Case study · Logistics · 411 seats
Copilot, funded entirely from the cloud budget they already had.
A 411-seat logistics operator wanted to put Microsoft 365 Copilot in front of its knowledge workers, and saw no room in the budget to fund it. Cloud Clever was engaged to release that headroom from spend the business was already committed to.
The net position: Azure, Microsoft 365 and 300 Copilot seats now run for $774.2k a year – $167.8k less than the estate cost before Copilot was on the table.
At a glance
The customer
A logistics operator with 411 Microsoft 365 users and an Azure estate migrated from on-premises around two years ago.
The problem
Cloud costs had landed close to budget after migration, so nothing was revisited. Microsoft 365 was still billed month-to-month at retail pricing. There was no headroom to fund Copilot.
What we did
Termed commitments on Azure compute, infrastructure licensing optimisation, and four low-risk levers across the Microsoft 365 estate. Commercial change only.
The outcome
32.4% off the combined cloud estate, $915k released over three years, and 300 Copilot seats live – with readiness work delivered at no cost.
Where the AI budget came from
The same annual envelope, before and after. Nothing was added to the budget – Copilot was fitted inside it, and there was still money left over.
- Azure infrastructure & licensing
- Microsoft 365 licensing
- Copilot 300 seats
- Released budget capacity
Azure cost optimisation
Logistics firm went through an on-premises to Azure migration about two years ago and overall budgeted cost was not far from the initial projections, so no action was taken. When we revised the environment against low-risk, high-impact cost reduction strategies, we identified that significant savings on compute and infrastructure licensing can be delivered immediately. Customer already performed a right-sizing exercise for most of the server workloads they have, so we took current spend as a baseline. Considering fairly static nature of the environment, it was an easy decision to go ahead with termed commitments for compute consumption. This is often where a conventional infrastructure optimisation exercise stops. At Cloud Clever we know that infrastructure licensing often plays a significant role in the overall environment cost and we constantly pursue this angle of savings. The licensing optimisation alone contributed an additional $198.5k in net savings over three years. Coupled with compute, the overall Azure spend reduction total reached 34.5%. The result is $609.7k of budget capacity released over three years, which the customer can redirect toward higher-value initiatives.
Scroll the table sideways to see all columns →
| Infra optimisation scenario | Monthly run rate | Annual pre-pay | Effective annual cost | Annual savings | Savings, % of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current state | $49,130 | $0 | $589,560 | $0 | 0.0% |
| 1y commit Compute | $42,098 | $0 | $505,182 | $84,378 | 14.3% |
| 3y commit Compute | $37,708 | $0 | $452,493 | $137,067 | 23.2% |
| 1y commit Compute + Licensing | $36,006 | $22,680 | $454,749 | $134,811 | 22.9% |
| 3y commit Compute + Licensing | $30,933 | $15,120 | $386,321 | $203,239 | 34.5% |
Effective annual cost combines the monthly run rate with the annual pre-pay, so scenarios that carry an upfront licensing payment can be compared like for like.
Microsoft 365 (Modern Work) licensing cost optimisation
The customer is a 411-seat logistics operator whose entire Microsoft 365 estate sat on the Microsoft 365 E3 plan. The estate had been stood up a few years earlier and was still being billed month-to-month at recommended retail pricing, the most expensive way to buy. Leadership wanted to introduce Microsoft 365 Copilot but saw no room in the budget to fund it. We were engaged to release the required headroom from the existing licence estate.
We applied four low-risk levers in sequence. First, we reclaimed a small buffer of unassigned licences, tightening the estate from 419 to 411 seats. These buffers are typical for businesses trying to avoid new staff onboarding delays and do not have capability to provision what they need in minutes. We provide access to a self-service portal of the world-leading Procurement and management platform, eliminating the need for any licensing buffers.
Second, we mapped licensing to role and moved the frontline population – roughly 10% of the workforce, the warehouse and depot staff – from Microsoft 365 E3 to the purpose-built Microsoft 365 F3 plan at about a fifth of the cost, with no loss of the tools those users actually rely on. Third, we tackled the billing term: by locking 80% of the estate onto an annual commitment (still paid monthly) instead of the default month-to-month plan, we removed the ≈20% flexibility premium the customer had been paying for all seats – the single largest contributor to the saving. Keeping 20% of the workforce on flexible month-to-month will allow for any potential headcount fluctuations. Fourth, we moved the customer off RRP onto Cloud Clever discounted rate worth a further 10% across the estate. Together these levers cut licensing spend by 28.9% – $101.9k a year, or $305.8k over three years.
