Logistics Firm in Florida Recovers Overprovisioned Microsoft Licenses Before EA Renewal

Industry: Transportation/Logistics | State: Florida

Challenge
A leading logistics and transportation company based in Florida, with thousands of employees and nationwide operations, engaged Redress Compliance to optimize its Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) ahead of renewal.

Over several years of growth and seasonal workforce fluctuations, the firm had accumulated more Microsoft 365 licenses than it actively used – a classic case of overprovisioning driving up costs. With an EA renewal approaching, the company aimed to:

• Identify and reclaim unused licenses: To eliminate waste, find unassigned or inactive Microsoft 365 seats and other Microsoft product licenses that were paid for but not in active use.
• Optimize license assignments: Ensure each employee has the appropriate level of license (e.g., Office 365 E3 vs. E5), avoiding over-licensing features not needed for their role.
• Align licenses with current staffing: Account for recent staff turnover and seasonal hiring, adjusting the license count to current needs rather than historical peak usage.
• Ensure compliance and prepare for true-up: Verify that all active usage was properly licensed (no under-licensing) while removing surplus licenses. Hence, the upcoming EA true-up and renewal would reflect an accurate, minimal required count.
• Negotiate a cost-effective renewal: Leverage the cleanup and analysis to negotiate better pricing and terms for the new EA, ensuring no “shelfware” (unused licenses) going forward.

Given the complexity of the firm’s IT environment – spanning Office 365 productivity tools, Windows Server infrastructure, and Azure cloud services – a strategic approach was required to prevent overspending due to overprovisioned licenses and maximize the EA’s value. Timing was critical, as changes in licensing needed to be implemented before the EA renewal date.

The Process

1. Comprehensive License Audit: Redress Compliance thoroughly reviewed the company’s Microsoft deployments and license entitlements. This included analyzing Office 365 accounts, server licenses, and cloud subscriptions across all departments. The team mapped actual usage against purchased entitlements to uncover areas of underutilization. They identified hundreds of inactive Office 365 accounts (e.g., former employees or duplicate accounts) and several server instances that were no longer in use.
2. Usage & Needs Analysis: Collaborating with the firm’s IT and operations managers, Redress examined how different teams use Microsoft products. They discovered, for example, that a large portion of warehouse staff only needed basic email and Teams access, which could be covered by more cost-effective licenses (Microsoft 365 F3) instead of the fully featured E3 licenses some had. By aligning license levels with actual job needs, the company could avoid paying for unnecessary features.
3. License Reclamation: The project implemented a license “re-harvesting” initiative. All inactive or duplicate user accounts in Office 365 were de-provisioned, freeing those licenses. Similarly, unused software installations (such as outdated Visio and Project licenses bought but never assigned) were identified and slated for removal. This reclamation process immediately eliminated waste and ensured fewer wasted licenses ahead of the true-up. The team also established a policy for ongoing reclamation—anytime an employee left or a project ended, their license would be reassigned or dropped instead of remaining idle.
4. EA Renewal Preparation: With an accurate picture of active usage, Redress recalculated the necessary license counts for the upcoming EA renewal. They prepared a detailed report showing the optimized license position, including reducing, say, 15% of previously overprovisioned licenses. This data-driven approach equipped the company’s procurement team with strong evidence to negotiate with Microsoft. Redress also benchmarked the firm’s licensing costs against industry peers, highlighting areas (such as certain Azure services and Office 365 SKUs) where the firm was paying above market rates.
5. Negotiation and Adjustment: Using the findings, Redress supported the company in negotiations with Microsoft and its reseller. The company requested to reduce the EA seat count to match actual usage (only allowable at renewal) and secured an agreement to remove the excess licenses from the contract. Additionally, armed with industry benchmarks and the prospect of the company possibly shifting workloads to alternative solutions if costs were not improved, Redress negotiated discounts on the renewed EA, particularly for the Office 365 and Azure services the firm would continue to use heavily. Microsoft, keen to retain the customer, offered more favorable pricing and flexible terms, allowing the company to add or remove a small percentage of licenses mid-term if business conditions changed.

Results

• Cost Savings: By eliminating overprovisioned licenses before renewal, the logistics firm immediately avoided renewing hundreds of unnecessary licenses. This optimization reduced annual Microsoft licensing costs by approximately 20%, translating to savings of about $1.1 million annually. In addition, the negotiation yielded an additional 15% discount on the new three-year EA pricing for key products. These efforts saved the company roughly $3.6 million over the three-year EA term in avoided costs and discounted spending.
• Renewal on Accurate Terms: The new EA was right-sized to the company’s actual needs, meaning the firm now only pays for what it truly uses. The risk of overspending due to license oversights was eliminated – a significant improvement in IT financial management. Future true-up exercises are expected to be routine and free of surprises, since the baseline license count is accurate and an internal process is in place to monitor usage continuously.
• Improved License Management & Compliance: The project cut waste and strengthened compliance. The internal audit verified that all active users and installations are properly licensed, closing compliance gaps. At the same time, removing unused licenses means no more “shelfware” eating into the IT budget. The company implemented new governance for license assignment and removal, ensuring that licenses are allocated efficiently as staff join or leave.
• Operational Efficiency: By tailoring license levels to user needs, many employees were actually moved to simpler tools that better fit their roles. For instance, frontline logistics staff now use a streamlined communication and email setup without unnecessary extras, improving system performance and user satisfaction. The IT department can now more easily track who has what software, simplifying support and future planning.
• Strategic Alignment: With cost savings, the company freed up budget to reinvest in modernizing its operations (such as exploring Azure cloud services for route planning analytics). The EA’s new flexibility and the removal of bloat ensure that the company’s Microsoft investment is closely aligned with its business objectives and growth plans, rather than being inflated by past over-estimations.

Quote from the CIO:

“We had been unintentionally overspending on Microsoft licenses for years. Redress Compliance helped us shine a light on that inefficiency and fix it before our renewal. Their thorough analysis identified exactly where we were over-licensed. Thanks to their guidance, we entered our EA renewal fully informed and negotiated a deal that saves us millions while still giving us everything we need. It was like cleaning out a cluttered closet – now we only pay for what we actually use. This optimization has made our CFO and our IT team very happy.”

Key Results:

• Licenses Eliminated: Roughly 18% of our Microsoft 365 licenses were identified as unused and removed before renewal (hundreds of licenses reclaimed).
• Savings Achieved: $3.6 million total savings over 3 years (through $1.1M/year in license optimization plus additional negotiated discounts).
• Cost Reduction: 20% reduction in annual Microsoft licensing spend while maintaining full compliance.
• Optimized Usage: All purchased licenses are now in active use (no more paying for idle accounts), ensuring the peak efficiency of our software investments.

This case demonstrates Redress Compliance’s ability to deliver substantial cost savings and operational improvements for logistics companies by eliminating licensing waste. Through careful analysis and negotiation, the Florida transportation firm achieved a cost-effective, right-sized Microsoft EA renewal, ensuring that IT spend is optimized and aligned with business needs.