Get visibility. Cut waste. Improve adoption.

Microsoft 365 Clarity FAQ’s: Your Questions Answered

We’re committed to making sure you understand your M365 investment. Here are answers to common questions about our M365 Clarity service.

Understanding the Service

1. What is included in the complimentary 7-day M365 Clarity Assessment?

The complimentary 7-day M365 Clarity Assessment is an initial, focused review designed to quickly identify your high-level M365 optimisation opportunities. During this period, we conduct core data collection and an initial analysis. You will receive an Optimisation Opportunity Report that highlights potential areas for cost savings, productivity enhancements, and risk reduction, broken down into high-level categories. This report provides a valuable snapshot of where your significant gains could lie.

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2. What will the detailed M365 Clarity Report provide (from the full engagement)?

Following the complimentary assessment, if you choose to proceed with the full M365 Clarity engagement, you will receive a comprehensive and detailed report. This report is designed for all stakeholders, including technology leadership, finance, IT, and engineering teams. It will showcase:

• Quantifiable Cost Savings: Detailed findings on how to directly reduce your M365 subscription spend by identifying and reallocating unused or excessive licences. Our clients typically achieve 15-25% cost reduction after implementing recommendations from the full engagement.
• Enhanced Productivity: Specific strategies to drive better user adoption and utilisation of M365 features, empowering your workforce.
• Reduced Risk & Improved Compliance: Specific recommendations to strengthen your M365 security posture and ensure adherence to licensing agreements.
• Optimised ROI: How to align licence spend with actual usage, reduce waste, and increase the value extracted from existing features.
• Actionable Roadmap: A clear, step-by-step plan for implementing changes and realising benefits.

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3. What is the timeline for the M365 Clarity service?

The initial complimentary 7-day assessment involves approximately 7 consecutive business days of active data collection and initial analysis. Following this, your high-level M365 Optimisation Opportunity Report is delivered.

Should you proceed with the full M365 Clarity engagement, the detailed analysis, comprehensive report generation, and final presentation typically occur over an additional 2-3 week period after the initial assessment. We step you through all detailed findings in a dedicated meeting, providing a thorough understanding beyond just the written document.

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Prerequisites & Data Security

4. What prerequisites are needed to start the M365 Clarity Assessment, and what do you need from us?

To facilitate both the complimentary assessment and a potential full engagement, we require:

• Data Provision: You can easily extract the necessary M365 usage and configuration reports directly from your M365 admin portal. We will provide clear guidance on which reports are needed.
• Data De-Identification (Optional): We can further assist you in de-identifying this data to ensure privacy and compliance before analysis.
• No Direct Integration Required: Please note that we do not require direct integration with your M365 environment.
• Key Stakeholder Availability: Participation from relevant IT, finance, and possibly business unit leads for an initial kick-off meeting and a final findings review.
• Initial Questionnaire: A concise questionnaire may be provided to gather initial context about your M365 environment and primary concerns. This helps us tailor our assessment.
• Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA): Yes, a mutual NDA is always required before any sensitive data is accessed or shared, ensuring complete confidentiality.

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5. Will our security or other internal policies inhibit what you are looking to achieve?

We understand that security and internal policies are paramount. Our process is designed to be highly secure and non-intrusive. Since we do not require direct integration with your M365 environment and you provide the necessary reports directly, you retain complete control over your data.

During our initial discovery call and kick-off meeting, we’ll thoroughly discuss your specific security frameworks and policies. We aim to identify any potential policy impacts early and work collaboratively to find solutions that align with your governance while achieving your optimisation goals. Your control over data provision minimises potential policy conflicts.

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Measuring Outcomes & Validation

6. How does M365 Clarity measure and improve productivity and adoption?

In the full engagement, we baseline current user adoption and productivity by analysing your M365 usage data, feature utilisation rates, and configuration settings. Our detailed recommendations include actionable strategies such as identifying underutilised features, suggesting configuration changes, and guiding targeted user enablement initiatives to drive better user adoption and collaboration. While we do not directly measure individual employee productivity, we empower you with the insights and actions to measure and track these metrics over time post-engagement.

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7. How does M365 Clarity address risk and compliance?

In the full engagement, we baseline your current risk and compliance posture by assessing your M365 security configurations, access policies, and licence adherence against best practices and your contractual agreements. Our report highlights potential vulnerabilities, areas of non-compliance (e.g., incorrect licence assignments), and provides specific recommendations to strengthen your M365 security posture and ensure adherence to licensing agreements. This helps reduce potential audit exposure and fortify your environment against breaches.

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8. How do you calibrate and validate the findings and recommendations, especially for cost savings?

Our validation process for the full engagement is rigorous:

• Data-Driven: We use robust tools to collect granular M365 usage data, which is the foundation of our analysis.
• Expert Analysis: Our experienced consultants meticulously cross-reference usage data with your specific licensing agreements and Microsoft’s current terms. This allows us to accurately align licence spend with actual usage, identify waste, and pinpoint where you can increase value from existing features.
• Benchmarking: Where appropriate, we may compare your usage patterns to industry benchmarks (anonymously) to provide further context.
• Client Collaboration: All findings and recommendations are reviewed with your team, allowing for validation against your internal knowledge and context before finalisation.