Is your organisation's Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) renewal looming? Perhaps you're concerned about the budget, confusing licensing, hidden terms, and timing?
How do you navigate this renewal without overpaying or getting locked into bad terms?
That’s where Keystone Negotiation comes in. Our team of ex-Microsoft contract negotiators specialises in helping organisations navigate EA renewals with confidence, securing stronger commercial terms and better outcomes.
Why does an EA renewal strategy matter?
Renewing a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement is more than just signing new paperwork. It affects many things, including licensing volumes, Azure cloud consumption commitments, Microsoft Unified Support costs, and long-term contractual terms.
If you don't have a clear strategy, you face the risks of over-commitment, unexpected cost escalation, misalignment between actual usage and contractual commitments, and deals that leave you feeling “locked in” for another three years.
At Keystone Negotiation, we support organisations when they're experiencing these challenges. If you feel locked into Microsoft pricing or are concerned about future increases, we provide a structured EA renewal strategy that gives you control by reducing financial exposure and avoiding future operational or budgeting headaches. A plan will ensure your agreement reflects your genuine needs.
What expertise Keystone Negotiation provides
You should only trust your Microsoft EA renewal with an advisor who understands Microsoft inside out. They must have deep insider knowledge of Microsoft’s pricing strategies, discounting models, licensing rules, and contract structures.
This is what Keystone Negotiation brings, through our team of ex-Microsoft contract negotiation specialists. Our team has a level of insight that gives organisations a big advantage. Our advisers understand both the commercial and licensing sides of Microsoft agreements can uncover cost savings, identify licensing risks, and strengthen your negotiation position.
We're not like Microsoft or resellers, who aim to sell more licences, we're an independent adviser that is completely focused on protecting your budget. We can deliver substantial cost savings and cost avoidance across your Microsoft estate.
What are the typical services associated with a Microsoft EA renewal?
To get a comprehensive idea of what successful EA renewal support looks like, let's look at the services we offer:
EA Renewal or new agreement negotiation: Expert guidance to reduce EA renewal costs, benchmark pricing, and negotiate stronger commercial terms for a new or renewed Enterprise Agreement.
Azure contract and consumption optimisation: Support to optimise Azure commitments, match spend to actual usage, and avoid unnecessary financial risk from misaligned consumption.
Unified support agreement review: Analysis of your Microsoft Unified Support contract to ensure the services you’re paying for match real organisational needs — eliminating overspend.
Licensing advisory: We identify overspending, shelf-ware, or unnecessary add-ons across your Microsoft 365 and Azure environments. We'll then highlight how many organisations unknowingly carry unused licences that inflate renewal costs.
Cost savings services: Independent commercial and licensing assessments that uncover savings typically ranging from 5% to 34% in real client scenarios.
This full suite of services helps you approach your EA renewal with a clear strategy, instead of responding reactively at the last minute.
Tips on choosing the right partner for EA renewal
The outcome of your EA renewal can be greatly influenced by the Microsoft negotiation partner you choose. Keystone has supported negotiations ranging from $4 million to $980 million across multi-year deals, demonstrating its capability at a global scale.
Ask potential partners about:
- Benchmarking capability: Keystone maintains a price benchmarking database based on 200+ Microsoft negotiations.
- Independence: They do not sell licences, meaning their only focus is achieving the best commercial outcome for you.
- Global support: Ensure they can work across regions if your organisation operates internationally.
At Keystone Negotiation, we offer a structured process that includes reviewing your licensing and consumption data, understanding business goals, building a negotiation strategy, mapping timelines, and assisting your team at every stage of the renewal.
Need help? Here are the next steps
- Review your current EA: licences, Azure usage, Unified Support commitments, and renewal dates.
- Define your goals: cost reduction, flexibility, consumption alignment, risk reduction, or preparing for future growth.
- Engage an expert adviser: Keystone offers a free 30-minute call to discuss your renewal strategy.
- Develop a clear renewal plan: determine what to renew, renegotiate, adjust, or exit.
- Execute the negotiation: secure better pricing, avoid over-commitment, and ensure your agreement matches organisational needs.
Microsoft Enterprise Agreement Renewal
Your Enterprise Agreement Renewal is important, and how you approach it can have a big impact on your organisation. Onboarding experts can help you negotiate stronger commercial terms, avoid unnecessary costs, and prevent being locked into a disadvantageous commitment for the next three years.
Ready to improve your EA renewal strategy? Book a free call with Keystone Negotiation today.