Microsoft licensing: advisory, procurement, and optimisation

Typical first-pass licence audit reclaims 15-30% of unused licence spend. Common findings: inactive user accounts still licensed, E5 users who only use E3 features, Power BI Premium Per User users who never use premium features, Dynamics 365 Enterprise users who could move to Team Members, or to Professional in a separate environment, duplicate Power Platform licences. We run audits as fixed-price engagements with guaranteed savings or no fee.

Azure Hybrid Benefit lets you use existing Windows Server and SQL Server core licences with active Software Assurance, or qualifying subscription licences, in Azure at a reduced cost. Microsoft says you can save up to 30% or more on Azure SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance. Windows Server savings depend on VM size and region. Veratas checks whether you are using it during Azure migration.

E3 fits most knowledge workers, Office desktop, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, Entra ID P1, basic Defender. E5 adds advanced security (Defender XDR full suite), advanced compliance (Purview advanced, premium eDiscovery and audit), Teams Phone, and Power BI Pro. Decision driver: do you need the advanced security/compliance stack? If yes, E5 is typically cheaper than buying the equivalent add-ons. Many organisations mix an E3 baseline with E5 for IT, security, finance, and executive teams.

F1: lowest-cost frontline licence ($3/mo), read-only web and mobile Office apps, Teams, Viva Engage, SharePoint, no mailbox. F3: frontline with mailbox ($10/mo), adds 2GB mailbox, web Outlook, Forms, and editing in web and mobile Office apps. Both prices include Teams. Designed for shop-floor, retail, healthcare aides, high-volume, low-content-creation roles. Moving eligible frontline roles from full E3 to F1 or F3 cuts their licence cost; Microsoft's frontline eligibility rules apply.

Power Apps per app: $5 per user per app per month, for one custom app or Power Pages site in one environment; since January 2026 Microsoft has limited its availability to new customers. Power Apps Premium (formerly per user): $20/user/month, unlimited apps. Decision: under 4 apps per user → per app; 4 or more → Premium, since four per-app licences cost the same as Premium. Power Automate: Premium at $15/user/month for premium connectors, or a Process licence at $150/month, which replaced the per-flow plan in February 2024 and licenses a flow whatever the user's licence. Choose based on flow volume and user distribution.

Yes, unless your plan already includes it (Microsoft 365 E7, or Business Standard or Premium with Copilot). It is an add-on to a qualifying Microsoft 365 or Office 365 plan, at $30/user/month on an annual commitment, or $21 as Microsoft 365 Copilot Business on a Microsoft 365 Business plan, for up to 300 users. The Sales, Service and Finance agents are included, though you still need the CRM or ERP they connect to.

Not mid-term. Moving from an EA to CSP happens when the EA expires. Moving from CSP to an EA means setting annual CSP subscriptions to cancel at their end date, because they can only be cancelled in their first seven days. Veratas handles the licence migration mechanics and plans the cut-over to avoid service interruption.

We invoice in your local currency (USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, CAD, INR, AED supported as primary) using Microsoft's regional reseller pricing. Multi-entity clients get separate invoices per entity. VAT/GST handled per region. Annual licence price reviews aligned to Microsoft's commercial price changes.

Customer data stays in the same Microsoft tenant, moving CSP changes the commercial relationship, not the technical hosting. No data migration required. You accept a partner relationship request in the Microsoft 365 admin center, a transfer request goes to your current partner, and they approve it. Microsoft says a transfer takes up to 72 hours once approved.

Nothing. The licensing review is free and carries no obligation. We look at your current Microsoft 365, Dynamics, and Azure licences and show you where you are over or under-licensed, with clear cost-saving recommendations.

You get a short summary with right-sizing and cost-saving recommendations you can act on, with us or on your own. If you choose to buy your Microsoft licences through us as your CSP partner, you get a partner who manages renewals and advises on the right plan, at the same licence price.