Microsoft licensing consulting in Switzerland

The market for Microsoft licensing help in Switzerland is not short of names, but the business models differ in ways that matter.

Many organizations need a combination. The question to ask each provider is the same: what do you earn if I buy fewer licenses? A provider that answers plainly, and has a model where saving you money is the business, is easier to trust than one that avoids the question. The agreement type matters too, which is why the choice between EA, CSP and MCA-E belongs in the first conversation, not in the last.

The work falls into five activities, and a provider that skips the first is guessing.

Two Microsoft rules explain why timing is part of the job. In CSP, a new commerce subscription can be cancelled or reduced only within seven days of purchase or renewal, as set out in Microsoft's cancellation policy. After that, the full term is payable. And since 1 April 2025, a monthly billing plan on an annual subscription is priced 5% higher than upfront payment, according to Microsoft's Partner Center announcement, March 2025. A consultant who knows these rules decides the quantity before the window closes and chooses the billing plan on purpose.

The data side has a limit worth knowing. Last sign-in data through Microsoft Graph requires an Entra ID P1 or P2 license, according to the Microsoft Learn guidance on inactive accounts. Sign-in alone also says little about whether a user needs a plan. Per app activity, from the usage reports, is the stronger evidence.

We suggest six questions. They work for any provider, including us.

1. How are you paid, and what happens to your revenue if I buy less? Independence is a structure, not a promise.
2. What access do you need? Read-only access to the tenant should be enough. A provider that needs write access to analyze has a different plan than analysis.
3. Is the finding per user or per company? Averages do not survive a renewal conversation. A named list of seats with the evidence next to each does.
4. Who decides? Every change should be proposed, approved by you and then made. Ask for that workflow in writing.
5. Do you cover the contract as well as the licenses? Agreement choice and renewal timing often outweigh a tier change.
6. Where is my data processed and who sees it? For Swiss organizations this is a revDSG question, covered below.

Red flags are easy to list. A savings promise before any data has been seen. A report delivered as a PDF with no owner for the actions. A fee that rises when your spend rises. A proposal that begins with a price comparison between agreements before quantity has been settled.

The weak point of a success fee is the baseline. Savings against a list price, or against a quote the provider itself produced, are easy to inflate. Savings against what you paid last year, for the same users, are hard to argue with. Our own model is success based or fixed price, your choice, and we never optimize blind: baseline first, then the scenario that fits you best.

1. Access and scope. You grant read-only access, and the provider confirms the agreement type, the renewal dates and the questions that matter most. With a platform, this step can take hours, not weeks.
2. Analysis. Per user: assigned plans, activity, overlaps. Per contract: terms, renewal dates, commitments. The output is a list of candidates with evidence.
3. Decisions. You review each category. Remove, downgrade, keep. Some seats are intentionally idle, such as seasonal staff or executives. That is your call, informed by data.
4. Execution. Changes are made in the right window. In CSP, within seven days after the term starts. In an EA, at the anniversary or before the renewal.
5. Renewal. The agreement choice and negotiation, on the cleaned-up quantity. This is where a provider with contract expertise earns its fee.
6. Tracking. A record of planned and realized savings, so the result is visible after the project, and so new overlaps are caught before they become habits.

The order matters. Teams that start with step five negotiate a discount on seats they do not need.

The figures below are assumptions for the arithmetic. They are not a price list. Your agreement, currency list and plan mix will change them.

The structure of the example is typical, even if the percentages vary: most of the saving comes from seats and plan fit. The price update of 1 July 2026 raises the stakes, because every seat you keep costs more. Our overview of the price changes shows by how much, and our cost optimization guide sets out the four levers in order.

Currency. Microsoft's new commerce prices are defined per customer market, so a Swiss customer is quoted against the price list for the Swiss market. Compare offers in your agreement currency (CHF or EUR), per SKU, and treat dollar figures from Microsoft announcements as indications of proportion.

Data protection. A licensing analysis reads user names, plans and activity. That is personal data. Ask any provider where the data is processed, who the sub-processors are, how long it is kept and whether access is read-only. A provider that cannot answer in a data processing agreement is not ready for your tenant. The revised Swiss Data Protection Act (revDSG) applies to the processing.

Competition review. On 15 January 2026, the secretariat of the Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO, in German WEKO) opened a preliminary investigation after complaints about price increases for Microsoft licenses in Switzerland, focusing on Microsoft 365. It examines whether the increases point to unlawful restraints of competition that would justify a full investigation. The official announcement is the source. It changes no obligation in your contract, but it is useful context when you negotiate and a reason to keep your price history.

We pair three things. The Optimization Service covers license position, rightsizing, agreement choice and renewal negotiation, on a success basis (no savings, no cost) or at a fixed price. The Zation Platform is a Swiss-hosted, strictly read-only FinOps platform for Microsoft 365 and Azure. Every recommendation moves through Skip, Plan, Approve and Realized, so decisions stay with you. And CSP, for organizations that want to buy through us.

Because we also resell, the question from the start of this article applies to us. Our answer: the Optimization Service is paid on realized savings or a fixed fee, and we start with quantity and plan fit, not with a larger order. Across more than 200 projects we have reduced Microsoft software spend by around 30% on average. Your result depends on your estate, and we say so before we start.