Microsoft 365 has been the go-to platform for workplace productivity, facilitating seamless communication and collaboration across its extensive suite of cloud-based applications. Managing M365 effectively requires visibility and control, especially during times of big business growth, but this is often where organisations struggle.

What are the barriers to effective M365 management?

One of the biggest issues that businesses face is wasted money on unused licenses. Without intuitive or granular data into active usage, it’s difficult to assess licensing needs across departments or teams.

This can lead to dormant accounts, improper permissions, or non-compliant usage, exposing the business to security or audit risks. Equally, there is a real issue with keeping license records updated in the case of leavers and joiners. Employees come and go, but licenses often remain active or forgotten.

The impact extends to finance teams who need accurate data to determine how to distribute software costs across the organisation. Without proper reporting though, it’s hard to factor M365 expenses to the appropriate cost centres.

What should businesses look for in 365 management software?

To get the most out of an investment, businesses need to know what they should expect from their tech from the outset.When it comes to Microsoft 365, here’s a checklist for what to look out for:

1.      Comprehensive license management. Your software should allow you to track, optimise and reassign licenses easily.

2.     Clear cost allocation. Make sure you choose a solution that helps break down and allocate costs by department, user group or whatever division is most useful for you.

3.     Automatic reporting and advanced analytics. Getting your data more organised is only half the battle; your tool should leverage analytics to help you maximiseROI.

4.    User-friendly dashboards. The solution dashboard should be customisable, visually clear and easy to use for every team, including both IT and non-technical stakeholders.

5.     Seamless integration. The ideal solution should integrate directly with Microsoft APIs to capture real-time and accurate data.

6.    Security and compliance monitoring. Your tool should help you identify unused accounts, unusual user patterns and overlooked permission errors.

7.     Easy scalability. Your chosen solution should be able to grow with your business, including support for multi-tenant environments if needed.

8.    Customer support and onboarding. Alongside the tech, you should find a solution provider that delivers ongoing support, onboarding assistance and access to training resources.

Benefits of choosing Soft-ex

Managing Microsoft 365 shouldn’t become a headache for your business. To make it a painless process, Soft-ex’s 365Analyser…

…proactively tracks and manages your license renewal dates

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Missing deadlines is a root cause of unnecessary licenses renewals. So instead of leaving it to chance, we provide a consolidated view of all yourMicrosoft license agreements, including important dates. This provides teams with plenty of time to assess current usage, negotiate renewal terms and avoid unexpected cost hikes or service disruptions. In short, we make sure you only pay for what you need.

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…implements robust policies and procedures for license allocation

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Permission errors can cause significant problems later down the line if left unchecked. That’s why we help establish clear policies and procedures for license allocation to make sure the right person always has the right license.By monitoring user activity, teams can tailor license assignments to specific roles and needs. The platform identifies inactive accounts so that teams can decommission or reallocate as needed.

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…continuously monitors for Microsoft license changes

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It’s not just internal factors that can trigger change. We deliver insights into current license consumption so teams can make an informed decision should they need to reassess in the face of changes from Microsoft. With a greater understanding of the features included in each license type and how each is being used, it becomes a lot easier to identify where upgrades or downgrades are needed.Having this information at their fingertips allows businesses to respond quickly to license changes, minimising potential disruption to operations and unnecessary, unexpected costs.

Do you want to take all the pain out of managing your Microsoft 365 suite? Find out how Soft-ex can help by getting in touch today.

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Microsoft 365 sits at the heart of modern businesses, yet many struggle with their license management. According to Gartner, not only do businesses end up paying for unused licenses, but fewer than 10% feel they are getting maximum value from their investments.

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Businesses are actively seeking solutions to control and optimise their Microsoft spending, so we’ve put together three top tips for effective Microsoft license management, alongside how Soft-ex’s 365 Analyser solution can help every step of the way.

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1. Proactively track and manage license renewal dates

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A great place to start is license renewal dates. When you’re head down in the day-to-day, it’s very easy to lose track of when renewals need to be completed (or contracts cancelled) by. Without clear visibility into start and end dates, organisations can easily find themselves locked into unfavourable contracts, left to then pay for another year of unwanted licenses, or not enough licenses for the team.

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But Soft-ex’s 365 Analyser can help. Instead of relying on memory alone, or simply overlooking one of the deadlines, Soft-ex provides a consolidated view of all your Microsoft license agreements, including important dates. This provides teams with plenty of time to assess current usage, negotiate renewal terms and avoid unexpected cost hikes or service disruptions. In short, we make sure you only pay for what you need.

