Anonymized Case Study: License Mix Optimization with CHAOS
An EU company with 3,500 employees and multiple locations had high Microsoft 365 E3 coverage, many project and Visio seats, and little governance. CHAOS analysed usage and roles, simulated alternatives and automated assignments incl. why layer.
Background
Too many high-end licenses, manual lists, and exceptions. CSP/NCE change increased the pressure on transparency.
Goal: Maintain compliance, secure service levels, reduce the total cost of Microsoft online licenses.
In detail: Microsoft 365 E3 had become the default for almost everyone—including field staff, shop floors, and mailbox-only users. Project and Visio add-ons were widespread though only a few departments really used them. Finance and IT each had their own spreadsheet “truth”; there was no shared, audit-ready trail.
Approach with CHAOS
Analysis → Rules → Simulation → Automation → Audit Reporting. Each stage was coordinated with stakeholders from IT, finance and compliance.
Result
The license mix was aligned to actual needs and roles. Overlicensing was dismantled, critical groups remained hedged.
The change ran in waves (pilot → departments → remainder of the tenant). Every move was documented with the Why-layer: data source, rule version, excluded alternatives—so privacy and works councils could follow the rationale without wading through licensing jargon.
License counts before / after (excerpt)
| SKU | Prior | After |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 E3 | 2300 | 1380 |
| Project Plan 3 | 213 | 99 |
| Visio Plan 2 | 148 | 51 |
Reassignment of 920 accounts (formerly Microsoft 365 E3)
The difference of 920 accounts was distributed to more cost-effective SKUs by role model – without compromising critical productivity functions.
Microsoft 365 F3 — 280
Frontline and shared devices: Teams, limited email, no full desktop office installation required.
Office 365 E1 — 350
Knowledge worker with web office and teams; no local office package necessary.
Exchange Online Plan 1 — 100
Pure mailbox users with no Teams/SharePoint request in the defined profile.
SharePoint Online (Plan 1) — 90
Professional portals without a full Microsoft 365 workload.
Microsoft Teams Essentials — 100
External project teams with teams focus, reduced Microsoft 365 depth.
Assumptions
- Region: EU, Currency: EUR.
- Billing: List prices as monthly user price, extrapolated to annual costs (×12).
- Price reference: Microsoft public product pages (list prices may vary by region, channel and contract). Uncertain individual values are marked as ASSUMPTION.
- This view explains the model transparently; it does not replace an individual analysis of your organisation.
Cost model (ASSUMPTION EUR/user/month)
| SKU | EUR/user/month | Please note |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 E3 | 36 | ASSUMPTION: Listprice |
| Project Plan 3 | 26 | ASSUMPTION: Listprice |
| Visio Plan 2 | 14 | ASSUMPTION: Listprice |
| Microsoft 365 F3 | 7.50 | ASSUMPTION: Listprice |
| Office 365 E1 | 8.70 | ASSUMPTION: Listprice |
| Exchange Online (Plan 1) | 4.20 | ASSUMPTION: Listprice |
| SharePoint Online (Plan 1) | 5 | ASSUMPTION: Listprice |
| Microsoft Teams Essentials | 3.80 | ASSUMPTION: Listprice |
Total before
€ 1,084,920
Total after
€ 712,356
Savings / year
€ 372,564
Save
34.34%
Total costs before vs. after (EUR/year)
License mix afterwards (share of licenses)
Microsoft 365 E3
€ 1,380 · 56.3%
Project Plan 3
€ 99 · 4.0%
Visio Plan 2
€ 51 · 2.1%
Microsoft 365 F3
€ 280 · 11.4%
Office 365 E1
€ 350 · 14.3%
Exchange Online (Plan 1)
€ 100 · 4.1%
SharePoint Online (Plan 1)
€ 90 · 3.7%
Microsoft Teams Essentials
€ 100 · 4.1%
Further case examples in figures
Two additional analyses in the same format as above: annual cost, savings and license mix after the change—shown in anonymised form.
Retail chain, ~1,120 site-related Microsoft accounts
Stores, head office and logistics in one tenant: high E3/E5 share with uneven usage. After location and role profiling, full bundles were focused on core sites; shift operations received frontline and basic packages.
Total before (year)
€ 480,000
Total after (year)
€ 316,800
Savings / year
€ 163,200
Saving
34%
Total cost before vs. after (EUR/year)
License mix after (share)
Microsoft 365 E5
€ 85 · 7.6%
Microsoft 365 E3
€ 340 · 30.4%
Microsoft 365 F3
€ 420 · 37.5%
Office 365 E1
€ 185 · 16.5%
Exchange Online P1
€ 90 · 8.0%
Utility company, office and field service in one tenant
Engineering, grid operations and administration shared similar SKU tiers. The mix was reset along security requirements and real Office need; field and control-room staff now mostly use leaner workloads.
Total before (year)
€ 890,000
Total after (year)
€ 525,100
Savings / year
€ 364,900
Saving
41%
Total cost before vs. after (EUR/year)
License mix after (share)
Microsoft 365 E5
€ 180 · 12.6%
Microsoft 365 E3
€ 620 · 43.4%
Microsoft 365 F3
€ 410 · 28.7%
Office 365 E1
€ 220 · 15.4%