Microsoft 365 packs together desktop apps like Word and Excel with cloud services for email, document collaboration, analytics, and more. With so many components then, it’s easy to end up with too many licenses or the wrong type of licenses for your organization’s needs. The gap between what you use and what you pay for results in overspending each and every month. Nevertheless, there are ways to catch and correct this licensing gap.
Auditing Reveals the Scope of the Problem
The first step is an audit of your Microsoft 365 licensing purchases compared to real app and service usage. You may discover:
- Licenses assigned to former employees who are still on the books.
- Expensive subscription plans with unused features.
- More licenses than users across the board.
Monitoring tools help uncover specifics. But getting to the root cause requires a deeper dive into the disjointed processes that allow gaps to emerge.
Quantifying Current Overspending
While auditing and usage monitoring expose the general gap between licenses owned and licenses utilized, putting a dollar figure to current overpayment often sparks urgency to address the situation. Thankfully, Microsoft 365’s Power BI integration helps quantify unnecessary spending through interactive data visualizations. Power BI parses usage metrics against subscription costs to spotlight areas for potential savings. Seeing the true cost of a licensing gap influences stakeholders across the business to get behind initiatives that close gaps. Visibility builds a case for structural changes and drives adoption of license review standards.
How Gaps Happen
IT experts point to the complexity of Microsoft’s offering as a top driver of licensing gaps. With platform names changing over time from Office 365 to Microsoft 365 and licenses varying widely in scope, keeping track requires serious administrative effort.
Other factors stem from internal decisions and failures to sync or optimize. Common scenarios include:
- Leadership requesting bulk license purchases without input on current needs.
- HR failing to notify IT when an employee leaves.
- Managers assigning licenses based on budget rather than actual usage.
Multiplayer impact makes gaps inevitable without thoughtful coordination regarding who needs what and why.
The Cost of the Gap
Licensing gaps don’t just overspend the subscription budget itself. They also:
- Inflate additional investment in unused features.
- Waste IT support and management time on unneeded licenses.
- Distort data around adoption and effectiveness.
- Create compliance and auditing challenges.
Essentially, excess licenses directly undermine optimization at nearly every level.
Regaining Control Through Microsoft 365 Licensing Support
Thankfully, businesses can avail themselves of support to help restore order. Microsoft 365 licensing support specialists like those at Opkalla have deep knowledge of the available subscription plans plus firsthand experience resolving complex licensing dilemmas. An outside perspective spots gaps users and managers are too close to see. Support agents also stay on top of Microsoft’s evolving offerings to match needs with the most fitting editions and license amounts.
Key Areas for Microsoft 365 Licensing Support
Consider support assistance for:
- Auditing and correcting assigned licenses.
- Identifying subscriptions with unused capabilities to downgrade.
- Removing unneeded licenses entirely.
- Confirming discounts for nonprofit and education organizations.
- Ongoing license management via system reports and tools.
Support as Preventative Action
Proactively connecting with Microsoft 365 licensing support also prevents future gaps. Support agents can educate around sticking points like:
- Proper assignment practices as employees come and go.
- IT change management processes to keep licensing data current.
- Getting buy-in for usage-based license planning vs. budget-driven.
- Strategic planning as needs shift.
Conclusion
With a vast administration portal and complex offerings, Microsoft 365 licensing gaps easily emerge. But working with knowledgeable support specialists empowers organizations to spot and fill gaps for spending that truly aligns with utility.