A global manufacturing client of strong engineering heritage was approaching the renewal of its Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA). While previous licensing efforts had already been audited, the organization was still exposed to sharp price increases and misaligned commitments. With the EA coming due, the company engaged 2‑Data to align its technology roadmap with financial and operational goals: optimizing license mix, mitigating cost escalation, and strengthening negotiation leverage.
→ Facing Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) renewal under increased pricing pressure.
→ Prior internal optimization left residual inefficiencies and compliance risks.
→ Need to align EA spend with business needs and usage reality.
→ Full technical and licensing inventory across Microsoft 365, Azure, and Windows Server.
→ Persona-based workshops mapped license types to actual user roles.
→ Optimized Bill of Materials (BOM) created to reduce SKU waste and align with future roadmap.
→ Strategic negotiation support with Microsoft based on usage data and global market benchmarks.
→ Significantly reduced cost exposure despite Microsoft’s pricing increases.
→Eliminated misaligned licenses and over-provisioned resources.
→ Secured a favourable contract terms ahead of market benchmarks.
→ Strengthened future compliance posture and true-up predictability.
Microsoft had announced material price increases over the past three years. The client had also downscaled its volume commitments, which complicated the renewal process and threatened budget overruns.
Their estate included Azure, Windows Server, Microsoft 365 and cloud workloads. Ensuring correct SKU alignment, licensing conformity and licensing for varied user types required specialized insight.
Even after prior internal optimization work, there were still inefficiencies. The organization needed deeper insight into real usage versus contractual entitlements to avoid hidden cost risks.
2Data conducted a technical inventory of on‑prem and cloud usage, focusing on Azure spend, Windows Server, and Microsoft 365 licensing profiles. They identified unused or misallocated licenses and mismatch between entitlements and actual consumption.
Through targeted workshops, business personas were defined. This allowed accurate allocation of license tiers aligned to user roles and future technology requirements. Data guided refinement of the optimized Bill of Materials.
Based on usage trends and business needs, 2Data crafted an optimized BOM that removed unnecessary SKU, trimmed spend and anticipated future growth. This minimized license waste and built a defensible position for negotiation.
Leveraging both market pricing insights and license terms expertise, 2Data coached the procurement team to negotiate effectively with Microsoft. This earned concessions and mitigated the impact of price increases, resulting in a better commercial outcome.
Despite expected escalation due to Microsoft’s pricing changes, the negotiated agreement substantially capped costs over the term—avoiding potential budget shock.
Fully aligned license entitlements to actual usage across Azure, Microsoft 365 and server estate—supporting ongoing compliance and cleaner true‑up periods.
Enterprise clients increasingly face rising Microsoft pricing, complex hybrid-license scenarios, and evolving cloud adoption patterns. As licensing complexity grows (especially across Azure and Microsoft 365) organizations require sophisticated partner-led optimization aligned to usage, compliance and strategic objectives.
2Data’s approach demonstrates how deep analytics, persona-driven modelling and negotiation anchored in benchmark insight can deliver real cost relief while preserving operational agility.
2Data’s approach demonstrates how deep analytics, persona-driven modeling and negotiation anchored in benchmark insight can deliver real cost relief while preserving operational agility.
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