How to Get a Comprehensive Overview of Microsoft 365 License Management

Staying informed about your Microsoft 365 subscription status is crucial to avoid service disruptions. Receiving alerts when a subscription is nearing expiration allows for timely renewals, ensuring continuous access to essential M365 services.

Microsoft sends billing notifications to global admins and billing admins by default. To add or update email addresses for billing notifications in Office 365, follow these steps:

AdminDroid goes beyond basic notifications!

AdminDroid not only provides timely alerts but also enhances your management capabilities with dynamic filter options and automated reporting. This allows you to stay proactive with detailed insights and streamline your subscription and license management effortlessly.

Feeling overwhelmed by managing your Microsoft 365 subscriptions? Unused licenses can lead to wasted resources and unnecessary costs. To maximize your investment and ensure efficient license usage, a structured approach is essential. Here's how to break it down:

1. License Assignments

Proper license management starts with a clear strategy for assigning licenses. This involves setting up group-based licensing, automating assignments, and adapting to changes in user roles or requirements as they occur.

Group-based licensing: Utilize Entra ID groups to automate license assignments by assigning licenses to groups rather than individual users. Streamlining this process helps organizations with easy onboarding and offboarding processes.

Auto-assignments: With auto-claim policies, you can define the services and applications available under each license. Furthermore, you gain the ability to regulate the specific SKUs associated with these licenses, offering greater flexibility and control over the entire licensing process.

Microsoft 365 self-service purchase: Microsoft 365 self-service purchase empowers users to independently acquire subscriptions and add-on services directly within their organization. This simplifies procurement, empowers users, and ensures compliance with policies, leading to higher productivity and efficiency.

2. License Optimization

To avoid unnecessary costs and ensure users have the right tools, regular review and optimization of M365 license assignments are necessary.

Review user activity: Identify users with minimal or no login activity in recent months. These users are prime candidates for license review. After tracking all user activities, remove or reassign unused licenses to optimize usage and reduce costs.

Audit license usage: Gain a detailed understanding of how your Microsoft 365 licenses are being utilized with Azure AD's robust auditing tools. Track M365 license usage and identify underused subscriptions to optimize your license investment.

Remove unused subscriptions: To view the unused licenses, you can use the unused subscription report to track the number of unused units so that you can allocate only the required units for your upcoming renewal.

3. Cost Management and Reporting

Controlling costs and maintaining transparency around licensing expenses is critical for budgeting and financial planning.

Monitoring subscription costs: Track your overall M365 spending and identify any potential cost spikes.

Budgeting and forecasting: Set budgets for M365 expenses and forecast future costs based on usage trends.

Reporting: Generate reports on license usage, costs, and identify opportunities for further optimization.

Monitor and analyze user activities across Microsoft 365 applications like Word, Excel, and OneDrive using the Usage Reports in the admin center.

With Daily Apps Usage Summary report in AdminDroid, you can use the Daily Activity Summary chart to track application usage. This helps you make informed decisions to optimize M365 licenses by identifying underutilized apps.

While Azure AD applications might not be a part of your core M365 suite, managing their licenses is equally important. Follow the steps provided below to understand how your Azure AD applications are being used, allowing you to optimize licensing costs and ensure efficient resource allocation.

By analyzing this data, you can remove unused applications in Microsoft Entra ID and ensure your IT investments are aligned with actual user needs.

Leverage the User's Sign-Ins Summary by Application report in AdminDroid to gain deep insights into application usage across your Microsoft 365 tenant. Unlike the native Microsoft 365 reports, AdminDroid provides comprehensive details, enabling you to identify the most frequently used applications through detailed sign-in metrics. This enhanced visibility helps optimize license management and improve resource allocation.