Topic starter
12/06/2026 1:09 am
TL;DR: Microsoft 365 cost waste usually comes from unused, oversized, and auto-renewed licenses, with CoreView data showing an average of 44% of licenses are underutilized or oversized, according to Zluri. The governance lesson is that license spend is an access problem as much as a procurement problem, because entitlement hygiene and renewal discipline drive cost control.
Editorial analysis by NHI Mgmt Group, based on content published by Zluri: “3 Ways to Optimize Microsoft 365 License Costs”.
By the numbers:
- An average business uses 44% of Microsoft 365 licenses that are underutilized or oversized, according to Coreview report cited by Zluri.
Key questions
Q: How should organisations reduce Microsoft 365 license waste without disrupting users?
A: Start with utilisation data, then downgrade only the users whose work does not require premium features.
Q: Why do unused Microsoft 365 licenses keep driving cost?
A: Unused licences keep driving cost because renewal workflows often preserve access by default.
Q: What breaks when software licenses are not tied to access reviews?
A: When licences are not tied to access reviews, oversizing and non-use stay hidden until invoices arrive.
Practitioner guidance
- Map Microsoft 365 usage to licence tier need Compare actual feature consumption against assigned subscription levels, then downgrade users who only require basic mail or editing functions.
- Remove unused licences through recertification Use access review cycles to identify licences with no current business use, then reclaim them before renewal dates lock in another billing period.
- Automate renewal alerts and ownership Assign a named owner for each Microsoft 365 contract and configure alerts well before auto-renewal so review and renegotiation happen in time.
Bottom line: Microsoft 365 overspend is often caused by licence assignment that no longer matches actual use, which makes the issue an identity governance problem as well as a procurement problem.
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This topic was modified 4 days ago by NHI Mgmt Group
12/06/2026 10:52 am
Licence sprawl is an access-governance failure disguised as a cost problem. The article shows that Microsoft 365 overspend often comes from the same root cause as IAM waste: users keep access they do not need, at a tier they do not use. That means licence optimisation belongs inside identity governance, not outside it. Practitioners should treat spend leakage as a signal of entitlement drift.
A question worth separating out:
Q: What is the difference between licence optimisation and procurement savings?
A: Licence optimisation changes what users are assigned, while procurement savings change what the organisation buys. In practice, the two depend on each other: if entitlement hygiene is weak, procurement will keep paying for excess capacity. Strong governance makes spending decisions reflect real access need.
👉 Read our full editorial: Microsoft 365 license sprawl shows the IAM cost of unused access
This post was modified 4 days ago by NHI Mgmt Group