FinOps and Microsoft 365: the right license for the right purpose?
The problem: the complexity of Microsoft 365 subscriptions and the extra costs they entail
I've taken an inventory of the various Microsoft 365 licenses currently on the market. And the list is long, to say the least! There are no fewer than 610 different subscriptions. And that's not counting Microsoft Azure services and the different types of commitment and billing (monthly, annual).
Among these 610 subscriptions, we can list the main families:
- General plans (Business, Enterprise, Education)
- Single products to be added to general plans (Power BI, Visio, etc.)
- Security products (Defender plans, Entra ID, etc.)
- Dynamics range (CRM/ERP)
- Windows licenses
- Telephony products
Other problems are compounded by price changes and the obsolescence of certain subscriptions. For example, recently, following new regulations from the European Commission, Microsoft was forced to offer subscription plans without Teams.
The solution: the FinOps approach and associated tools
The equation we need to solve is: "Based on my actual usage, what is the most appropriate licensing plan?"
The question is simple. Given the number of parameters involved, the answer is much less so. This is where the FinOps approach comes in, aimed at optimizing the costs of cloud products(FinOps Foundation - What is FinOps?).
This complexity requires real expertise, but often results in substantial savings (on average around 20% of the licensing budget).
C’est pour cette raison que nous avons développé l’outil freemium 365Metrics afin d’avoir une vision claire sur les optimisations possible sur le plan de licences à partir d’une analyse automatique des usages sans y passer des heures tous les mois.
Pas encore convaincu(e) ? On vous donne rendez-vous le 11 décembre 2025 à 12h pour vous donner toutes les informations utiles (inscription gratuite mais obligatoire).
