Case Study
Driving 37.5% Microsoft Licensing Cost Savings for a U.S. IT Staffing Enterprise
Organization-Wide Microsoft License Audit and Optimization by Salzer Technologies
Client Overview
A U.S.-based Fortune 5000 IT staffing company, and a subsidiary of a $1.3 billion enterprise, was managing Microsoft licenses across hundreds of employees. Over time, licenses had been added incrementally to support growth, projects, and employee needs. However, without a centralized licensing strategy, the company faced rising costs, duplicate entitlements, and limited visibility into actual license usage.
As a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, Salzer Technologies partnered with the organization to conduct a comprehensive Microsoft license audit and implement a cost-optimized licensing model aligned to employee roles, usage patterns, and business flexibility.
Business Challenge
The client’s Microsoft licensing environment had become fragmented and costly. Different license pools had accumulated over time, with users assigned various Microsoft SKUs based on historical purchases, immediate requirements, or department-level decisions.
This created several business and operational challenges:
- Duplicate or overlapping licenses across users.
- Employees assigned licenses higher than their actual need.
- Older Microsoft licenses still in use where newer, better-value options were available.
- Limited visibility into license utilization by role and function.
- Difficulty balancing cost savings with the staffing industry’s need for workforce flexibility.
With Microsoft continuously introducing new productivity, collaboration, cloud, and AI-enabled offerings, the client needed expert guidance to ensure the right users had the right licenses at the right cost.
Salzer’s Approach
Salzer conducted an organization-wide Microsoft licensing audit to identify savings opportunities and establish a more efficient licensing structure.
The audit focused on:
- Reviewing all Microsoft licenses assigned across the organization.
- Mapping licenses to employee roles, responsibilities, and actual usage.
- Identifying duplicate, underused, outdated, or over-provisioned licenses.
- Evaluating lower-cost Microsoft alternatives without compromising required capabilities.
- Simplifying the SKU mix to improve governance and reduce recurring spend.
- Designing a purchase model that balanced long-term savings with staffing flexibility.
The audit revealed that the client’s licensing model had grown reactively over the years. Salzer transformed this fragmented model into a structured, role-based licensing strategy.
Solution Implemented
Salzer recommended and supported a right-sized Microsoft licensing model that reduced waste, simplified management, and preserved essential productivity capabilities.
License Right-Sizing
Salzer reviewed actual usage and role requirements to remove unnecessary license assignments and align each user with the most appropriate Microsoft plan.
SKU Simplification
Eligible users were migrated from Office 365 E3 to Microsoft 365 Business Premium, maintaining core collaboration and productivity capabilities, including 1TB OneDrive storage, at a lower overall cost.
Reduction of Overlapping Licenses
Teams Premium licenses were retired where functionality could be consolidated into Microsoft 365 Business Premium, reducing overlap and lowering the blended licensing rate.
Flexible Purchase Strategy
To support the client’s dynamic staffing model, Salzer proposed a balanced commitment structure:
- Approximately 75% Annual Commit / Monthly Payment for predictable, cost-effective licensing.
- Approximately 25% Monthly Commit / Monthly Payment to support employee additions, exits, and project-based staffing changes.
This gave the client both financial savings and operational flexibility.
Technology Stack
Category
Technology / Platform
Results and Impact
Salzer’s intervention delivered measurable cost savings and improved Microsoft license governance across the organization.
37.5% Reduction in Monthly Licensing Spend
By eliminating duplicate licenses, retiring unnecessary SKUs, and aligning licenses to actual employee needs, the client reduced monthly Microsoft licensing spend by 37.5%.
37% Reduction in License Count
The total number of licenses was reduced by 37%, ensuring that active licenses were aligned to real business requirements.
Lower Blended Licensing Cost
By moving eligible users to Microsoft 365 Business Premium and consolidating overlapping products, the client achieved a lower overall blended licensing rate without compromising core productivity needs.
Improved Governance and Visibility
The client moved from a fragmented licensing environment to a structured, role-based model with clearer visibility into license allocation, utilization, and future purchasing decisions.
Flexibility for Workforce Changes
The hybrid commitment model allowed the client to capture annual commitment savings while retaining monthly flexibility for a changing staffing workforce.
ROI Summary
Salzer helped the client convert Microsoft licensing from a recurring cost burden into a measurable savings and governance opportunity.
Key outcomes:
- 37.5% reduction in monthly Microsoft licensing spend.
- 37% reduction in total license count.
- Removal of duplicate and overlapping licenses.
- Migration from higher-cost legacy SKUs to better-value Microsoft 365 plans.
- Simplified Microsoft SKU structure.
- Improved role-based license governance.
- Flexible purchase model suited to staffing industry dynamics.
- Stronger ROI from Microsoft technology investments.
Conclusion
Microsoft licensing can become complex and expensive when licenses are added over time without periodic review or centralized governance. For staffing organizations, the challenge is even greater because employee counts and project needs can change frequently.
Salzer Technologies helped this IT staffing partner regain control of its Microsoft licensing environment, reduce recurring costs, and improve the value delivered from its Microsoft investment.
Through a structured audit, Microsoft CSP expertise, and a practical license optimization strategy, Salzer delivered a clear and measurable ROI while creating a sustainable licensing model for the future.