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Microsoft, renegotiated
without the friction.

Enterprise Agreement renewals, Microsoft 365 E3 to E5 step-ups, Azure MCA-E commits, Server & Cloud Enrolment, Copilot for Microsoft 365, Power Platform and Dynamics 365. Microsoft is the most pervasive vendor in the enterprise stack — and the one where every percentage point of discount compounds across thousands of users.

$540M+
Microsoft contract value negotiated
170+
Microsoft engagements
31%
Average Microsoft saving
11 yrs
Microsoft practice depth
Practice overview

The Microsoft commercial reality.

Microsoft sells across four overlapping commercial constructs — the Enterprise Agreement, the Microsoft Customer Agreement for Enterprise (MCA-E), the Server & Cloud Enrolment, and a growing portfolio of consumption commitments through Azure. Each comes with its own discount mechanics, true-up rules, ramp logic, and renewal posture. Most procurement teams treat them as one negotiation. They are not.

Our Microsoft practice exists to separate them, to use the constructs against each other where the buyer has leverage, and to keep the long-run unit economics — per user, per workload, per Azure dollar — on a defensible trajectory.

Where the practice applies

  • Enterprise Agreement renewals. Discount stack design, true-up containment, ramp and step-up planning across the 36-month cycle.
  • Microsoft 365 E3 to E5 step-up. Justifying or resisting the E5 upgrade, security add-on alternatives, and per-user economics across hybrid workforces.
  • Azure MCA-E commitments. Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, hybrid benefit, and committed-spend redesign.
  • Server & Cloud Enrolment. Core licensing, SQL and Windows Server commercial paths, hybrid-use rights and audit posture.
  • Copilot for Microsoft 365. Per-user commercial terms, pilot-to-scale ramp, and the “mandatory bundling” framing that frequently appears in renewal conversations.
  • Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. Module mix, per-app versus per-user licensing, premium connector strategy, and dataverse capacity.

What we don't do

We are not a Microsoft reseller. We do not hold a Microsoft partner status. We do not take referral fees from Microsoft or any other vendor. The only side of the table we sit on is yours.

Typical engagement

EA renewal

10 to 14 weeks. Includes full entitlement reconciliation, M365 mix optimisation, Azure commit shape, and final negotiation.

Typical engagement

Azure MCA-E commit

6 to 10 weeks. Consumption baselining, hybrid-benefit modelling, RI/SP portfolio design and committed-spend negotiation.

Typical engagement

Copilot enterprise rollout

4 to 8 weeks. Per-user economics, pilot scope, ramp commitments and the documented evidence that the bundle is genuinely required.

Engagement model

Fixed-fee or success-based

Most Microsoft work is fixed-fee. Larger renewals are sometimes structured success-based against a documented baseline. See engagement models →

How we work

The Microsoft negotiation, in six phases.

01

Entitlement baseline

We reconcile your Microsoft entitlements across the EA, MCA-E, SCE and any legacy MPSA. Most buyers do not have a single accurate view of what they own and where it sits.

02

Workload and consumption analysis

We profile per-user M365 usage by SKU, Azure consumption by service family, and Dynamics/Power Platform footprint by environment. This is what separates a real renewal position from a vendor-led one.

03

Strategy and leverage design

We sequence the EA renewal, the Azure commit and any Copilot or E5 step-up to maximise leverage. We use Microsoft's own fiscal-year calendar, partner programme dynamics and competitive alternatives deliberately.

04

Counter-proposal and paper

We draft the counter-proposal, redline the EA enrolment and the MCA-E commercials, and pre-empt the standard Microsoft playbook — mandatory bundling, ramp commitments, and the last-week price-protection trade.

05

Negotiation execution

We lead or co-lead the negotiation alongside your procurement, finance and IT leadership. We take the Microsoft deal-desk calls you do not want to take, and we hold the line on the clauses that matter.

06

Post-signature handover

We hand over a clean Microsoft file: signed EA, MCA-E commercials, M365 SKU mix, Azure commit drawdown plan, Copilot ramp and the renewal calendar for the next cycle.

What it covers

The Microsoft terms we routinely move.

Commercial 01
EA discount stack
Headline discount on M365, Office, Windows and Azure; uplift caps across the term; protection against price-list movement; and ramp design for new user growth.
Commercial 02
Azure commit shape and flexibility
Committed-spend term, ramp, drawdown rights across service families, swap rights between RI and SP, and ability to release unused commit without penalty.
Commercial 03
Copilot and E5 bundling
Per-user commercials, pilot carve-outs, ramp commitments, and explicit removal of “all or nothing” bundle pricing where it is not contractually required.
Legal 01
Audit, SAM and self-declaration
Audit notice periods, scope limitations, self-declaration mechanics, and remedies that do not default to list-price catch-up.
Legal 02
Data, AI and tenant boundaries
Customer-data ownership in Copilot and Azure AI, model-training restrictions, tenant boundary commitments, and the EU Data Boundary detail.
Operational 01
Hybrid use, BYOL and Azure Hybrid Benefit
Windows Server and SQL hybrid-use rights, BYOL portability into Azure, and Azure Hybrid Benefit economics across reserved instances.

"They knew the Microsoft EA template better than our own Microsoft account team. The renewal saved more than the engagement fee in the first quarter of the new term."

Global Head of IT Sourcing
FTSE 100 Industrials Group
Outcomes

Recent Microsoft engagements.

All case studies

Facing a Microsoft EA renewal?

Tell us the renewal date, the EA scale and any Azure or Copilot conversation in flight. We will respond within one business day with the Microsoft practice lead.