Summary
What areas should we focus on while considering cost savings in Microsoft Cloud and licensing in 2022?
Microsoft 365
First and foremost, fine-tuning and real-time management of Microsoft 365 licenses should be prioritised.
The average savings you can achieve by reprofiling your Microsoft 365 "personas"—licenses that you give your users—plus by re-harvesting licenses assigned to leavers and people who do not need them is about 18% of your entire Microsoft 365 budget.
Considering that Microsoft 365's share in your budget may be between 60 and 80%, that is undoubtedly the first thing to consider.
Server licenses
But it shouldn't be the only one. While we appreciate that on-premises deployments are shrinking, we don't see that as a reason to neglect to optimise your server licensing estate.
The average cost savings are about 30 to 35 per cent of the server software budget.
Cloud migrations
The third focus should be on migrations to the Cloud.
If you're not using Azure Hybrid Benefits in Azure and reservations in all the Cloud platforms, you're not doing your job right. Sorry, but there's no way to put it lightly. Because these two tools are so easy to use, they're available to you now.
And the cherry on the cake here is that you can turn them on right now without changing how your Azure is working. You can apply those savings in the background right now, so why don't you? And why don't you have it in the focus of your attention in 2022?
There's another benefit of Azure compared to other Cloud platforms. You are granted a 180-day period during which you can dual-run licenses. You may use them at the same time on-premises and in the Cloud. During that period, if you plan your migration around that 180-day window, you remain compliant and do not have to pay twice.
CSP or EA, or both?
Number four is to review various contracting scenarios.
Some of you may not need CSP, and some may be okay with just an Enterprise Agreement. It's still available and maybe your best one-stop option.
And on the other hand, for some of you, a mixture of agreements may bring additional benefits. Continually benchmark various scenarios. That may be a significant area of cost savings for you as well.
March 2022 price increase
And I probably don't have to remind you: March 2022 is coming. So, think about early renewals. Keep your Microsoft 365 costs below, unaffected by the promised price hike.
Talk to a Licensing economics expert
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