year-end doesn’t make sense on the scale that Microsoft plays at. They know you need their software or face a huge hassle when you try to move away from their products, as the scientists at CERN are currently finding. So why should they care whether you buy today or tomorrow? Microsoft knows they’ll get your money eventually.

Aside from the sales rep that wants to make his quota look good, the fiscal end-of-year for Microsoft does not change the margins they are willing to accept during a contract negotiation. Microsoft didn’t become the industry giant they are by painting themselves into a corner when negotiating. In fact, going into a negotiation with the assumption of being on a deadline is a great way to pay more. To quote Chris Voss in Never Split the Difference, “Deadlines are the Boogeyman of negotiation–almost exclusively self-inflicted figments of our imagination, unnecessarily unsettling us for no good reason.” By assuming you have a deadline of June 30th to close a deal, you’re robbing yourself of the best tool any negotiator has: TIME. In the end, Microsoft doesn’t care whether your contract gets put on the books for this year or next, they just want your money.

Microsoft Made $118 Billion Last Year

Let me say that again for those in the back: Microsoft took in over $118 Billion last year. To give you a sense of scale, consider that a $1 Million dollar license contract is less than 1/100,000th of their total revenue. Even signing a $10 million contract would be less than 1% of 1% of their total revenue. For many organizations, a million-dollar deal either is a huge expense or a boon, depending on what side of the contract they are on; for a company like Microsoft, it’s pocket change. Those looking to craft a deal under the pretense of boosting Microsoft’s end-of-year bottom line fail to realize where they sit on the scale of a company like Microsoft. The truth is your contract is a drop in the ocean of Microsoft’s revenue. That doesn’t mean that Microsoft isn’t willing to sit down and talk, however. Making a dollar is still better than not making a dollar, as Economists like to say.

Software Publisher Revenue 2017-2019 Statista
Software Publisher Revenue, 2017-2019. Statista.com

A Drop in Microsoft’s Bucket

Now that we’ve established how little your contract contributes to Microsoft’s bottom line, it’s time to shift your thinking when you go into a negotiation. There’s a good chance your company is not as big a fish they want to negotiate as. When it comes to bringing clout to the table, there are not a lot of players that can shake Microsoft. And that’s okay. Now that you know your agreement won’t have debilitating effects on Microsoft’s bank account, it may seem that you’ve lost your leverage. But you haven’t. Instead, you are now in a better position to negotiate because you understand the reality of the situation. Negotiating from a false position is reckless at best and could end up sabotaging your own efforts.

When IS the Best Time to Negotiate with Microsoft?

Unfortunately for those looking for the best time to enter into talks with Microsoft, the answer isn’t found on a calendar. The best deals are made through good negotiations and a solid understanding of both parties’ positions. When it comes to negotiating with Microsoft, there are a few tips and tricks you can use to get a better deal.

Have Accurate License Inventory

The easiest way to be sure that you don’t give Microsoft more money than you need to is by maintaining an accurate list of your license inventory and use. This data will guide you in how many licenses you need, the type of software your organization needs, and give you leverage when you enter negotiations.

Don’t be Intimidated by Microsoft

A second tip is to stand your ground. It is easy to be intimidated once talks with Microsoft begin. Microsoft is one of the biggest dogs in the park, and all that clout can be intimidating. The truth, however, is that a good negotiation is one that both parties walk away feeling satisfied with. By knowing what you want, why your position makes sense, and sticking to that position, you have a better chance at striking a deal that works for both parties.

Hire a Professional Contract Negotiator

For those who still don’t feel comfortable going toe-to-toe with the biggest player in the software industry, hiring a professional negotiator can be a reasonable solution. Negotiators in this realm often know Microsoft’s negotiating tactics and limits. By hiring a third-party provider who understands how Microsoft as a company thinks, your team can effectively counter Microsoft’s tactics and/or be better prepared for how they will react to your offers.

Facing a negotiation with Microsoft can be stressful. Let MetrixData 360 relieve some of that stress by preparing you for dealing with vendors through our Learning Center. If you still have doubts about your organization’s ability to negotiate the best possible license contract, contact us and let our expert software license negotiators handle it for you.

Project For The Web Now Available

Price And Product Impact of Project For The Web

Microsoft’s newest offering for cloud-based project management, Project for the web, expands on the Project platform, but may have a pricing impact to you. Microsoft currently has the following Project Online products available, Project Essentials, Project Pro and Project Premium. This new offering Project for the web is the entry level Project management program, designed to be used by task-level employees. With the new Project for the web, Microsoft has aligned the subscription structure with other Office 365 products, moving from the “Essentials”, “Professional”, and “Premium” titles, to the familiar E1, E3, and E5 plans, labeled Project Plans 1,3, and 5 respectively. This shift in titles may also include an increase in price for the E1 type users.

What Is Project For The Web?

