To start, I share a brief summary of how Phil and I connected and then Phil went on to introduce himself, what he does and who he helps. 

Phil shares that they specialise in looking at customers’ usage of Microsoft 365, having noticed that there is a lot of underutilisation of the app and people are leaving value on the table. Phil says they think there is a great opportunity for partners particularly in the IT & MSP space. 

Phil’s company has conducted a lot of research, over 10,000 users in detail and have found that in general, only 11% of users are using all of their Microsoft 365 apps. In conclusion, they aren’t getting the value of their Microsoft 365 subscriptions. 

He also stated that when people leave and organisation, there’s no recycling of subscriptions, and that’s not just a waste of money but also a security issue. 

Phil and I then continued on to talk about the jaw-dropping things that they find when they start working with a new client from the IT & MSP space. Phil responds with the two aspects to look at with Microsoft 365 optimisation, which is procurement and optimisation of usage. He then explains both aspects and what to do. 

Phil creates an analogy that Microsoft 365 is just like a chocolate box, where you have got a lot of chocolates but only eating a few and throwing the rest away. He also talks about discounts in procurement. 

We then continued to weigh in on ‘whose fault’ is it, business-wise, that a lot of organisations are in this position. Is it from the buying side where the person buying doesn’t know what they're buying? Or is it through Microsoft’s side where they bring out new apps from time to time that doesn’t get promoted enough? 

I then ask Phil to share about their Microsoft 365 Health Check, and how do we find out what our clients are missing? Phil says it’s more like an efficiency check that will show clients a full assessment of how much money they’re wasting and where they can get value. He then explains in detail how they do it so you can fully optimise your Microsoft 365 subscription. 

Phil highlights that for their partners and MSPs, they see the opportunities to sell in value-added services and get extra revenue streams. 

To wrap up the episode, Phil and I discuss a little bit about the future of where this technology and most importantly Microsoft 365 optimisation is going in the next few years. And Phil states that they are looking at endpoint management and shares briefly how it pans out. 

I hope you enjoy this episode. It’s honestly been a learning point for me and certainly a great discussion point for ourselves and the IT Experts Community.  

 

You can access all the other IT Experts Podcasts here –  https://innovatetosuccess.com/podcast/  

If you want to learn more about what Phil Hames does or do a 365 health check, you can get in touch with him at [email protected] or visit their website www.businesssoftwarecentre.com 

If you haven’t seen it yet, come and join our community in our own IT Experts App – you can check it out here –  https://bit.ly/ITE-COMM 

If you're looking to scale your IT & MSP business and you don't know where to start, just navigate and explore here on our website www.innovatetosuccess.com where we've got a whole load of tips, tricks, strategies and community to help you grow and scale your IT and your MSP business. 

I also invite you to come and take the IT experts test and we can help you to work out what to focus on right now to get you the quickest results in your business. You can take the test here – https://bit.ly/ITEtest 

If we’re not connected already, let’s connect on LinkedIn, YouTube and over here at our website, innovatetosuccess.com 

Alternatively, you can drop me an email at [email protected] 

Until next time, you look after yourself and I’ll catch up with you soon!