Fragmented views
Licence usage in Microsoft 365 admin, resource cost in Microsoft Azure, Azure portal data, Cloud PC utilisation, and cloud storage signals all sit apart. Each view is partial; nobody owns the combined picture.
Solution
Manage Azure spend, reduce cloud cost, and clean up Microsoft 365 licences.
Most Microsoft estates carry cloud waste in unused Microsoft 365 licences, oversized Azure resources, idle resources, cloud storage, data transfer, and stranded Windows 365 capacity. EtherInsights finds it, names the owner, and turns it into cost savings you can act on next week.
15-30%
of M365 licences typically inactive or downgradeable on first scan
10-20%
recurring Azure savings from right-sizing and reclaim
1 week
from tenant access to first prioritised savings report
The problem
Finance sees the total. Ops sees the line items. Nobody sees the waste clearly enough to act.
Microsoft 365 licences, Microsoft 365 Apps, Azure resources, cloud storage, and Windows 365 Cloud PCs live in different admin centres with different owners. The cloud bill shows what was charged, but not what should still exist. Spreadsheets can catch up once a quarter, but cloud waste keeps recycling unless teams can manage costs with evidence.
Savings without owners
Opportunities get surfaced, then stall. Reclaim, right-size, and cloud waste removal work needs a named owner, a deadline, and follow-up evidence. Without those, it slips into next quarter.
One-off spreadsheets
A consultant-led savings sprint helps once. What teams actually need is a repeatable monthly or quarterly rhythm for optimizing cloud spend that survives re-orgs, business plan changes, and governance pressure.
What changes
A measurable monthly savings rhythm, not another dashboard.
Savings pipeline with named owners
Every opportunity has an assignee, a commercial impact estimate, and a target close date. Reclaim, right-size, and cloud waste actions move through a visible queue so managing cloud costs becomes operational work, not a finance complaint.
M365 licence reclaim in weeks, not quarters
Inactive users, underused SKUs, duplicate premium licences, Microsoft 365 Apps waste, and leaver-cleanup gaps are surfaced automatically with reclaim actions ready for IT to run.
Azure right-sizing with audit evidence
Oversized VMs, idle App Services, unattached disks, stale snapshots, idle resources, and expensive cloud resources are flagged with before-and-after cost and a change log that supports governance review.
The operating view
One review across licences, Azure, cloud infrastructure, and Cloud PCs.
Microsoft 365 licences, Azure spend, cloud infrastructure, and Cloud PC fleet data feed a single review pipeline: inactive licences to reclaim, idle resources to remove, right-size opportunities to resize, and cohort drift to re-plan. The output is a savings evidence pack with owners and next actions for finance and operations.
Video walkthrough
See savings evidence flow.
A focused walkthrough of Microsoft 365 licence waste, Azure spend, and owner-backed savings actions.
- Connect Microsoft 365 and Azure savings signals.
- Turn waste into owner-backed actions.
- Use the clips below for focused cost views.
Cost clips
Microsoft 365 and Azure cost views, broken down.
Use these shorter clips when finance, IT, or MSP teams need a focused cost conversation about reducing cloud spend, managing cloud costs, and deciding what should stay, change, or be removed.
Microsoft 365 cost optimisation
Reduce licence waste by finding inactive users, underused SKUs, Microsoft 365 Apps assignments, business plan drift, and reclaim candidates.
Azure cost optimisation
Review Microsoft Azure subscription, Azure portal, cloud resources, data transfer, and resource evidence for right-sizing and stranded-resource cleanup.
How we deliver it
EtherInsights is the engine. Delivery is your call.
EtherInsights handles estate-wide visibility, Azure cost optimisation evidence, the monthly savings report, the reclaim workflow, and the governance trail. You can self-serve on a trial, have us run the first review with you, or bring in an MSP partner to operate the cadence.
EtherInsights started as the cost management platform for Microsoft 365 and Azure. It shows where spend is going, which owners need to act, and how to turn waste into savings. It now extends that operating view into full Windows 365 lifecycle support, plus tenant, user, security, device, and Intune reporting.
Where this fits
- Quarterly Microsoft 365 licence true-up and leaver reclaim.
- Azure right-sizing and stranded-resource cleanup across subscriptions.
- Optimize cloud costs across idle resources, cloud storage, data transfer, and cloud infrastructure.
- Windows 365 and Cloud PC capacity review against licence entitlement.
- Finance-led FinOps pilot that needs a credible engineering partner.
- MSP running cost optimisation as a recurring customer engagement.
Start here
Start with a savings report, not a sales cycle.
One business week of tenant access, one review call, one prioritised savings pipeline you can take to finance. No commitment to continue.
- 15 to 30 percent of M365 licences typically inactive or downgradeable on first scan.
- 10 to 20 percent recurring Azure savings from right-sizing and stranded-resource reclaim.
- First savings report ready within one business week of tenant access, giving teams a cost-effective way to reduce cloud cost before starting a larger programme.