Get more value from every Microsoft 365 dollar without hurting productivity. List prices rose on 1 July 2026, and Enterprise Agreement discounts have been getting tighter. Rythium pairs its own telemetry analytics with licensing experts. We help enterprise IT leaders remove waste, right-size every license and go into renewals with verified data.
14%Average license waste identified
| Plan | Before | From 1 July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 E3 | $36 | $39 |
| Microsoft 365 E5 | $57 | $60 |
| Microsoft 365 F3 | $8 | $10 |
| Office 365 E3 | $23 | $26 |
Applied at each customer's next renewal. Actual contract prices vary.
Microsoft 365 is hard to manage across thousands of users, hybrid environments and plan bundles that keep changing. Without a clear view of usage, spend drifts away from what people actually use. Waste usually hides in four places:
Inactive and orphaned licensesLeavers, contractors, dormant accounts and shared accounts that still cost you money every month.
Tier inflationUsers on E5 or E3 when E3, F3 or a Business plan covers everything they do day to day.
Unused premium add-onsMicrosoft 365 Copilot, Power BI Pro, Visio, Project and security add-ons bought in bulk but barely used. They carry some of the highest per-seat costs and are the hardest to see.
Capability overlapPaying for third-party security, backup, DLP, meeting or storage tools when your subscription already does the same job.
Without governance and accurate usage data, costs keep growing. They peak at Enterprise Agreement (EA) and Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) renewals.
Microsoft announced in December 2025 that commercial list prices for most Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites would rise on 1 July 2026. The new prices apply at each customer's next renewal. Microsoft 365 E3 moves from $36 to $39 per user per month, and E5 from $57 to $60. F3 goes from $8 to $10, and Office 365 E3 from $23 to $26. That makes every seat you can right-size worth slightly more than before.
In practice, each 1,000 E5 users who only need E3 represent about $252,000 per year in list-price spend. Each 1,000 E3 users who could be on F3 represent about $348,000. At enterprise scale, these gaps add up fast.
E5 to E3 right-sizing: $252K saved per 1,000 users a year
Microsoft list prices from 1 July 2026; actual contract prices vary.
Costs that creep upA few unassigned licenses here and some over-provisioned seats there add up across thousands of users, year after year.
Renewal price pressureRenewal proposals are often built on past consumption and growth assumptions. Without verified data, organizations commit to capacity they do not need, just to play it safe. Microsoft has also reduced volume-tier discounts on online services under EAs, so price and discount changes can stack on the same renewal.
Audit and true-up exposureIf you enter a true-up cycle without a clear view of your entitlements, you are open to unplanned financial liability.
Strained IT resourcesYour team spends hours pulling and cleaning spreadsheets instead of working on strategic projects.
Our Microsoft 365 license optimization service replaces guesswork with data. Rythium's own analytics tools process raw Microsoft 365 telemetry at scale. Our licensing specialists then turn the findings into decisions you can defend.
Outcome: a verified, defensible number for what your business actually needs to license.
Fast data processingOur tools securely load and read raw tenant telemetry. You get a complete view of how users really work and which features they adopt, in days, not weeks.
Usage and tier analysisWe compare feature usage, sign-in frequency and entitlements with Microsoft's plan matrix, so we can show which plan each user belongs on.
Removing overlapWe map your software stack and find third-party tools you can safely replace with features you already own.
Renewal readinessYou get detailed, audit-ready reports. Your team can go into an EA or CSP/NCE renewal knowing what to commit to and why, and can negotiate from facts.
Right-sizing does not mean cutting licenses across the board. We match each user's real behavior to the right plan. That protects productivity where it matters and removes cost where it does not.
| User persona | Typical usage signal | Right-sized fit |
|---|---|---|
| Frontline and shift workers | Mobile and web only; light email and Teams | F1 / F3 |
| Core knowledge workers | Desktop apps, Teams, SharePoint | E3 (or Business plans) |
| Security and compliance power users | Active use of advanced Defender and Purview features | E5, or E3 + add-ons |
| Dormant and departed accounts | No sign-in for 60 to 90+ days | Reclaim or remove |
Illustrative persona-based right-sizing. Thresholds are agreed with each client during the assessment.
