Microsoft's Nicole Herskowitz published a fascinating post in early February, a post discussing the total economic impact of adopting Microsoft 365 E3. Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a study among business professionals. According to that study, investing in MS 365 E3 is worthwhile.

Licensing the productivity suite would give an organization access to a variety of tools and services designed to help businesses get things done. Rest assured that there are other Microsoft 365 licensing solutions if E3 is not right for your organization.

More About the Study

The Forrester study was designed as a deep dive into the cost analysis of using Microsoft 365 E3 alongside Copilot and Teams. Forrester considered both the cost of licensing and IT support. They also considered security and how AI solutions are utilized.

They interviewed five decision makers and surveyed an additional 269 business leaders with experience in Microsoft 365 E3, Teams, and Copilot. They took all the survey responses and combined them into "a single composite organization" representing "an industry-agnostic organization" with tens of thousands of employees and billions in annual revenue.

When all was set in done, here is what the data showed:

• A return on investment (ROI) of 197%

• A net present value (NPV) of $101.6 million

• A payback period of just 6 months or less

Herskowitz explained that Microsoft 365 E3 adoption, alongside Teams and Copilot, allowed the composite organization to achieve benefits in excess of $153 million over three years as opposed to costs of $51.6 million. That is where the NPV of $101.6 million comes from.

How It Saves Money

Knowing what we know about Microsoft 365 licensing solutions, the big question is how E3 saves money in conjunction with Microsoft Teams and Copilot. The Herskowitz post offers the following:

• Boosting productivity and improving business outcomes

• Increased security, fewer breeches

• Reduced support costs through optimized IT deployment

Microsoft is now promoting MS 365 E3 as a way to streamline IT operations while also saving money and making the entire ecosystem less complex. MS 365 E3 is being offered as the office and productivity suite of the future.

What You Get With Microsoft 365 E3

Should your organization decide to go with Microsoft 365 E3, you will certainly get a lot for your money. For starters, you get all the standard productivity apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and Access. You also get:

• Collaboration Tools including SharePoint and OneDrive

• Security and compliance tools

• Device management tools, like Intune

• Work Management tools like Power Apps and Power Automate

• Compliance capabilities including MS Purview Audit

Licensing comes in at a modest price, charged on a per-user basis and billed annually. If an organization likes the E3 model but wants access to nearly every Microsoft service and capability, the E5 license is available. It obviously costs a bit more.

Contact Us With Your Questions

If you have questions about how Microsoft 365 E3 could be deployed for your organization, feel free to contact us. We are specialists in Microsoft 365 licensing solutions. Our number one priority is assisting organizations in their quest to determine the right license type before deploying Microsoft products. We can help you figure it all out.

Microsoft 365 E3 is not the right choice for every organization. But according to the Forrester Consultant study, it is well worth the investment for certain types of organizations. No doubt, a 197% ROI is nothing to laugh at. And any software product that can pay for itself in six months or less is worth taking a look at.

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