Client story Optimising Microsoft Licensing Delivers a Multi-Million Dollar Return
By Insight UK / 27 Sep 2022
By Insight UK / 27 Sep 2022
A global engineering, environmental and strategic consultancy business has over 4,000 employees around the world.
The company had a keen interest in Microsoft 365 E5 and wanted to optimise the value from its Microsoft Enterprise Agreement on renewal. Resources to negotiate the new agreement and deploy E5 services were limited, so Insight’s expertise was engaged.
The company faced several challenges as it prepared to negotiate a new Microsoft agreement. It had concerns over its ability to deploy and adopt new technology, due to limited internal resources. The client did not have the required skills inhouse to allow it to deploy and benefit from a new technology investment, which was preventing it from negotiating a compelling offer from Microsoft.
The business’ security posture required significant improvement – posing a risk for the consultancy company and potentially its clients. Strategic objectives to improve security were costly and required specialist resources to design and deploy the technology. Microsoft 365 E5 has inherent security safeguards, but there were concerns over the time required to implement these technologies with the limited resources available. This would impact the time to value for any new technology and therefore reduce the return on investment.
Insight’s Optimisation and Governance (O&G) consultants carried out a number of remote strategy planning workshops to identify the company’s business priorities and technology goals for the next three to five years.
From the workshop outputs, Insight developed a detailed deployment and adoption roadmap, with a focus on the ‘time to value’ for any new technology investment.
Insight’s proposed solution, Microsoft 365 E5, would address key security posture challenges and maximise the software discount opportunity. Insight negotiated a five-year enrolment term – two years longer than Microsoft’s standard term – to ensure time to value objectives were met. This included a ramped discount period where discounts are higher in years one and two, rise in three, and then level off in the fourth and fifth years. This would ensure optimum value was delivered in the early deployment phase.
To address the resource shortfall for deployment and adoption, Insight secured $150,000 of End Customer Incentive Funding to allow the customer to engage a deployment partner.
Within a strict timeframe, Insight completed the complex assessment and negotiation, providing coaching and support to the customer’s global IT and IT operations teams throughout.
The company has saved millions of dollars with opportunities to drive further cost savings.
Insight was a new supplier for the customer, and this was the first meaningful services engagement between the two parties. Trust in the delivery team was essential, and the relationship flourished using Insight’s proven best practice guidance for optimisation and governance services.
Insight’s Microsoft 365 strategy planning service and deep knowledge of Microsoft’s licensing structure gave the client confidence in the new contract. Under Microsoft’s standard three-year term, the customer would not have made the investment because it wasn’t long enough to get guaranteed benefit from the service.
A major global engineering company approaching its Enterprise Agreement (EA) renewal with Microsoft, engaged Insight to optimise its commercial contract. Insight recommended a move to Microsoft 365 E5 to boost security, secure funding to support deployment, and negotiate an extended enrolment term to improve time to value.
ensures benefit and time to value from the service is achievable.
to support adoption and deployment activities.
achieved through assessment and negotiation for the client.
successfully delivering workshops, negotiating contract and developing a detailed deployment and adoption roadmap in a short time frame.
