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Whitepaper

What You’ll Learn

A CFO-ready case for why Microsoft's Unified Support pricing model works against you and what a consumption-aligned alternative actually looks like.

THE PROBLEM

Why Unified Support Costs Keep Rising, Even When Usage Drops

Microsoft prices Unified as a percentage of your total Microsoft spend, not the cases you opened, or engineering hours consumed. Your bill goes up every time licensing grows, regardless of support activity

THE BLIND SPOT

What Procurement, Finance & IT Can't See on the Invoice

Unified invoices show one large number. No case-level breakdown, no severity mix, no engineering effort. This white paper documents why that opacity costs enterprises millions in avoidable spend.

THE MODEL

How a Consumption-Based Support Agreement Actually Works

Four pillars of a smarter model: usage visibility, predictable cost bands, engineering accountability, and negotiation grounded in data, not percentage haggling.

THE NEXT STEP

Two Steps to Evaluate Your Current Support Contract Today

Establish your real consumption baseline, then model what a usage-aligned contract would have cost for the same demand pattern, no full redesign required.

Who Should Read This Whitepaper?

If you're accountable for Microsoft support spend, cost transparency, or contract negotiations - this whitepaper gives you the framework and evidence to act.

  • CFOs and Finance Leaders who need to reconcile the Unified line item against actual support ROI and build a defensible investment case
  • Procurement and Vendor Management teams who want to move from percentage-rate haggling to evidence-based negotiation on scope, service levels, and usage bands
  • IT and Operations Leaders whose teams open tickets and manage escalations but never see a clear line from those patterns to what they cost the business
  • CIOs and Technology Executives evaluating whether to renew, renegotiate, or replace a Unified Support agreement at the next contract cycle
  • Finance Business Partners and Budget Owners who are tired of forecasting support as a derivative of licensing spend rather than as a service with its own economics