{"id":38119,"date":"2022-06-24T16:12:34","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T15:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/?p=38119"},"modified":"2022-10-12T16:22:29","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T15:22:29","slug":"manage-a-microsoft-true-up-with-one-microsoft-license-portal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/it\/blog\/manage-a-microsoft-true-up-with-one-microsoft-license-portal","title":{"rendered":"Manage a Microsoft True-up with one Microsoft License Portal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Count and count well…<\/span><\/p>\n

This strategy might be OK for MSPs who manually manage a small number of Microsoft 365 licenses. But what happens to Direct Microsoft CSPs who work with several large-scale enterprises? How do they efficiently and accurately manage a manual\u00a0<\/span>Microsoft true-up<\/span>?<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking frankly, they can’t. Manually analyzing a large number of licences for multiple tenants and users is a recipe for disaster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only will this take hours; sometimes days, but it’s an inefficient way of working. You can also guarantee errors. Imagine being the CIO of a small company having to explain to their customer why $2,000 was wasted on unassigned Microsoft 365 licenses last month. Cue a very unhappy customer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So many tasks take priority over true-ups, which are often rushed at the last minute. However, this shouldn’t, and needn’t be the case. The CSPs who lean on their automated Microsoft licence portal to collect\u00a0information over the year, will come out on top at true-up time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is a license true-up or a Microsoft true-up?<\/span><\/h2>\n

A Microsoft true-up is an annual evaluation of the number of\u00a0<\/span>qualified<\/b><\/span>\u00a0Microsoft 365 licenses you’ve deployed in your EA.<\/span><\/p>\n

An inventory of all the qualified devices, users, and processors\u00a0<\/span>added<\/b><\/span>\u00a0over the course of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the year, MSPs can deploy or remove as many Microsoft 365 licenses that they wish. You just need to make sure you submit the data on time, otherwise you could be lumped with a licensing compliance audit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Common Microsoft true-up challenges<\/span><\/h2>\n

According to studies, 56% of organizations Microsoft 365 licenses\u00a0<\/span>are mismanaged<\/b><\/span>, and\u00a0<\/span>27% of E5 licenses are unassigned<\/b><\/span>.\u00a0On top of this CSPs also juggle inactive licenses and those sitting at a higher tier than necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Companies rely on their IT Service Providers to manage their IT ecosystem efficiently. If their Microsoft licenses end up mismanaged, there is a high possibility they will end up paying for ones they are not using or don\u2019t need. Which could be tricky to explain when billing queries come in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Customer satisfaction will decrease, and clients may end up moving to competitors. MSPs and cloud service providers (CSPs) could end up losing money if customers make the decision to leave.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hence why using the year to get organized with your true-up is a no brainer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The solution: use one Microsoft License Portal <\/span>(Direct Microsoft CSPs Only)<\/i><\/span><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s very common for discrepancies to exist between the number of employees and licenses. On top of this, many MSPs log in an out of various automation portals to manage multiple tenants and user environments. This makes it challenging to collate the license true-up data at the end of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a Direct Microsoft CSP using Cloud User Hub, license data is collected throughout the year in one Portal. No more logging in and out of multiple customer platforms. This will make your true-up life a lot easier. You can also set up best practices to make your license management way more efficient.<\/span><\/p>\n