3 Months Until EA Renewal: Final Preparation Steps
Introduction – The Final 90 Days Before Renewal
With 90 days remaining before your Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) renewal, the pressure is on. These final three months are the decisive stage where preparation meets negotiation.
Microsoft’s sales team often ramps up urgency in this window – expect to hear that you “must sign now to lock in discounts” or other high-pressure tactics.
As a savvy IT leader, stay disciplined and clear-headed. Read our ultimate guide to Microsoft EA renewal strategies.
By focusing on strategic last-minute preparation and not falling for vendor-driven urgency, you can enter this final stretch of negotiations with confidence and control.
Evaluate Microsoft’s Offer
At the 90-day mark, you likely have Microsoft’s initial renewal proposal in hand. Now is the time to scrutinize that offer line by line.
Perform a detailed review of every component in the quote: check license quantities, product line items, and pricing against your records.
The goal is to catch any surprises or hidden cost escalations before you sit at the bargaining table.
- Compare to Current State: Cross-check the proposal against your current EA entitlements to spot over-quoting or product changes. Ensure Microsoft isn’t quoting more licenses or higher-tier products than you actually need.
- Identify Price Increases: Flag any cost upticks or removed discounts. If you notice a new 5% “uplift” or a previously granted discount disappearing, mark it for challenge.
- Uncover Hidden Add-Ons: Look for products or services bundled in that weren’t in your last agreement (e.g., extra security add-ons or an AI trial). Determine if these are truly needed or just vendor upsells that inflate cost.
- Prioritize Issues: List the items you need to push back on, ranked by impact. Focus your negotiation on the areas with the biggest cost or risk implications.
- Lock the Scope: After identifying unnecessary components, communicate your exact requirements to Microsoft. For example, if you only need 800 licenses but were quoted 1,000, insist on an updated proposal. Freezing the scope now ensures Microsoft’s quote aligns with your real needs.
Scenario Planning
With the proposal dissected, turn to scenario planning for the negotiation. It’s critical to define your desired outcomes and boundaries ahead of time. Outline the range of possible deals: your best case, target case, and walk-away case.
This keeps your team aligned on what success looks like and when to walk away.
- Best Case: The ideal outcome if everything goes in your favor (e.g,. significant cost reduction and very flexible terms).
- Target Case: A realistic deal you’d be satisfied with – meeting your key objectives and keeping any cost increase minimal.
- Walk-Away Case: The minimum deal you will accept, along with the must-have conditions that need to be met. Set a clear line (for example, “no more than a 5% cost increase” and inclusion of certain critical terms) beyond which you’re prepared to delay or explore alternatives rather than sign.
- Fallback Plan: Prepare a plan B in case you can’t reach an acceptable deal. You could negotiate a short-term extension of the current agreement or shift certain workloads to other vendors every month as a stopgap.
To visualize these scenarios, consider how each one might play out:
| Scenario | Key Characteristics | Example Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Best Case | Deep discount; highly favorable terms | ~15% cost reduction, plus flexible terms (e.g. ability to reduce or exit early) |
| Target | Acceptable deal with some improvements | Minimal increase (around 0–5%), with perhaps a small bundle discount or added value |
| Walk-Away | Bare minimum acceptable (else delay/extend) | No more than 5% cost increase; if higher or key terms missing, you pause or pursue alternatives |
This table ensures everyone knows what “good” vs. “unacceptable” looks like. If Microsoft’s offer fails to meet your walk-away scenario, you’re ready to invoke your fallback plan rather than accept a bad deal.
Read what to do 6 months out, 6 Months Until Microsoft EA Renewal: Key Mid-Stage Milestones.
Leadership Briefing
In these final months, keep your executive leadership in the loop and aligned. Microsoft may try to stir up urgency at the C-suite level (“your renewal is at risk!”) to pressure a quick signature.
By briefing your leaders, you ensure they won’t undermine the negotiation strategy under stress.
Make sure to:
- Report Offer vs. Targets: Give the CIO, CFO, and other stakeholders a clear rundown of Microsoft’s offer against your target scenario. Highlight any major gaps or concerns that need executive awareness.
