Microsoft audits open quietly. The SAM Engagement letter does not say audit. The settlement letter does. A buyer side checklist closes the gap between the two.
Microsoft audits arrive dressed as SAM Engagements and true up reviews, and the first 30 days decide the settlement. Work the checklist: know your triggers, hold the data scope, count the six categories yourself, and settle on renewal terms instead of list price.
Microsoft opens SAM Engagements on signals. File your case before the signal fires.
The opening request asks for everything. The contract does not require it.
Your inventory beats their script, but only if it covers everything they will count.
Six findings recur in almost every Microsoft engagement. Each has a known defense.
The finding is an opening position. Settlement runs at your EA discount, not at list, if you make it.
EA, CSP, MCA, retail, and OEM each have their own audit terms. A SAM Engagement that crosses boundaries gets a counter proposal.
SAM Engagement scoping, data request limits, internal inventory production, settlement negotiation, and renewal alignment, always buyer side, never Microsoft paid. Also delivered through the Renewal Program, the Benchmark Program, and the Software Spend Assessment, with our benchmarking framework underneath. Read about us and our locations. Fixed fee or contingency: no savings, no fee.
Contact Us Get the Microsoft EA Renewal Playbook →A buyer side reference on Microsoft commercial leverage, the SAM Engagement scoping, the audit defense levers, the renewal volume conversion math, and the settlement discipline. Built from hundreds of Microsoft engagements.
Independent. Buyer side. Written for CIOs, CFOs, and procurement leaders carrying Microsoft estates. No Microsoft influence. No partner kickback.
Open the white paper in your browser. Corporate email only.
Open the Paper →The Microsoft audit is the renewal in disguise. The findings convert into renewal volume. The settlement runs at the same discount as the renewal. The customer that walks the audit and the renewal as one negotiation captures the savings on both sides of the table.
We have run 500+ enterprise clients across 11 publishers. Every engagement starts with one conversation.
SAM Engagement scoping, audit defense levers, EA renewal volume math, M365 entitlement reconciliation, and settlement benchmarks across every Microsoft engagement we run.