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2. Implement robust policies and procedures for license allocation

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One of the biggest contributors to ineffective license management is not having the right information to inform license allocation. Take joiners and leavers; given the amount of onboarding and offboarding hoops there are to jump through, it’s not uncommon for Microsoft licenses to be left off the checklist. In some cases, when new workers join, they’re automatically assigned a higher tier license where it’s not required. Then, when someone leaves, licenses are left unassigned and subsequently overlooked when it comes to renewals – meaning wasted spend.  

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Soft-ex’s 365 Analyser helps establish clear policies and procedures for license allocation to make sure the right person always has the right license. By monitoring user activity, teams can tailor license assignments to specific roles and needs. The platform identifies inactive accounts so that teams can decommission or reallocate as needed.

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3. Proactively monitor for Microsoft license changes

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Microsoft licensing changes fairly regularly, which can cause big problems for businesses that don’t have visibility. Examples of these updates include price adjustments, changes to feature sets within different tiers (like E3 and E5), and modifications to consumption models are common occurrences. It can come as a shock to businesses when their bill unexpectedly spikes, and once again leaves teams feeling out of control of their spend.

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Soft-ex’s 365 Analyser delivers insights into current license consumption so teams can make an informed decision should they need to reassess in the face of changes from Microsoft. With a greater understanding of the features included in each license type and how each is being used, it becomes a lot easier to identify where upgrades or downgrades are needed. Having this information at their fingertips allows businesses to respond quickly to license changes, minimising potential disruption to operations and unnecessary, unexpected costs.  

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If you’re ready to guarantee maximum value from your Microsoft licenses, get in touch today to find out how our 365 Analyser could help you.

FAIRFAX,VA / WidePoint Corporation(NYSE American:WYY), the innovative enterprise cyber security and mobile technology provider, announced that its subsidiary Soft-ex Communications has just launched M365 Analyzer solution for Microsoft clients.

This new M365 Analyzer solution delivers a unique dashboard, detailing volumes and costs with clear ROIs and actionable insights. The solution also includes a new License Management module to manage typical challenges of M365 optimization including purchased but unassigned licenses; unused or underutilized licenses; and duplicated licenses. Gartner has indicated that companies could achieve anaverage of 30% reduction in cost by more active management of their M365 licenses.

Tangible benefits for Enterprises include compelling cost savings by optimizing licenses and enhanced visibility to continually manage M365 subscriptions more effectively. Additional benefits include improved compliance and risk management, ensuring that licenses are used correctly and meet internal policy requirements and if required, reallocated to where they are needed most withinthe organization.

Ian Sparling CEO of Soft-ex stated: "We are delighted to launch this new solution at a time when companies are reassessing and optimizing their Microsoft infrastructure. For the channels and distributors of Microsoft Modern Workplace solutions, who also sell our M365 Analyzer solution, they can benefit from gaining incremental recurring revenue with increased margins and a solution which allows them to differentiate service offerings and achieve true customer loyalty."

Jin Kang,CEO of WidePoint added: "Soft-ex is constantly innovating. With much of the business world and government using Microsoft solutions, it is of significant value-add that Soft-ex now launches a solution to optimize this M365 landscape."

About WidePoint
WidePoint Corporation (NYSE American:WYY) is a leading technology Managed Solution Provider (MSP) dedicated to securing and protecting the mobile workforce and enterprise landscape. WidePoint is recognized for pioneering technology solutions that include Identity & Access Management (IAM), Mobility Managed Services (MMS), Telecom Management, Information Technology as a Service, Cloud Security, and Analytics & Billing as a Service (ABaaS). To learn more, visit https://www.widepoint.com

About Soft-ex
Soft-ex is part of the WidePoint Group. Soft-ex provides organizations with actionable intelligence to help extract value and derive opportunities from their communication and collaboration data. Backed by a growing roster of global partners, Soft-ex is trusted by organizations across the public and private sectors in over 90 countries. Headquartered in Ireland, Soft-ex is a Microsoft Gold partner. To learn about Soft-ex and M365 Analyzer or to schedule a demonstration, please contact sales@soft-ex.net or visit soft-ex.net.

WidePointInvestor Relations:
Gateway Group, Inc.
Matt Glover or John Yi
949-574-3860
WYY@gateway-grp.com

SOURCE: WidePointCorporation

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