Service / Azure MACC
Microsoft MACC commitment advisory.
Size the right MACC. Negotiate the protection clauses. Manage the burn rate. Independent advisory across every stage of the Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment.
Size the right MACC. Negotiate the protection clauses. Manage the burn rate. Independent advisory across every stage of the Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment.
The Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment buys discount on paper and creates overrun risk on the cloud bill. The advisory makes both work for the buyer.
Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment is the dominant commercial form for enterprise Azure spend in 2026. Most estates above five million dollars in annual Azure cost now sit inside an active MACC.
The discount is real. The risk is overrun. The buyer side advisory sits between the sizing model and the protection clauses, and stays through the burn rate management and the renewal.
This page sets out when we help, how the work runs, what gets delivered, what the outcome looks like, and the engagement model.
We engage at three points in the MACC lifecycle.
Pre signature. The sizing model, the protection clauses, the carve outs, and the discount target. Twelve weeks of advisory inside a fixed fee.
An overrunning MACC can be re sized. A mis sized MACC can be reset. Both are possible in years two and three with the right governance.
Twelve months before the existing MACC ends. Set the renewal target, build the leverage file, and run the conversation with Microsoft.
The work runs across four parallel tracks.
We build a bottom up consumption model. Compute, storage, networking, PaaS, marketplace, and reserved capacity. Each line modelled across three and five year horizons.
Overage rate caps, true down rights, carve outs for marketplace, partner billed counting, and the right to re sign under defined conditions.
Benchmark discount against tier, commitment size, and Microsoft fiscal year. Target the high end of the band rather than the published guideline.
Monthly burn tracking, quarterly steering review, and a structured intervention path when consumption drifts.
MACC sizing scenarios from a recent engagement.
| Scenario | Annual Commit | Discount | Estimated Burn | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft proposal | $22.0M | 12% | $24.6M | +12% over |
| Conservative size | $17.5M | 16% | $19.4M | +11% over |
| Base case | $19.0M | 18% | $19.7M | +4% over |
| Stretched size | $20.5M | 20% | $20.1M | -2% under |
| Final signed | $19.0M | 19% | $19.4M | +2% over |
Every engagement produces the same artifacts.
Excel based bottom up model with sensitivity ranges and three scenarios. Conservative, base, and stretched.
Drafted language for overage caps, true down rights, marketplace carve outs, and re sign conditions.
Monthly tracking template, quarterly steering pack, and intervention path for drift.
Twelve month leverage file for the next renewal cycle.
Microsoft sells a MACC like a discount. It is a commitment. The discount is the wrapper. The commitment is the contract.
Three measurable outcomes.
A MACC sized within five percent of actual consumption over the term. Average across our 2025 cohort sat at three percent variance.
Average discount captured was nineteen percent against a published guideline of twelve to fifteen percent for the same band.
A leverage file ready twelve months before renewal. Negotiation runs on facts, not on Microsoft framing.
Two options.
Single project, fixed fee, eight to sixteen weeks. Sizing, clauses, and the protection pack.
Twelve to twenty four month always on subscription. Covers MACC, EA, Copilot, M365, and the rest of the Microsoft estate.
Eight to sixteen weeks for new sizing. Mid term re negotiation can run six to twelve weeks depending on Microsoft posture. Renewals start twelve months out and run across the year.
Almost never without a re sign. Microsoft is open to mid term re sizing in years two and three when the commercial story supports it.
Published guidance is twelve to fifteen percent for mid sized MACCs. Our 2025 sample averaged nineteen percent at the same band. The protection clauses matter more than the headline discount.
Eligible marketplace spend counts up to a defined limit per Microsoft policy. The eligibility list and the limit are negotiable inside the MACC.
The shortfall pays Microsoft anyway. True down rights and protection clauses negotiated at signature limit the downside.
No. MACC is the commit. The EA is the broader agreement that holds licensing and other terms. They interact but they are negotiated separately.
Microsoft renewal moves, the EA framework, the M365 SKU framework, the Copilot framework, and the buyer side moves across the full Microsoft estate.
Used across more than five hundred enterprise engagements. Independent. Buyer side. Built for procurement leaders running the next renewal cycle.
MACC discounts are real. MACC overruns are real. A good advisor manages both before the contract is signed.
500+ enterprise clients. 11 vendor practices. Gartner recognized. One conversation can change what you pay for the next three years.
Monthly briefings on Microsoft EA, MACC, Copilot, and the buyer side benchmarks across the Microsoft estate.