Why Is Smarter Licence Optimisation Key for MSPs to Cut Costs and Maximise Results?

Microsoft 365 is the productivity backbone for over a million businesses worldwide. Yet despite its widespread adoption, many organisations are unknowingly overspending on licences. The problem? A disconnect between what’s purchased and what’s actually used. This underutilisation not only inflates IT costs but also impacts operational efficiency and increases the risk of compliance issues.

For managed service providers (MSPs), this presents a clear opportunity to help customers regain control of their licence investments, reduce waste, and uncover hidden value through smarter licence optimisation. 

Why Licence Optimisation Matters Now More Than Ever

As cloud adoption accelerates, managing software licences has become more complex and increasingly critical. Licence sprawl, compliance risks, and duplicate purchases can quietly drain budgets and expose organisations to unnecessary risk.

Software licence optimisation is the practice of aligning licence usage with business needs to minimise waste, reduce costs, and ensure compliance. It’s about striking the right balance, avoiding both over-licencing and under-licencing. For MSPs, this is a chance to deliver real value. Your customers rely on you to keep their IT environments efficient, secure, and cost-effective. And licence optimisation is a key part of that mission.

The Benefits of Smarter Licence Optimisation

Efficient licence management is a cornerstone of operational success for MSPs. When licences are actively monitored and aligned with actual usage, MSPs can unlock significant business value while delivering better outcomes for their customers.

Smarter licence optimisation offers three key advantages:

1. Cost Savings

By identifying unused or underutilised licences, MSPs can help customers eliminate unnecessary spend and reallocate resources more effectively, delivering immediate and measurable savings. 

2. Compliance and Risk Mitigation

Staying within the terms of software licencing agreements is critical. Optimisation helps reduce the risk of non-compliance, audits, and penalties by ensuring licences are properly assigned and monitored. 

3. Operational Agility

With better visibility into licence usage, MSPs can streamline IT operations, reduce administrative overhead, and ensure users have access to the tools they need, without overprovisioning. 

How MSPs Can Solve Microsoft Licencing Challenges

AvePoint Elements gives partners the tools to manage Microsoft licences more intelligently. By optimising licence allocation, reducing waste, and increasing return on investment (ROI), MSPs can deliver measurable value to customers while unlocking new service opportunities.

To support this, we’ve introduced powerful new enhancements designed to simplify license management and reinforce your role as a strategic advisor. 

Introducing the Licence Optimisation Dashboard

Our latest update brings the Licence Optimisation dashboard to life, giving MSPs and partners the clarity, automation, and insight needed to manage licencing at scale. 

• Centralised tenant visibility. No more logging into multiple portals or juggling spreadsheets. View licence usage, assignments, and costs across all managed customers from a single interface, saving time and reducing errors.
• Exportable cost analysis reports. Generate detailed reports on licence costs, utilisation, and underused assets. Use these insights to drive data-backed conversations with customers about their IT spend.
• Licence recommendations. Identify unused, infrequently used, or duplicate licences with built-in suggestion capabilities. Reassign, downgrade, or reclaim licences without disrupting operations. 

Unified Licence Management with Marketplace Integration  

Managing licences across multiple distributor platforms can be time-consuming and disjointed. That’s why AvePoint Elements now offers integrated marketplace functionality, bringing everything into one seamless experience.

With new support for TD SYNNEX (StreamOne Ion) and ALSO Group, partners can now handle licence procurement, assignment, and management directly within the Elements platform — no more jumping between portals or reconciling data across systems. 

This centralised experience offers several key benefits: 

• Simplified licence procurement and management. Purchase, assign, and manage licences for all customers without leaving the Elements platform.
• Unified visibility across all tenants. Monitor licence usage and status across your entire customer base from a single, intuitive dashboard.
• Smarter financial oversight. Track expenses, compare distributor pricing, and optimise licence plans with built-in insights and controls.

How It All Works: Real-World Benefits for MSPs

Software licence optimisation isn’t just a best practice — it’s a strategic advantage. For organisations looking to reduce costs, stay compliant, and get the most from their software investments, it’s essential. With AvePoint Elements, MSPs gain the tools to deliver that value at scale.

Here’s what that looks like in practice: 

• Uncover cost savings by identifying underused licences and demonstrating clear ROI to clients.
• Ensure compliance by detecting anomalies and unauthorised usage before they become risks.
• Deliver premium service with tailored, data-driven recommendations that go beyond generic advice.
• Simplify operations by managing everything from one secure, intuitive dashboard, no more juggling tools or portals. 

Ready to simplify security and scale your services?