Phase 1: Optimal Licensing Solution.
License optimization is the strategic management of software licenses to maximize their usage efficiency and minimize unnecessary costs. In essence, it involves ensuring that organizations have the right number and type of licenses for their software needs, neither underutilizing nor overspending on licenses. In this process we do an assessment of the software inventory, identifying how many licenses were bought, which licenses are in use and how frequently they are utilized.
Historical Pricing Analysis
We start the inventory phase by analyzing your current Microsoft Contract. This involves assessing the current pricing structure, identifying any amendments in place, reviewing the Customer Price Sheet, and determining what is included. This analysis provides insight into the current commercial structure and serves as the foundation for optimizing your estate.
License Entitlement Analysis
Based on our assessment of the current Microsoft contract, we generate the current Bill of Material, which includes the list of products, licenses, and amendments that could potentially provide license entitlements too.
Server & Cloud Subscriptions analysis
We then delve deeper into the actual installations and usage of the software. This is where the ‘data’ comes into play. We analyze three different areas:
- On-premises installations
- Microsoft Cloud Subscriptions
- Azure Consumption
The on-premises data comes from your existing tools such as vCenter, Active Directory, SNOW, Flexera, SAM Pro, Lansweeper, or other tooling. To analyze Microsoft Cloud Subscriptions and Azure, we use our tooling to provide us with the necessary data to analyze the current usage of the Cloud platforms.
Business needs, Deployment Planning Analysis, and workshops
Through workshops, we define the personas within the organization and gather the business requirements and technology roadmap for each persona. These workshops involve not only mapping the appropriate technology to each persona but also serve as knowledge-sharing sessions to inform and challenge you regarding potentially more cost-effective options.
Provide and validate Cost Reduction and Optimization Strategies
After analyzing all the data and determining future demand, we will identify all opportunities to optimize the license estate. This provides you with insight into all possible cost reductions and optimization strategies. We will present this information in a management summary.
Optimized Bill of Material
Here, we conduct our cost modeling based on your business needs and our knowledge of the most cost-effective, or in-market terms, the ‘Optimized BOM.’ This process provides an overview of the current costs and licenses, the minimum license scenario, the required license scenario, and potential future demand.
Phase 2: Optimal Contractual Solution
Best-in-Class-ContractKnowledge Hub
Microsoft Customer Agreement for Enterprise (MCA-E): What You Need to Know
Microsoft Licensing Changes for December