Project for the web is Microsoft’s newest cloud-based project management tool. The “For the Web” moniker refers to the fact that the Projects system is accessible in a browser-based format. As Microsoft describes it:

Project for the web is Microsoft’s most recent offering for cloud-based work and project management. Project for the web provides simple, powerful work management capabilities to meet most needs and roles. Project managers and team members can use Project for the web to plan and manage work of any size.

What does that actually mean? Project for the web allows teams to remotely work together, view project roadmaps, schedule tasks, create and track milestones, and compile reports. For the web also integrates with most of Microsoft’s other online offerings, allowing a smoother workflow across Office 365, Power Apps, and Microsoft Flow. This means that a project manager can assign and schedule tasks to their team members. From there, the team members can see where on the project roadmap they are, what tasks have been completed or are still open, and even create reports.

Project Pricing Tiers

Microsoft is continuing with their trend of tiered-subscription models for Project for the web, but they have also rebranded the tiers. The former “Project Online Professional” is now Project Plan 3, while “Project Online Premium” has become Project Plan 5. Let’s look at what each tier will cost you compared to their previous price. If you want to check out some of the features available with those plans. Click here to see Microsoft’s Project pricing page.

Project Plan 1

Project Essentials Pricing
Project Plan 1 gives users access to only Project for the web, it does not allow on-premise use. Users can manage project documents across the Office 365 ecosystem, schedule tasks, submit timesheets, as well as use integrations with PowerApps and Power BI. This plan is meant for those who work at the task level and removes much of the higher-level project and portfolio management tools. The entry level subscription is $10 per user per month. 

Project Plan 3 vs Project Pro Online

Used to be: $30/month per user
Is now: $30/month per user

Previously known as the “Professional” tier, Project Plan 3 gives access to Project Online and you can use Project Online Desktop Application (Project Pro) for users looking for more functionality and flexibility than those on Plan 1. All the features of Plan 1 are included in Plan 3, but users can also create roadmaps to success, set tasks, add team members, and view the entire project from a top-down perspective. Plan 3 also allows for full integration with the Power Platform, including PowerApps, Power BI, and Microsoft Flow. While users can access Project Online and the Desktop Application with Plan 3, some functionality is restricted, like the ability for demand management and enterprise resource planning.

Project Plan 5 vs Project Premium

Used to be: $55/ month per user
Is now: $55/month per user

Formerly the “Premium” edition of Project, Plan 5 is Microsoft’s complete Project subscription package.
Project Plan 5 gives users access to the Project Online Desktop Application and is designed for Enterprise Project Management (EPM) type users. The Project Desktop Application allows Directors to monitor and manage their department’s complete roster of projects from the top down. Project Plan 5 allows Project Managers the most in-depth planning and management tools available. Users at this level can compile smaller projects into master projects, track project resource costs, compare planned budgets and resources to actual real-world data, and even set baselines to monitor performance against historical data. Plan 5 also opens additional functionality in Project Online not available in Project Plan 3.

Project Essentials

Project Essentials was an add on for Project Online which provided the most commonly used features for task-level workers, but required that you also have Project Online Professional or Premium to actually use Essentials. With Project for the web, Essentials has stayed, essentially, the same, providing team member functionality. Team members with Project Online Essentials can:

  • Only use a web based interface.
  • Update tasks, issues, and risks.
  • Submit timesheets
  • Share documents and collaborate with Microsoft Teams users.

If you have a Project Plan 3 or Plan 5 license, you can purchase Project Essentials for task workers.

How Do I Control Project Online Costs?

For clients that are currently contracted for Project Essentials, you will not feel any impact on pricing until you renew your contract. For Project Pro Online and Premium Online users there really is not much of a pricing impact. The real key to control costs is ensuring that you subscribe your end-users to the correct licensing tier. There is a big difference in costs between E1 and E5, and so often we see companies buying higher level licenses for users that only need E1s.

Understanding the hierarchy of Microsoft’s pricing scheme is essential to making a smart buying decision.

For task-level team members, Plan 1 should suffice. Users at this subscription level can communicate with each other, share files and resources, can monitor the timeline and task lists, as well as submit timesheets. While the feature list is limited, Plan 1 is designed to allow teams to complete their assignments without interrupting the planning process.

Project Managers will want at least Project Plan 3 since this tier makes the real planning tools available. Anyone who is active in the planning process of the project, assigns tasks, is authorized to make approvals or requests, or needs to closely monitor performance and resources, will require at least this level of subscription.

Project Plan 5 is designed for organizations that want Enterprise Project Management (EPM) functionality and who need full control of their project environment and portfolio. Not all users will require Plan 5, but users that are planning, tracking, and managing projects across a department or company likely will.

Where To Go From Here

Now that you have a better understanding of the Project platform, you can make an informed decision regarding the subscriptions your organization needs. If you are considering purchasing licenses for Microsoft Project and would like more information about negotiating a contract with Microsoft, our learning center is full of useful information for you to use, or you can reach out to us and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.