Skip to content

Licensing and commercial optimisation

Renewal is coming
and nobody can explain
the number.

Microsoft licensing gets complicated quietly. People join and leave, roles change, Power Platform grows, and one day the renewal quote arrives with a total nobody can account for. The way out is not a discount hunt. It is knowing what people actually do, what you already own, and what you can safely stop paying for.

See how a review works

The right licence follows the work someone does, not the title they happen to have.

Sound familiar?

Licence cost rarely grows on purpose.

These are the things finance and IT leaders describe before a licensing review starts.

  • Renewal is coming and nobody can explain the number

    The quote arrives, the total has gone up again, and the reason sits somewhere in a spreadsheet nobody owns.

  • We are paying for people who left

    Leavers keep their licence because nothing in the joiner and leaver process removes it.

  • We think we are over-licensed, but nobody will sign it off

    Everyone suspects there is waste. Nobody wants to be the person who took away access somebody needed.

  • Power Platform cost keeps appearing

    Premium connectors, Dataverse and AI capability turn up on the bill after the build, not before it.

  • Somebody mentioned indirect access

    An integration or a portal touches Dynamics data, and nobody is certain where that leaves you.

  • Two people doing the same job have different licences

    Assignment grew by habit rather than by what the role actually requires.

How a review works

Start with the work. The licence follows.

Six steps, and a written position you can put in front of finance.

  1. Start with the work, not the licence: What does this person actually have to do? The licence follows the job, not the job title.
  2. Get the facts on the table: Assignments, active users, security roles, environments and usage, so the conversation is about evidence.
  3. Check it against current Microsoft terms: Licensing rules change. We cite the source we used and the date it was valid.
  4. Look at security roles alongside cost: A broad role granted for convenience can carry both a control weakness and a bill.
  5. Test the changes with the people who own the work: Usage data does not show the occasional task that matters once a quarter. A person does.
  6. Make the change, then keep it true: Update joiner, mover and leaver, set the renewal date, and note what would trigger the next review.

Every recommendation names a source and a date, because the rules change.

What customers say

People who have been through it.

Around 80% of our business comes from existing customers and referrals. These are their words, not ours.

80%

of our business comes from existing customers and referrals.

All customer stories

The best I’ve ever experienced in over 20 years of collaboration.

Programme Manager, Hill & Smith Plc

Four decisions

What you are approving, and when.

Four points where a licensing change has to justify itself, in language a board can follow.

Can we even answer the question?
Gate 1Before any conclusion

Can we even answer the question?

If the evidence is not there, we say so rather than producing a confident number built on assumptions.

Confirmed at this gate

  • Who your users are and what is assigned to them
  • Security roles, environments and capacity
  • Usage evidence, where it exists
  • Your agreement dates and commercial data, where you can share them

Decision

  • Proceed
  • Get more evidence
  • Cannot conclude yet

Swipe, drag or use the arrow keys to move between decisions.

Check the fit

A few questions before a licensing review is scoped.

A routing aid rather than a quote. Your answers come with you into the conversation, so nothing has to be repeated.

Question 1 of 4

0 of 4 answered

1. What is the current situation?

Select one option.

Common questions

Questions leaders ask about licensing.

Part of the InteliSense Delivery System

Licensing is part of how we deliver, not an afterthought.

Licence and commercial design belong alongside architecture, security and adoption, so the running cost of a decision is visible while it can still be changed. Our delivery approach explains where licensing sits in the wider system.

How we deliver

A conversation, not a pitch

What does the renewal look like?

Tell us what is worrying you: a number that has grown, licences you suspect are unused, or a Power Platform bill that keeps changing shape. We will tell you what we would look at first.