Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based suite of tools and applications that have become increasingly popular among enterprises of all sizes. However, even with the best intentions, businesses can make mistakes with their licenses, leading to overspending or underutilizing resources. In this blog post, we will discuss five common mistakes enterprises make with their Microsoft 365 licenses and how to avoid them.
1- Not understanding the different licensing options
One of the most common errors businesses make regarding Microsoft 365 licenses is not understanding the different licensing options available to them. Microsoft offers a variety of licensing options, each with its features and pricing. Businesses need to choose the licensing option that best fits their needs.
For example, businesses with fewer than 300 employees may benefit from the Business Premium plan, which includes all the features of the Business Essentials plan and advanced security features. Larger businesses may require the Enterprise plan, which includes advanced security and compliance features and unlimited storage.
2- Overpaying for licenses
Another common error businesses make is overpaying for licenses. It’s important to review your licensing needs regularly to ensure that you’re not paying for licenses you don’t need. For example, if you have employees who only need basic email and communication features, you may be able to save money by using the Business Essentials plan instead of the Business Premium plan.
3- Not properly managing licenses
Properly managing licenses is crucial for businesses to avoid unnecessary expenses and ensure compliance. Microsoft license management is especially important for businesses with Office 365 licenses. One common mistake is not deactivating licenses when employees leave the company or no longer require access to Microsoft 365. It’s also important to regularly review license usage to ensure that you’re not paying for unused licenses.
To make license management easier, businesses can use Microsoft license management tools like TeamsFox. TeamsFox helps organizations manage their cloud investment by tracking, reviewing, and reporting on a variety of Microsoft 365 subscriptions and identifying any unnecessary plans or licenses.
4- Failing to utilize available features
Microsoft 365 licenses often come with a wide range of features and capabilities that are not being fully utilized, resulting in missed opportunities for productivity and cost savings. Failing to utilize available features in Microsoft 365 licensing, refers to a situation where an organization has purchased licenses for Microsoft 365 but is not fully utilizing all of the features and capabilities that are included in those licenses. This can result in missed opportunities to improve productivity, collaboration, and efficiency.
Microsoft 365 includes a wide range of applications and services, such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and PowerApps, among others. By failing to utilize these tools, organizations may be missing features such as real-time collaboration, workflow automation, and document management, which can help to streamline processes and increase productivity. It’s important for organizations to fully understand the features and capabilities of their Microsoft 365 licenses and to encourage users to take advantage of these tools to optimize their work processes.
5- Manual license management
Manual license management can be time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to keep up to date, leading to compliance and cost issues. In the context of Microsoft 365 (M365), manual license management can be a complex and time-consuming process. Organizations need to keep track of the number of licenses they have purchased, which licenses are assigned to which users, and when those licenses are set to expire. Manual license management can be error-prone, leading to compliance issues and inefficient use of licenses.
Efficiently manage your Microsoft 365 licenses with TeamsFox's license management tool
TeamsFox offers an efficient solution for businesses looking to optimize their Microsoft 365 licenses. It addresses four crucial license management areas: inactive, unused, oversized, and unassigned. Inactive licenses refer to Microsoft 365 licenses that have not recorded any usage activity within the past 30 days, while unused and oversized licenses contain productivity apps that employees do not utilize. Unassigned licenses, on the other hand, are available to the business but have not been allocated to new employees or contractors.
TeamsFox assists in tracking, reviewing, and reporting on various Microsoft 365 subscriptions to help organizations identify any redundant plans or licenses. This feature makes TeamsFox a valuable Microsoft license management tool that helps businesses save costs on their Microsoft 365 licenses. For more information on how to improve your organization’s Microsoft 365 license management, including administration efficiency, security, and compliance, check out TeamsFox.
In summary, businesses can optimize their Microsoft 365 license strategy and reduce costs by avoiding five common mistakes: understanding their license agreement, purchasing only necessary licenses, monitoring license usage, managing user access, and complying with regulations. By using TeamsFox, businesses can get the most out of their Microsoft 365 investment while reducing Microsoft 365 license costs.
You can also have a look at our article focusing on: Office 365 Over-licensing.
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