- Secure Executive Backing: Confirm that leadership fully supports your negotiation stance. If the C-suite is on board with pushing back, Microsoft can’t divide-and-conquer by going around your team.
- Align on Escalation: Agree on what to do if Microsoft won’t meet your minimum terms. Decide if you’re willing to let the deal lapse temporarily or if a senior executive (like your CFO or CIO) will engage Microsoft’s higher-ups. Knowing your leaders are ready to escalate or take calculated risks gives you confidence at the table.
Legal Review of Proposed Terms
With around 90 days to go, have your legal counsel review Microsoft’s draft agreement language in detail.
Look especially for new or changed clauses in 2025, and be prepared to negotiate them:
- AI/Copilot Terms: Microsoft may include clauses about new AI services (like Microsoft 365 Copilot). Ensure any AI-related terms (data usage, privacy, liability) are understood and acceptable. If not, plan to negotiate those provisions.
- Data Residency & Privacy: Check that the agreement meets your data residency and compliance needs. For example, if you require EU data boundaries or specific privacy commitments, verify these are explicitly covered.
- Audit Rights: Scrutinize Microsoft’s audit clauses. If the draft gives Microsoft very broad audit rights or short notice periods, push for more reasonable terms (e.g. advance notice and defined scope). You want to avoid surprise or overly intrusive audits.
- Prepare Redlines: For each issue identified, have proposed wording changes (redlines) ready. Don’t just flag problems – suggest fixes. Presenting alternative language to Microsoft (for example, clarifying an ambiguous term or adding a privacy safeguard) increases the chances of a favorable adjustment.
Resolving legal points now prevents last-minute contract snags. It also shows Microsoft that you’re paying attention to the fine print, which can encourage them to be more balanced in their terms.
Optimize and Lock License Entitlements
The final 90 days are your last chance to clean up your license entitlements so you’re not paying for anything unnecessary.
Make sure Microsoft’s renewal quote reflects only what you truly need:
- Freeze and Stabilize: Avoid major changes to user counts or deployments right before renewal. Postpone big onboarding or new rollouts if possible so your usage stays steady. A stable environment means a clearer, more accurate renewal scope.
- Remove Unused Licenses: Eliminate any “shelfware” – licenses not being used. If certain subscriptions or accounts are idle, drop them now and ensure Microsoft’s proposal is updated to these lower counts. Perform a final true-up with these reductions so you only renew what’s actually in use.
By entering negotiations with a lean and accurate licensing profile, you cut out wasteful spending. This lowers your baseline cost and signals to Microsoft that you’ve done your homework, limiting their ability to inflate the deal with extras.
Read, end game tactics – Tactics for the Final Microsoft EA Negotiation Sprint
Schedule Negotiation Meetings
Time is short, so bring structure to the negotiation process. Don’t let things slip into chaos in the final weeks:
- Set a Cadence: Schedule weekly (or bi-weekly) negotiation calls with Microsoft’s team, and ensure your internal stakeholders are available for quick turnarounds. Steady meetings and prompt responses help maintain momentum and pressure.
- Leverage Quarter-End: Align key negotiation milestones with Microsoft’s fiscal quarter-end if you can. Microsoft tends to offer the best concessions as its quarter (or year) closes. Let them know you’re aiming to finalize by that deadline if your requirements are met – this taps into their urgency to hit targets.
- Plan Escalation: Decide in advance how you’ll escalate if talks stall. If you’re not getting what you need by a certain date, involve higher-level executives. A well-timed CIO-to-Microsoft VP call, for instance, can break a deadlock. Having an escalation plan means you won’t scramble at the last minute.
Checklist – Final 90 Days Prep
Use this checklist to ensure no critical preparation step is missed in the last three months:
- Microsoft’s proposal was evaluated line by line.
- Best-case, target, and walk-away scenarios defined.
- Executives briefed and aligned on the stance.
- Legal review of draft terms completed.
- License cleanup and true-up finalized.
- Negotiation meetings scheduled and team availability confirmed.
By checking off each item, you’ll know you’ve covered all bases. This final checklist is your safety net against last-minute surprises or vendor pressure – a reminder that you are fully prepared.
Read about our Microsoft EA Optimization Service.