Typical deliverables include:
License utilization reportA full view of assigned and actively used licenses, by plan, department, region and add-on.
Right-sizing recommendationsUser-level and group-level recommendations to move, reclaim or retire licenses, with the estimated annual impact.
Overlap and consolidation mapThird-party tools that duplicate features you already own, with a consolidation path rated for risk.
Renewal readiness packAn audit-ready entitlement baseline, scenario models for different commitment levels and talking points for the negotiation.
Executive summaryA short, board-ready summary of savings, risk and recommended actions.
The best time to start is 9 to 12 months before renewal. That gives you time to reclaim licenses, retire overlapping tools and build a negotiating position backed by data. If you are already inside that window, we can still help. A focused assessment can run in a few weeks.
What we need from youExported tenant reporting data, a technical contact and a licensing or procurement contact.
What your team avoidsManual data processing, spreadsheet cleanup and a last-minute scramble before renewal.
What you decideEvery recommendation is yours to accept, adjust or reject. We do not change your tenant.
We aim for lasting, practical cost control, and we do not make unrealistic promises. Outcomes depend on your starting point, but they typically include:
A budget that matches real useOngoing license waste found and removed. The typical range is 10 to 25% of Microsoft 365 spend, based on Rythium engagements.
Faster answersFrom raw data to a report you can act on in 4 to 6 weeks, thanks to partly automated processing.
Stronger renewal negotiationsDecisions backed by data help you limit unnecessary increases and over-commitment.
Better security and complianceMore value from the security and management features you already pay for, with fewer redundant tools to manage.
Fewer surprisesA clear entitlement baseline ahead of any audit or true-up.
Here is how the math can look for a hypothetical 5,000-user organization at list prices. These numbers are for illustration only. Actual savings depend on contract pricing and real usage.
| Lever | Seats affected | Monthly delta per seat | Annual impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reclaim inactive licenses (E3) | 200 | $39 | $93,600 |
| Right-size E5 to E3 | 500 | $21 | $126,000 |
| Move frontline users from E3 to F3 | 300 | $29 | $104,400 |
| Total illustrative annual savings | $324,000 |
List prices from 1 July 2026. Contract pricing, discounts and Microsoft's billing terms will change the final numbers.
Our analysis uses tenant telemetry, so we treat data protection as part of the service itself.
Telemetry data onlyOur analysis uses reporting data. It does not read mailbox, file or chat content.
Encryption and storageData is encrypted in transit and at rest and stored in Azure.
Retention and deletionData is deleted 90 days after the engagement, or on request.
GovernanceNDA and DPA available on request.
No disruptionThe analysis runs on reporting data and does not affect users, network performance or daily operations.
Our own processing toolsSpecialized tools turn complex raw data into faster, cleaner and more reliable reports.
Independent advisoryRythium does not resell Microsoft licenses or earn commission on what you buy. Our recommendations aim to lower your total cost of ownership and match licenses to real business demand.
Licensing depthOur specialists know EA, CSP and NCE terms, plan bundles and add-on rules. They turn usage data into commercial decisions.
Minimal disruptionTelemetry analysis is built so that it does not affect user productivity or daily operations.
A typical assessment takes about six weeks from data connection to final recommendations. If your renewal is close, we can run a focused version.
No. The analysis is based on reporting data, and we do not change your licenses or configuration. Every recommendation is yours to review and approve.
We need read-only access to tenant reporting and licensing data. Or you can export the data yourself and send it to us. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, and deleted 90 days after the engagement or on request.
Admin center reports show you what is assigned and active. Rythium turns the raw data into plan-level recommendations, overlap analysis and renewal scenarios. That is the part that normally takes weeks of manual work.
Yes. EA renewals are where accurate data helps you most. We also support CSP and NCE environments.
No. Rythium is independent, and our recommendations are not tied to or influenced by any license sale.
We price each case as a fixed-fee assessment, a success-based fee or a hybrid, depending on the scope and the deliverables you need. Contact us for a scoped quote and tell us which you prefer.
Tell our licensing specialists about your environment and renewal date. We will show you where spend is leaking and what a verified, right-sized baseline could look like.
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