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Azure Advisory
Microsoft's licensing changed in July 2026. Most organizations haven't checked whether their tier still matches what they actually use. MALA helps you find out — at zero upfront cost.
Your Microsoft Bill Just Changed. Did Anyone Check If You're Overlicensed?
Microsoft raised prices across E3/E5, Business, and EMS plans on July 1, 2026 — with packaging changes rolling out through Q3.
Microsoft's July 2026 pricing update raised costs across Office 365 and Microsoft 365 E3/E5, the Business suite, Frontline and Government plans, Enterprise Mobility + Security, Windows E3/E5, and Entra P1/P2 — with new packaging (including separated Teams and no-Teams SKUs) completing rollout by August 2026. E7 plans and standalone Copilot SKUs were excluded from the increase.
Most organizations will simply renew at whatever tier they're already on, at the new price, without checking whether that tier still matches what they actually use.
How Our Advisors Help: MALA reviews your actual Microsoft 365 and Azure usage against your current licensing tier — identifying where you're paying for E5-level capability you're not using, and where a lower tier plus targeted add-ons would cost less.
Where Copilot Fits — and Where It Doesn't Need To
Security Copilot now comes bundled into Microsoft 365 E5, with a defined monthly compute allowance per 1,000 licenses — a meaningful new value if you're already on E5, and not a reason by itself to upgrade if you're not. Standalone Copilot SKUs are priced and licensed separately from the July 2026 changes entirely.
The Real Cost: Upgrading an entire tenant to a higher tier to access one Copilot feature, when a targeted standalone license would cost a fraction as much.
How Our Advisors Help: MALA helps you separate what Copilot capability you actually need from what tier Microsoft's sales motion is steering you toward.
Azure Spend Rarely Gets Benchmarked
Azure consumption costs tend to grow quietly — reserved instances that were never right-sized, resources left running after a project ends, and storage tiers that don't match actual access patterns. Without a regular cost review, this adds up to significant unnecessary spend that nobody notices until finance asks why the bill went up.
The Real Cost: Azure environments commonly carry 20-30% of avoidable spend once reserved capacity, orphaned resources, and storage tiers are actually reviewed.
How Our Advisors Help: MALA's Azure cost review benchmarks your actual consumption against your licensing and reservation strategy, identifying savings independent of what Microsoft's own recommendations engine surfaces.
Renewals Get Approved, Not Negotiated
Enterprise Agreement renewals are often handled as a formality — the same tier, the same terms, approved because nobody has the market data to push back. Microsoft's account teams are skilled negotiators representing Microsoft's interests; most IT and procurement teams renew once every three years and don't have current pricing intelligence to counter that.
How Our Advisors Help: MALA brings licensing and pricing benchmark data to your renewal conversation, working alongside our Technology Contract Negotiation service to make sure your next Microsoft agreement reflects what you actually need.
What a Microsoft Licensing & Azure Cost Review Covers
A tier that made sense three years ago rarely still matches what your organization actually uses today.
A MALA Microsoft Licensing & Azure Cost Review benchmarks your current M365 tier against actual feature usage, reviews Azure consumption and reservation strategy, and evaluates where Copilot licensing fits your real needs — all ahead of your next renewal.
Typical Result: A right-sized licensing recommendation and an Azure cost-reduction roadmap, often identifying savings well before the next renewal cycle.
Your Advisor: Led by advisors with direct Microsoft enterprise licensing negotiation experience.
Get a Microsoft Licensing & Azure Cost Review
In a 30-minute conversation, a MALA advisor will review your current Microsoft licensing and Azure spend and help you identify where the July 2026 changes actually affect you.