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Private Advisory for Boards & CFOs: https://www.jhstrategicit.com/

The Microsoft renewal came in at +22%. 
Revenue growth was flat.
The CFO stopped the meeting.

I sat in that review. I didn’t blame the vendor’s pricing model. (That is a losing trade).

We weren't paying for inflation. We were paying for unmanaged activation.

Software used to be a fixed contract. It is now variable cost without revenue linkage.
Copilot attaches. Security expands. Azure scales quietly.

If activation moves faster than revenue, margin compresses automatically.

We paused the signature to run one test.
The Activation Governance Protocol: (Save this for your next renewal audit)

1) The Offset: If consumption grows more than 10%, which specific revenue line pays for it?
2) The Kill Switch: If renewal cost exceeds forecast, what existing project do we defund?
3) The Owner: Who owns the variance? (If the answer is "IT," the cost is unmanaged).

Licensing is no longer a contract event. It is infrastructure consumption.
Usage is not value.

If you cannot link the license to a margin dollar, you are just funding efficiency that never hits the P&L.