We are independent Microsoft licensing consultants who represent the buyer and never Microsoft. Former Microsoft licensing directors review your EA, Microsoft 365, and Azure estate and recover spend that the standard renewal process is designed to keep.
Microsoft sells through its own account teams and through resellers who earn margin on what you buy. Neither party has a commercial interest in reducing your spend. An independent consultant holds no reseller agreement, takes no Microsoft incentive, and earns nothing from the size of your contract. That single structural difference is where recovery comes from.
Most enterprise Microsoft estates carry three recoverable layers: editions that exceed actual feature use, true-up counts that overstate real deployment, and Azure commitments sized to the vendor proposal rather than to consumption. Our reviews quantify each layer against your actual telemetry, then convert the findings into a negotiation position. The full model sits in our complete Microsoft licensing guide.
We work alongside the wider Microsoft practice, drawing on the same former Microsoft licensing directors who structured these agreements from the vendor side. The result is a buyer who walks into the renewal knowing the discount bands, the approval thresholds, and the concessions that are genuinely available.
Independent Microsoft reviews recover a median of 23 to 38 percent of annual Microsoft spend in the first contract cycle, and the recovery is not evenly spread. The table below shows how that figure typically breaks down across an enterprise estate, drawn from advisor-led Microsoft engagements during 2024 to 2026.
The pattern holds across industries because the same incentives produce the same overspend. Editions drift upward because E5 is the default proposal. True-up counts inflate because internal teams lack clean directory data. Azure commitments oversize because they follow the vendor proposal rather than measured consumption. Each is recoverable with evidence.
| Recovery category | Typical share of first-cycle recovery |
|---|---|
| Edition right-sizing (E5 to E3, E3 to F3) | 40 to 55 percent |
| True-up baseline correction | 15 to 25 percent |
| Azure commitment sizing and Hybrid Benefit | 15 to 25 percent |
| Add-on de-duplication against E5 bundles | 5 to 10 percent |
The independence lever: a reseller earns margin on what you buy, so its incentive runs opposite to yours. An independent review answers to the buyer only, which is why it surfaces the recovery a reseller has no reason to find.
We convert each finding into a defensible position with the supporting evidence, then carry it into the renewal so the recovery is realized in the contract rather than left as a recommendation.
Independent reviews of large Microsoft estates surface the same recoverable categories. These are the five that move the most spend.
Microsoft 365 E5 carries roughly a 40 percent premium over E3, yet utilization data routinely shows under half the population using any E5-only capability. Matching edition to measured use is usually the single largest recovery line. See our E5 versus E3 cost analysis.
The annual true-up defaults to overstating deployment because internal teams lack clean user counts. A pre-true-up reconciliation against directory data commonly removes 15 to 24 percent of the anticipated charge. Detail sits in our true-up preparation guide.
Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitments are frequently proposed above real run-rate. Sizing the commitment to consumption, then layering Reserved Instances and Azure Hybrid Benefit, protects against both overage and stranded commitment.
Security, voice, and compliance add-ons are often purchased separately while already bundled inside E5. A line-by-line entitlement map removes the duplication before renewal.
Account teams position Microsoft 365 Copilot as standard at $30 per user per month. A measured pilot keeps commitment proportional to proven value rather than to the vendor's rollout target. See our Copilot advisory.
Staying on an Enterprise Agreement when an MCA-E or CSP would price the same estate lower is a common and expensive default. The vehicle decision belongs in scope at every renewal, covered in our negotiation practice.
Full Microsoft license estate review across the EA, MCA-E, and CSP, with edition rationalization and renewal positioning.
Learn More →Microsoft Negotiation ServicesMicrosoft EA RenewalMicrosoft Audit DefenseMicrosoft Licensing ExpertsOracle Licensing ExpertsOracle Negotiation ServicesOracle License ConsultantOracle Audit DefenseSAP Licensing ExpertsIBM Licensing ExpertsIBM Audit DefenseSalesforce Negotiation ServicesWorkday Negotiation AdvisorsServiceNow Negotiation AdvisorsAzure commitment structuring, MACC sizing, Reserved Instances, and Savings Plans benchmarked against comparable enterprise deals.
Learn More →Copilot, Azure OpenAI, and Copilot Studio licensing with value validation, phased rollout, and contract protections.
Learn More →Microsoft 365, Teams, and Dynamics 365 shelfware identification, edition fit, and annual true-up preparation.
Learn More →Microsoft SAM and compliance reviews managed from notification to settlement by former Microsoft licensing staff.
Learn More →The Microsoft EA Guide, Copilot Licensing Handbook, and NCE Transition Playbook, free for enterprise IT and procurement leaders.
Download EA Guide →A global industrial manufacturer engaged us nine months before a three-year Enterprise Agreement renewal covering 22,000 Microsoft 365 seats, Azure consumption, and a large Windows Server and SQL Server footprint. Microsoft had proposed a full E5 standard and an Azure commitment 28 percent above current run-rate.
Our review matched edition to measured feature use, identified 7,400 seats with no E5-only activity across the prior year, and reconciled the true-up against active directory accounts rather than the inflated planning number. On Azure, we resized the commitment to actual consumption and applied Hybrid Benefit across the SQL Server estate.
Total recovery was $4.6M over the agreement term, comprising $2.9M in edition rationalization, $0.8M in true-up correction, and $0.9M in Azure commitment and Hybrid Benefit savings, with every contractual protection preserved.
A practical guide to EA structuring, Microsoft 365 edition fit, Azure commitment sizing, and renewal benchmarks, written by former Microsoft licensing directors.
"They found E5 over-provisioning we had carried for three renewal cycles and rebuilt our Azure commitment around what we actually consume. The fee paid back many times over."VP IT Procurement, Global Industrial Manufacturer
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We identify recoverable spend across your EA, Microsoft 365, and Azure estate within two weeks, with no reseller agenda.