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Many companies can save a fortune on Dynamics 365 licences! What steps can you take?

Most organisations work purposefully to eliminate unnecessary costs, and this can be a simple exercise. For example, you can quickly see if the number of meeting rooms corresponds to your needs, or if there are more company cars than managers. But it is harder to gain an overview of certain other costs.

“Many companies pay for expensive software licences they don’t use or licenses that cover far more functionality than a particular user actually needs,” said Salam Al-Obeidi, Senior Business Consultant at Columbus.

For example, one company turned out to have a surplus of 15 of the most expensive Dynamics 365 licences: the equivalent of an unnecessary extra cost of more than £28,000 annually.

“That’s quite a bit of money, and a cost you can eliminate very easily. Saving this money can only be positive for an organisation,” said Salam. However, it is not carelessness or indifference that leads otherwise well-run companies to overspend on licences.

D365 Licenses

It takes a partner to help detect the licences you don’t need

It can be difficult to work out whether, as a Dynamics 365 user, you are properly licensed. You could be paying for functionality you no longer require for example, meaning that if you made simple changes to your licensing, it could make significant cost savings. Therefore, many companies can only really assume that the license composition they pay for corresponds roughly to their needs.

“But that assumption can be both erroneous and costly,” stated Salam.

In the previous example, in addition to the unused licences, the company also discovered that many users were assigned roles and rights in Dynamics 365 that they did not use.

“Like many others, the company paid for each of the users in question to have access to more – and in some cases, even many more!” explained Salam.

Continuous licence analysis can create significant savings

Large companies often have 50-100 Dynamics 365 users, while groups have many more. The annual price range between a basic and the most comprehensive single-user licence fluctuates between around £72 to £1875 per user.

Also, Microsoft’s licence terms change from time to time, so customers must keep an eye on them as it could be beneficial for you. You could merge some licence agreements or take advantage of the discount license agreements available to you.

“That’s why we have developed a service – Licence Optimisation Reporting – which continuously analyses and reports on a company’s Dynamics 365 licences. For example, we look at whether your company has user licences they no longer use. You’d be surprised how many we find tucked away here and there,” said Salam.

D365 Licenses

Automated review provides secure knowledge

Columbus consultants also have tools that automate the review of user roles, comparing setup with factors that trigger specific types of licences.

“We model the user roles so that the employees retain the necessary functionality and can do their jobs, but without triggering a more expensive licensing step,” said Salam.

Likewise, consultants keep an eye on the company’s overall licensing structure across legal and organisational units. We also continuously review where there may be grounds for optimising the licences or for making use of promotions and discount schemes.

“Ultimately, it’s about paying only for the licences your company actually needs, you being in control of an otherwise opaque field in the company’s cost structure and you being able to document it in black and white to the rest of the management team,” said Salam.

Find out more in our eBook

Now that you understand where you can cut down license costs to improve your financial performance, what are some of the other factors that may impact your latest implementation? In our eBook, we cover the challenges you'll face in detail and how to overcome them, including:

  • How to avoid dropping the ball when the project goes into operation
  • How to maintain and monitor your solution
  • Why you should repeatedly test your solution, even after its go-live

Interested? Get your copy below.

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