How SHI helped a global healthcare organization take control of a complex Microsoft renewal

Facing a complex Microsoft renewal and shifting market dynamics, the customer turned to SHI for clarity, leverage, and long-term strategy.

Challenge:

A global healthcare organization with a large workforce of more than 70,000 employees had a complex Microsoft environment to match. As they approached a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement renewal scheduled for 2025, they faced mounting pressure from expected price increases and growing uncertainty around their long-term licensing strategy.

Historically, their relationship with SHI had been largely transactional, focused on point-and-click purchasing rather than strategic advisory services. Internally, Microsoft licensing and entitlement management rested primarily on one highly capable individual, but the scale of the environment made it difficult to manage optimization, roadmap planning, and renewal preparation without additional support. With critical decisions looming around Microsoft 365 licensing tiers, collaboration tools, and compliance requirements, the customer needed a partner who could help them look beyond renewal pricing and toward a sustainable, future-ready strategy.

Solution:

SHI engaged nearly a year ahead of the renewal to establish a more strategic relationship. The Microsoft Software Optimization Services (MSOS) team began with a comprehensive discovery and data collection process, gaining a clear understanding of the customer’s current entitlements, usage patterns, and technology roadmap. From there, SHI helped the customer evaluate whether they were properly licensed under Microsoft 365 E3 or if a transition to E5 could unlock greater value through security, compliance, and collaboration consolidation, including opportunities to move away from legacy Cisco solutions.

Midway through the engagement, a significant roadblock emerged: Microsoft informed SHI of plans to take the Enterprise Agreement direct, removing SHI as the partner of record. Recognizing the impact this would have, SHI proactively alerted the customer before Microsoft formally delivered the news. SHI then coached the customer’s leadership team on what the change meant, how the market was shifting, and how to prepare for direct negotiations. By the time Microsoft engaged, the customer was fully prepared with clear priorities, talking points, and counter strategies.

To preserve continuity and advisory support post-renewal, SHI introduced its License Software Advisory Group (LSAG), providing a dedicated licensing strategist to work closely with the customer even after transitioning to a direct agreement. By leveraging LSAG, the customer gained immediate access to decades of licensing expertise and strategic guidance. This approach ensured the customer could confidently plan, budget, and optimize their licensing strategy with ongoing expert support at their fingertips.

As trust deepened, the customer identified another gap: the need for additional hands-on support to assist their internal licensing expert. SHI responded by sourcing and placing a staff augmentation resource who could provide day-to-day operational support, further expanding the partnership beyond licensing advisory alone.

Outcome:

Over the course of an 11-month engagement, SHI helped the customer transform a complex renewal into a strategic and financial success. Before formal negotiations even began, SHI guided a detailed entitlement cleanup that reduced unnecessary licensing and delivered $10 million in savings over five years.

During negotiations, SHI identified pricing errors, unfavorable terms, and missed discount opportunities that would have gone unnoticed without deep licensing expertise. With SHI’s guidance, the customer reduced Microsoft’s initial five-year proposal from approximately $495 million to $344 million, resulting in $150 million in total savings.

Beyond the renewal itself, the engagement fundamentally changed the customer’s relationship with SHI. What began as a transactional vendor relationship evolved into a trusted advisory partnership spanning licensing strategy, staff augmentation, and future Microsoft adoption initiatives. The customer has since renewed the staff augmentation engagement and is budgeting for ongoing LSAG services, ensuring SHI remains a strategic partner well beyond the renewal cycle.