175 RETAIL & CG VIEWPOINT Cutting costs Scaling back licensed technology with Microsoft 365 F3 can save businesses money and improve frontline workers’ access to the cloud Nobody likes paying for software they don’t use. There are many ways in which firms can become over-licensed to technology providers and solutions. Most commonly, businesses forget to remove a license when a worker leaves, purchase the wrong license package or buy full enterprisegrade licenses for field workers who only use a handful of applications. In 2020, Microsoft released a set of licensing options for Microsoft 365 that were specifically tailored for frontline workers. These options – called F-Skus – are designed to be cost-effective offerings that allow businesses to harness the benefits and capabilities of the cloud without tacking on applications that their workers won’t use or need. With this, frontline workers have access to everything that they need – including the cloud – via the Microsoft Office mobile application on a device of their choice. Synergy Technical supports businesses that want to do more with less with their IT infrastructure. For example, we recently helped a customer to identify how it was over-licensed and helped it switch its retail employees to Microsoft 365 F3 to save money and improve productivity. Rather than having a workspace full of applications that they did not use, employees now have only the tools that they need to fulfill their responsibilities. The transition to Microsoft 365 F3 drove cloud adoption throughout the company and more workers began using applications like OneDrive, Planner and SharePoint. F-Skus allow historically unlicensed users to stay connected with leaders, human resources and coworkers no matter where they are working from and without the need for third-party solutions. With access to the cloud, workers can access documents from anywhere. Microsoft’s other frontline worker offerings include Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager and Microsoft Intune to ensure that company data is secure from any device. Don Lewis is director or licensing and advisory services at Synergy Technical DON LEWIS: SYNERGY TECHNICAL Photo: iStock/monkeybusinessimages
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