Europe (EU) US Cloud Microsoft Support Case Study
EU MICROSOFT UNIFIED SUPPORT CASE STUDY – FINANCIAL FIRM FACTORS IN US CLOUD 72% SAVINGS TO RECOUP 21 MILLION EUROS (EUR)
Global 2000 European Union (EU) investment firm is showing strong momentum including IT efficiency gains around Microsoft support. The financial enterprise is moving all its divisions from Microsoft Unified to US Cloud for a 72% cost reduction in 2021. Analysis shows the firm will recoup €21M EUR ($25M USD) over the next five years.
Audience: IT Sourcing, Procurement and Vendor Management | Enterprise IT Executives | EU Financial & Banking
Year 1 Transition from Premier to Unified – Big Euro Discounts
In order to make the transition from Premier Support to Unified in 2020 as painless as possible, Microsoft included a 35% Transition Adjustment and 37% Software Assurance Benefit credit to offset the Unified cost increases across all divisions for the Financial enterprise.
Some European Microsoft support customers are being sold Premier but the contract has all the monikers of Unified. Analysts note that most enterprises are now in Unified with the exception of government and education verticals.
MSFT Unified 72% Discount – Year 1 – One Division of EU Investment Firm
Year 2 Unified – No Discounts Offered Resulting in 72% Cost Increase
With the global economy shifting into recovery mode, analysts are reporting less discounting being offered by Microsoft for Premier or Unified support services.
Year 2 of MSFT Unified resulted in the removal of the 35% Transition Adjustment discount and 37% Software Assurance Benefit (SAB) credit.
Cost avoidance analysis of years 2022-2025 highlighted additional increases of 259% over the next 4 years when overlaying the firm’s IT roadmap with associated Unified costs.
The financial enterprise recouped €4 M Euros (EUR) in year 1 and an additional €17 M Euros (EUR) over the next four years allowing them to invest in strategic IT initiatives driving competitive advantage and growth.
Key Decision Drivers on Selecting US Cloud
Cost cutting of 72%
Singular Focus on Microsoft enterprise support
24/7/365 global coverage
Sub 15-minute response times
An analyst in London recommended US Cloud. Once IT Compliance addressed GDPR and follow the sun support, the transition was fairly straightforward. The cost avoidance will allow us to fund our new mobile platform scheduled for release in Q3 2022. — Phillipe I, Office of the CTO, Global 2000 EU Investment Firm
No TAMs – Only India Based Account Managers
It’s the first time we’ve seen a client report the CSAM contract explicitly calls out Microsoft Affiliate service delivery in India. This results in a double efficiency gain and gross profit increase for Microsoft.
1) Moving from Technical Account Managers (TAM) to Customer Success Account Manager (CSAM) cuts the average EU salary from €183,000 to €83,000.
2) By offshoring the CSAM function to India, Microsoft cuts that cost in half again to an average of €38,000 fully loaded with benefits.
US Cloud predicts this model will become the norm for 2022 and beyond as the “unlimited ticket” Unified load builds and the IT outsourcers scale out the CSAM delivery model for Microsoft.
EU US Cloud Microsoft Support Case Study
Investment in US Cloud Support Services Pays Dividends
Client: Large European Union (EU) Investment Firm
Industry: Wealth Management
Annual Revenue: €10 B
Key Drivers: Cost avoidance
Client Profile: A European (EU) multinational investment bank with over 11,000 employees that had migrated a majority of key Microsoft systems to the cloud.
Why Leave Microsoft Support: This sophisticated EU wealth management firm was being forced from Microsoft Premier Support into Unified Support. Traditionally the Client’s high-caliber internal IT staff solved the majority of Microsoft break-fix tickets. Only ultra-complex issues or ones that required code or tenant access were submitted to Microsoft Support. With the “all-or- nothing” pricing of Unified Support, the Client’s traditional approach of buying just the support hours they would need became impossible. Forced into the new pricing formula the Client immediately started to search for a replacement for Unified Support that more closely matched the Premier Support model they had tailored their internal resources to.
Switching to US Cloud: After searching for multiple alternatives in mid 2021, the Client admitted that only US Cloud had a service capable of replacing their Microsoft Support.
