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Microsoft licensing, advised before it is sold

Microsoft licensing spans several purchasing programmes, and the right one depends on your size, contract appetite and how quickly your seat count changes. We model the options before quoting one.

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Most organisations do not have a Microsoft pricing problem. They have a Microsoft licensing-model problem: paying for an edition nobody uses, holding seats assigned to people who left, or committed to a three-year agreement sized against growth that did not happen.

We start by establishing what you actually hold and what is actually being used, then price the programme that fits. Sometimes that produces a smaller order than the one you asked for. We will still say so.

The purchasing programmes, compared honestly

Cloud Solution Provider (CSP)

Annual or monthly terms through a partner, with seats addable at any point and reducible at the anniversary. Billed in INR with GST. The right answer for most organisations below roughly 250 seats.

Volume licensing agreements

Three-year commitments with price protection and Software Assurance benefits. Worth modelling from around 250 seats, and usually the better answer above 500 where headcount is stable.

Perpetual licensing

Windows Server, SQL Server and Office LTSC remain available perpetually. Suits capital budgets and systems where any change requires revalidation — not general knowledge work.

Where Microsoft spend usually leaks

  • Seats still assigned to people who have left — disabling an account does not release its licence
  • Users on E5 or Business Premium who use none of the capability the tier adds
  • Separate endpoint, email security and MDM products duplicating what Business Premium already includes
  • Enterprise agreements sized against optimistic headcount growth and then committed for three years
  • Windows Server CALs under-counted, which is a compliance exposure rather than a saving
  • Azure resources migrated at their on-premises specification and never right-sized

Microsoft licensing in the catalogue

Full catalogue

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Moving the billing relationship to a Cloud Solution Provider is an administrative change. Your tenant, data, configuration and users are unaffected, and there is no downtime.

Yes. Subscriptions through CSP, and perpetual licences such as Windows Server, SQL Server and Office LTSC through volume licensing. We will price both where both are viable for your scenario.

Additions can be made at any time. Reductions take effect at the subscription anniversary, which is why the renewal date is the point at which a genuine review is worth doing.

Related pages

Microsoft 365Plan comparison and seat sizingMicrosoft licensing guideCSP, EA and volume licensing comparedMicrosoft CSPHow partner-led purchasing worksMicrosoft 365 deploymentTenant design and migration

Get a Microsoft licensing position

Send us your current subscriptions and seat counts. We will tell you what you are paying for that nobody uses, and where you are exposed.

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