Free Consultation
Home / Insights
Insights & Industry Intelligence

Sharp takes on software economics.

Field notes, vendor playbooks, and live case scenarios from across our 4,000+ licensing reviews. Written by practitioners who do this every day.

ITAM Trends

Trending moves every ITAM Expert should be aware now.

Oracle
1 min read
Licensing Alert · Java SE

Oracle Java SE: the per-employee pricing trap enterprises are still walking into.

3–10× Typical cost increase after the Jan 2023 model switch
100% Of headcount counted — full-time, part-time, and contractors
  • In January 2023, Oracle replaced per-processor and Named User Plus metrics with the Java SE Universal Subscription — priced per employee, not per Java user.
  • Pricing runs from $15/employee/month for organisations under 1,000 staff, scaling down to ~$5.25 for headcounts above 40,000. Every employee — including contractors — counts.
  • Oracle's audit cadence has risen sharply since 2024. Download history and lapsed renewals are both known triggers.
  • Your move: Run a full Java discovery sweep before your next renewal. A credible OpenJDK migration timeline is your strongest negotiation lever.
Updated May 2026
Microsoft
1 min read
AI & Copilot · M365 Licensing

Copilot at $30/user/month: why 40–70% of enterprise seats sit idle in year one.

35.8% Active usage rate across provisioned Copilot seats (2025–26 data)
$360 Annual cost per user for the Copilot M365 add-on
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot is a $30/user/month add-on requiring a qualifying base licence — E3, E5, Business Standard, or Business Premium. It adds 40–60% to your per-user M365 cost depending on your tier.
  • Enterprises that commit to full-tenant deployment at EA renewal — without a validated pilot — routinely find 40–70% of seats unused in the first 12 months. Root causes: weak change management, training gaps, and legacy SharePoint infrastructure.
  • Pilot Copilot in 2–3 specific roles (analysts, finance, legal), measure active usage over 90 days, then right-size the commitment before your next EA anchor date.
  • Your move: Pull prompt counts from the M365 Copilot admin centre before the renewal table. Low utilisation is your strongest lever on add-on price and commitment term.
Updated May 2026