Huxtable says that there is a glaring need for partners to unlock value for customers so that licensing shifts from a bugbear to something that demonstrably improves their businesses and drives efficiencies. “A lot of the solution lies in what I like to call wrap-around services,” he explains.

“Think of Office 365. It’s almost guaranteed most businesses have workforces using no more than 30% of the functionality of a product, never mind working with analytics and modelling tools, for example. But Microsoft Excel, is part of Office 365, and within that ecosystem, there is OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and much more, and by leveraging the power of wrap-around services that come with a single license purchase, you start to unlock progressively more value for the customer.

“This type of exercise is not possible when simply clicking onto the Office website and buying a license, or procuring through a reseller. A consulting partner, on the other hand, exists to consult around services and software. That’s a differentiator that almost immediately takes licensing from the realm of business irritation to business value.”

Huxtable says that by anyone’s estimation, spending $500 and using $90 worth of services is frustrating. He says that to counter this, businesses would do well to actively seek out partners that prioritise managing licensing costs and consumption in alignment with their business expectations.

“Ultimately, the exercise is to shift customers to a space where they are making full use of what they pay for, and not paying more for something that they don’t use. It is a simple concept, but one that many businesses are yet to fully realise.”