Microsoft EA Success Story: Anglepoint Optimizes Licensing For Manufacturing Client

The client had two significant challenges to overcome with the new user-based model to license all of their employees.

Firstly, their previous Microsoft EA had one licensing SKU to license all employees for Windows, Office, and CALs (Client Access Licenses). This was split into two types of users: ‘knowledge’ workers and ‘shift’ workers. The knowledge workers used Microsoft software every day in the office and would consume one whole license. The shift workers shared workstations and infrequently would use email and other Microsoft products to complete their tasks, so the contract stated that seven shift workers would equal one user license. This calculation was working well, but with the modern M365 SKU, it wasn’t possible to mirror this type of calculation.

Secondly, since the initial Microsoft EA was signed in 2022 with base user license counts, the client’s employee base has grown by 27% as the demand for the client’s products continues to grow. This would potentially mean a large unbudgeted Microsoft true-up for user licenses as all their employees must be licensed to use the M365 suite of products. As the client’s organization is so large and complex, they had not yet moved all employees to the new M365 product, so they were still using older versions of Microsoft products. There was no easy way for them to determine accurately which employees were knowledge or shift workers. The data they were using was inaccurate and redacted, and they needed Anglepoint’s expertise to help them navigate the situation, appropriately licensing all their employees and avoiding unnecessary additional Microsoft subscription costs.

Anglepoint worked closely with HR and the Workspace solutions team to create a defendable rubric to identify knowledge workers. Once Anglepoint could determine the total employee count and then identify knowledge workers, by default, the difference between those two figures would be the shift workers. Anglepoint used CMDB and IT asset data to determine which users had a PC assigned to them and then deemed them knowledge workers, as shift workers do not have assigned PCs. By using multiple IT and HR systems, Anglepoint was able to help the client implement a repeatable process to assign knowledge worker licenses correctly. Once the calculations were complete, they showed that the headcount growth meant the client currently had more employees than subscription licenses.

As the M365 rollout was incomplete, they were unable to use the provisioned user counts reported in the Azure Portal as these would have been inaccurate. With F5 being an enterprise product, it required all knowledge users to be licensed. However, Anglepoint recommended that the client reduce their F3 subscription costs as it is not an “enterprise” product and it had not been fully deployed for 2024. This meant significant cost savings for 2024 and beyond.

The additional knowledge worker count would have equated to an annual cost of $10M in additional subscription licenses in 2024. Fortunately, through Anglepoint’s advice and expert timing, the client was able to put in a “reservation” during anniversary which meant they wouldn’t need to pay for these software licenses until the following true-up period in May 2025 because of Microsoft accounting rules, thus improving cash flow for the client in 2024 while still maintaining compliance.

The client can manage the license allocation moving forward with the repeatable process for future employee licensing, integrating multiple IT and HR systems for ongoing efficiency.