With the world tour still on hold, not enough hotels open to throw television sets through the windows of, the fact I’m no longer closer to forty than I am fifty years old and that I ought to act my age not my shoe size, a period of quiet reflection and contemplation has done me no end of good.
And the result of months of meditation, is my reaffirmation and realisation, that Microsoft licensing really is my new rock and roll.
It is dynamic, always evolving, at times complex and can be challenging; but ultimately it makes sense and it is really, really exciting.
What draws me to Microsoft licensing is, it is like whole layers of consistency, structure and uniformity that sits behind all the great products and services that offers the features and functionality organisations need to operate securely, effectively and efficiently.
Without the benefits made available through Microsoft products and services, there would be no licensing to underpin all the good stuff that organisations care about.
I know product and service licensing isn’t unique to Microsoft, or any software vendor, it’s a means of placing a fair value on a product or service which in turn generates the incomes and revenues to help pay for the product development, distribution, support and future investments needed to keep the lifecycle in a progressive and constant rotation.
10 years ago I would never have believed Microsoft could change revise their business model, from a primary reliance on a 4-year cycle of capital expenditure by customers, to include the mass-market availability of a month by month, non-committal, consumption based income model in the form of ‘as a Service’ services, using the examples of Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365.
Microsoft have enfranchised small and even smaller organisations by providing a means by which they can compete with and beat the big boys, by removing the previous economies of scale barriers to entry and access to enterprise-grade systems and services.
How has this been achieved?
Obviously, through economies of scale and, my perception, is their constant drive to deliver better for less. Understanding what the customer wants, pre-empting change in needs and translating the combined principles of people, process and technology into a catchy name (and asking a small licence fee in return).
Every salesperson will state they understand their customers and the business problems they are trying to solve, which I’m sure could be true.
But understanding is all well and good, only if you can then take that information and offer something useful in return.
And by something useful, I don’t mean selling them. For example, a Microsoft 365 subscription that fulfils 80% of what they told you they needed.
What I mean is, by spending the time out of working hours to study and truly understand the layers and structures of products and services. To learn the way the different methods of licensing are constructed to enable needs and objectives to be met and for business problems solved in the most cost-effective way. To lower their total cost of ownership, optimise productivity and delver a true return on investment.
By all means, you can buy some software from us, but what I’d rather do is listen to you and understand the need to then position the most appropriate licence or service for you.
Now, in all fairness, I’ve never been in a band, I rarely stay in hotels and I’m totally opposed to any form of electronics violence. But on the plus side, I do know about how to make Microsoft licensing work for the benefit of your business.
Collectively, as a sales team, 848 has demonstrated our commitment to providing the best advice to customers to fulfil the objective of delivering Business Changing IT through successful completion and passing of the 75 individual courses and online exams as part of the Microsoft Get Licensing Ready programme, which form the following accreditation paths:
- Microsoft Licensing Specialist: Cloud Solution Provider
- Microsoft Licensing Specialist: Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 Licensing
- Microsoft Licensing Specialist: Online Services
- Microsoft Licensing Specialist: Cloud Solutions (Azure)
- Microsoft Licensing Specialist: Open, Open Value, MPSA, Select Plus and Enterprise Agreement
- Microsoft Software Asset Management Solution Specialist
- Microsoft Services Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA)
- Microsoft Licensing Solutions Specialist: Small and Medium-sized Busines & Large Organisations
- Microsoft Licensing Solutions Expert: Small and Medium-sized Business & Large Organisations
It might not be traditional rock and roll: there are no groupies, gate-crashed parties and only knowing what town you’re in by checking a fan’s tour t-shirt.
But there is the satisfaction and pride in knowing we can really effect Business Changing IT through our Plan, Build, Run methodology – we Plan by understanding your organisation’s needs and aligning the correct technology using the most appropriate licences, we Build by delivering and deploying the solution, and help Run with on-going account management, tailored managed service provision and license lifecycle management.
Want to know more about our Licensing Review Service? Get in touch!