{"id":7658,"date":"2025-07-01T16:55:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T14:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jovoco.io\/fachwissen\/microsoft-365-license-streamlining-how-companies-avoid-unnecessary-costs\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T10:12:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T08:12:06","slug":"microsoft-365-lizenzen-bereinigen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jovoco.io\/en\/knowledge\/microsoft-365-lizenzen-bereinigen","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft 365 license streamlining: How companies avoid unnecessary costs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction: License costs as a blind spot in IT<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Microsoft 365 is a central platform for many companies – flexible, powerful and scalable. But with flexibility comes challenges: License models are complex, user structures change frequently and responsibilities are often not clearly defined. <\/p>\n

The result: many companies pay year after year for licenses that are not used or only partially used. Unnecessary expenditure can be significantly reduced through targeted measures with a Microsoft 365 license clean-up – and without any negative impact on security or productivity. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What does Microsoft 365 license consolidation mean?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A license clean-up is the structured process for checking and optimizing existing Microsoft 365 licenses. The aim is to identify over-licensing, duplicate licenses and inactive users – and then to remove or convert them. <\/p>\n

This is not about saving money at any price, but about licensing in line with requirements<\/strong>. Companies benefit not only financially, but also through an improved overview, IT security and audit capability. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Typical causes of unnecessary license costs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In practice, there are various scenarios that lead to unnecessary license costs:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Employees leave the company<\/strong> but remain active in the system<\/li>\n
  2. Admin rights are distributed decentrally<\/strong>, decisions remain uncoordinated<\/li>\n
  3. Several licenses are combined<\/strong> even though they overlap functionally<\/li>\n
  4. Licenses are allocated on a flat-rate basis<\/strong> instead of according to actual demand<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    All these points are understandable – but avoidable.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    When is a license adjustment worthwhile?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    An audit is particularly useful if:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Your company has grown or has frequent team changes<\/li>\n
    • You operate internationally and use local admin structures<\/li>\n
    • You were surprised during the last audit<\/li>\n
    • Your license costs appear to be above average<\/li>\n
    • you regularly integrate new tools or add-ons into M365<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Especially in medium-sized companies with 500+ employees, there is usually considerable potential for optimization.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      How does a professional M365 license clean-up work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      A good clean-up is based on a clear, repeatable process. This can look like this, for example:<\/p>\n

      1. technical analysis of M365 users<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      With the help of PowerShell scripts, all users are checked according to defined criteria – such as last login, assigned licenses or function overlaps.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      2. structured verification by responsible persons<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      The conspicuous accounts are not deleted automatically, but are presented to certain responsible persons for review – e.g. via SharePoint lists with a traffic light system and comment function.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      3. approval & implementation<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      Only confirmed cases are implemented. Inactive accounts are deactivated, unnecessary licenses are withdrawn and duplicate licenses are consolidated. <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      4. cyclic repetition<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      The clean-up is not carried out once, but established as a recurring process – e.g. quarterly or every six months.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Which tools are used?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      Depending on the company’s setup, the following tools are usually used:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • PowerShell<\/strong> (for scripts & evaluations)<\/li>\n
      • Microsoft Entra ID<\/strong> (formerly Azure AD, for user management)<\/li>\n
      • SharePoint<\/strong> (for verification & feedback collection)<\/li>\n
      • M365 Admin Center<\/strong> (to implement the measures)<\/li>\n
      • Teams \/ Outlook<\/strong> (for communication & reminders)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Important: The license cleanup uses existing Microsoft tools – no external license manager required.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        What are the concrete benefits of the Microsoft 365 license streamlining?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

        Companies that regularly check their licenses benefit on several levels:<\/p>\n

          \n
        • Cost savings<\/strong>: Depending on the size and initial situation, savings in the six-figure range are possible.<\/li>\n
        • Legal certainty<\/strong>: Audits can be prepared cleanly and stress-free.<\/li>\n
        • Transparency<\/strong>: Clear responsibilities create control and trust.<\/li>\n
        • Scalability<\/strong>: New employees are licensed directly as required.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Best practice: repeatable & automatable<\/strong><\/h2>\n

          It is important to note that license cleansing is not a one-off project. If you want to work efficiently in the long term, integrate it as an integral part of IT controlling – e.g. via automated evaluations, reminder processes and smart feedback loops.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n

          The license costs for Microsoft 365 are not a law of nature – they are controllable. With a sound analysis, automated processes and clear responsibilities, companies can not only save money, but also optimize their IT processes. <\/p>\n

          If you also suspect that there is potential in your licenses, it is worth taking the first step.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Introduction: License costs as a blind spot in IT Microsoft 365 is a central platform for many companies – flexible, powerful and scalable. But with flexibility comes challenges: License models are complex, user structures change frequently and responsibilities are often not clearly defined. The result: many companies pay year after year for licenses that are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-365-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jovoco.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jovoco.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jovoco.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jovoco.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jovoco.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jovoco.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jovoco.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jovoco.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jovoco.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jovoco.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}