- Remaining run rate · $250,436/yr
- 1 Licence buffer · $6,728/yr
- 2 Frontline to M365 F3 · $24,562/yr
- 3 Annual commitment on 80% · $42,809/yr
- 4 Cloud Clever 10% discount · $27,827/yr
Scroll the table sideways to see all columns →
| Licensing optimisation approach | Monthly run rate | Saving at this step | Annual savings (cumulative) | Savings, % of licensing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current state (E3, month-to-month, RRP) | $29,364 | – | $0 | 0.0% |
| Reclaim licence buffer (419 → 411) | $28,803 | $6,728 | $6,728 | 1.9% |
| Right-size frontline to M365 F3 (≈10%) | $26,756 | $24,562 | $31,290 | 8.9% |
| Annual commitment on 80% (vs month-to-month) | $23,189 | $42,809 | $74,099 | 21.0% |
| Cloud Clever 10% discount off RRP | $20,870 | $27,827 | $101,926 | 28.9% |
Each row shows the estate after that lever has been applied. The cumulative column already contains every lever above it.
Savings across infra and licensing
Combined with the Azure programme, the customer’s total cloud spend across infrastructure and Modern Work licensing fell by 32.4%, releasing $915k over three years – capacity the business can now redirect into other higher-value initiatives.
| Cost workstream | Annual baseline | Annual optimised | Annual net savings | Savings % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azure infrastructure & licensing | $589,560 | $386,321 | $203,239 | 34.5% |
| Microsoft 365 Modern Work licensing | $352,362 | $250,436 | $101,926 | 28.9% |
| Total cloud estate | $941,922 | $636,757 | $305,165 | 32.4% |
of budget capacity released over three years – 32.4% off the combined cloud estate.
Copilot funding
The business did a small-scale trial of Microsoft 365 Copilot by key power users. They saw immediate value and being an innovative company decided to cover majority of knowledge workers with the licensing as soon as practical. Cloud Clever realised the timeliness of Copilot implementation and exercised one of the levers to tap into vendor promotions. In this case, we went ahead with 300 Copilot M365 licenses and we were able to reduce the price by 15% off retail – another $24.2k saved. Even with 300 Copilot licenses procured, overall annual spend is reduced by $168k in comparison to the initial total spend.
| Licence / commercial lever | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 E3 | 419 | 374 |
| Microsoft 365 F3 | – | 37 |
| Total base licences | 419 | 411 |
| Active users | 411 | 411 |
| Billing term (default) | Month-to-month | 80% annual / 20% flex |
| Pricing baseline | RRP | RRP −10% |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (now fundable) | 0 | 300 |
Copilot roll-out
Most businesses benefit from the Security and Copilot readiness assessments and remediation works that precede any large-scale license rollouts. Cloud Clever organised fully subsidised high-quality assessments and heavily subsidised engineering effort for the remediation works saving additional $18k in the process.
Total engagement savings
The comparison below is a like-for-like, first-year view: what the customer would have paid had they kept the Azure estate and Microsoft 365 licensing untouched and still proceeded with 300 Copilot licences, the security and Copilot readiness assessments and the associated remediation – against what they actually pay with Cloud Clever.
- Azure infrastructure & licensing
- Microsoft 365 Modern Work licensing
- Copilot 300 seats
- Readiness assessments & remediation
Scroll the table sideways to see all columns →
| Cost workstream | Year 1 do nothing | Year 1 optimised | Year 1 net savings | Savings % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azure infrastructure & licensing | $589,560 | $386,321 | $203,239 | 34.5% |
| Microsoft 365 Modern Work licensing | $352,362 | $250,436 | $101,926 | 28.9% |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (300 seats) | $161,640 | $137,394 | $24,246 | 15.0% |
| Security & Copilot readiness assessments and remediation | $18,000 | $0 | $18,000 | 100% |
| Total engagement | $1,121,562 | $774,151 | $347,411 | 31.0% |
In short: the customer now runs Azure, Microsoft 365 and 300 Copilot seats for $774.2k a year – $167.8k less than they spent before 300 seats of Copilot were even on the table.
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Customer details have been withheld at their request. Microsoft, Azure, Microsoft 365 and Copilot are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.