Prove ROI with Value Optimization: How Can Partners Drive Client Retention Through Insights and Automation

The most pressing challenge every managed service provider (MSP) faces today: doing more with constrained budgets while ensuring recurring revenue streams and client success. Clients are now scrutinizing every line item, demanding proof of value before renewals, and expecting their partners to do more than simply keep the lights on. 

Meanwhile, the explosion of AI initiatives is forcing organizations to optimize existing cloud investments to fund innovation. Gartner estimates that software spending will grow by 15% in 2026, however a big percentage of it will be underutilized or overdeployed. Research indicates that 30% of SaaS budgets are spent on unused licenses and features, and 94% of enterprises overspend on cloud resources. 

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Most partners face these hurdles every day. So, why does SaaS spend keep spiraling — and what can you do about it?

Why SaaS Spend Spirals Out of Control

The rapid adoption of cloud-based applications has led to the development of a sprawling SaaS ecosystem. Many companies juggle 300-400 apps, each with its own login, dashboard, learning curve, and monthly invoice. While these apps promise agility and scalability, they also introduce untold amounts of complexity:

• Lack of visibility. Without centralized monitoring, organizations lose track of license usage and storage consumption.
• Overprovisioning for growth. IT teams frequently overestimate the needs to avoid service disruptions, resulting in unused capacity.
• Compliance blind spots. Mismanaged licenses can violate contractual terms or regulatory requirements, exposing businesses to risk.

As any MSP can tell you, it’s become a challenge to manage subscription contracts and usage. Most IT leaders have no visibility into this waste. When employees leave, get promoted, or are reassigned, licenses sit idle. Often, these licenses are never reassigned to incoming employees — leading to continued growth in unnecessary costs.

For partners and MSPs, these inefficiencies represent an opportunity not just to save clients’ money but also to deliver measurable cost savings, reduce risk, and build recurring revenue streams that strengthen client relationships.

How to Identify Waste and Actions to Take

License underutilization not only inflates IT costs but also affects operational efficiency and increases the risk of compliance issues. More than half of all Microsoft 365 licenses sit inactive, underutilized, or unassigned. This is not just an IT budget issue but also a productivity crisis. 

MSPs can help audit SaaS subscriptions to identify waste and produce significant savings. 

1. Conduct License Cleanup

Start with a comprehensive audit of the client’s SaaS environment:

• Identify unused or underutilized licenses.
• Map overlapping functionalities across applications.
• Assess storage consumption and forecast future needs.

License cleanup can uncover hidden waste in every tenant. Which Microsoft E5 licenses are assigned to users who only need E3 functionality? How many inactive accounts are still consuming licenses months after employees departed? Modern platforms provide built-in dashboards that track license adoption gaps, storage consumption patterns, and usage anomalies across the entire Microsoft 365 estate. 

These insights become the foundation for ROI assessments that demonstrate precisely how much the client can save through optimization.

2. Implement Automated Monitoring

A robust license management process can streamline tracking and ensure clients are paying for what is actually used. When licenses are actively monitored and aligned with actual usage, MSPs can unlock significant business value while delivering better outcomes for their customers. However, manual tracking is simply unsustainable for any partner looking to scale. 

Automation tools can:

• Continuously monitor license usage.
• Flag anomalies like sudden spikes in consumption.
• Generate compliance alerts before they become liabilities.

Implementing workspace management helps organizations identify inactive Microsoft Teams channels, abandoned SharePoint sites, and redundant OneDrive content that bloat storage costs and complicate compliance. Automation ensures that optimization isn’t a one-time event but an ongoing process.

3. Align Spend with Business Objectives

Value optimization isn’t only about cutting costs but also about funding innovation. By reducing waste, MSPs can help clients reallocate budgets to strategic initiatives like Microsoft 365 Copilot deployment or digital transformation technologies. 

Enabling customers to reduce waste does more than improve their bottom line — it strengthens your own business model:

• Prove ROI. Demonstrating measurable savings validates your value proposition and makes renewals a no-brainer.
• Increase recurring revenue. Optimization services can be packaged as premium offerings, creating new revenue streams.
• Deepen client relationships. When you help clients achieve strategic goals, you become indispensable.

In a market where churn is a constant threat, these benefits are critical for increasing customer stickiness to drive long-term success. Discover how the right platform can help you deliver insights, reduce waste, and prove value at every engagement.

Proving Value at Every Touchpoint

SaaS sprawl is here to stay, and as organizations ramp up digital initiatives, complexity will only intensify. Unmanaged SaaS environments expose businesses to significant compliance threats. Overdeployed licenses can breach vendor agreements, while shadow IT may trigger data governance violations. Inconsistent security policies across hybrid, private, and public clouds often create exploitable gaps, giving attackers opportunities to move laterally.

The financial impact of a single data breach can reach millions of dollars, factoring in direct costs, reputational damage, and lost business. Regulatory fines and compliance failures can add $1.22 million to the total breach cost. Customers now expect partners to deliver more than technology — they rely on channel experts to interpret complex requirements, implement robust controls, and ensure ongoing audit readiness.

Partners who integrate compliance monitoring into their optimization services deliver true peace of mind — a value that’s not only easy to appreciate but also critical to protecting margins and reputation in today’s regulatory landscape. 

The Bottom Line

By driving cost savings, mitigating compliance risks, and enabling innovation, you’re not just managing technology — you’re shaping the future of your clients’ businesses. Partners can build trust, reduce risk, and create lasting value by embedding regulatory expertise and automation into every engagement. And that’s a value proposition no CFO can ignore. Better yet, satisfied clients can become your best source of referrals. 

Are you ready to prove value to your clients and protect margins?