How to Manage Microsoft 365 Subscriptions in Certero

Introduction

Certero for SaaS: Microsoft 365 connects to the Microsoft Graph API to retrieve your M365 subscriptions, user assignments, and usage data. Unlike traditional on-premise software licensing where compliance is the primary concern, SaaS optimization is the focus: you are paying for subscriptions whether they are used or not.

This guide walks through the key tasks: configuring the connector, reviewing subscriptions, analyzing user activity, identifying optimization opportunities, and building reports.

Before you start

Make sure you have:

• Access to the Certero Unified Platform with the Certero for SaaS: Microsoft 365 module

• Microsoft 365 tenant administrator credentials (or delegated permissions for Graph API access)

• An Active Directory Connector configured (recommended, for on-premise user matching)

• Familiarity with Certero Essentials training concepts (dashboards, saved reports, scheduled reports, charts, trends)

1. Configure the Microsoft 365 connector

Certero uses connectors to collect data from vendor APIs. The Microsoft 365 connector retrieves subscription, user, license assignment, mailbox, OneDrive, and product usage data.

1. Navigate to the Connectors area of the platform.

2. Create a new Microsoft 365 connector.

3. Enter the connector properties based on Microsoft's API requirements (tenant ID, client ID, client secret).

4. Configure scheduling for automated data collection. Use the platform's standard scheduling approach.

5. Optionally configure which M365 user attributes to include or exclude from collection.

6. Save and run the connector to perform the initial data pull.

Detailed connector setup instructions are available on the Certero Customer Center.

2. Navigate the Microsoft 365 grids

After the connector collects data, navigate to the M365 area via the main menu or from a pre-built dashboard. There are three main grids:

3. Review subscriptions

The Subscriptions grid summarizes the subscriptions you are entitled to and their consumption.

1. Navigate to the Subscriptions grid.

2. Filter the view to show paid subscriptions (free subscriptions also appear by default).

3. Review the key columns:

   • Enabled: The total pool of subscriptions you are paying for

   • Used: How many are assigned to users (click the number to see the list of assignees)

   • Available: Your surplus (Enabled minus Used) — subscriptions being paid for but not assigned

   • Usage: Percentage ratio of Used over Enabled (lower percentage = greater potential waste)

4. Check the Status, Suspended, and Warning columns, which reflect the availability and purchasing status from your M365 portal.

Set unit costs

1. Switch to the Financial tab on the Subscriptions grid.

2. Right-click a subscription and set a Unit Cost (e.g., annual cost per subscription).

3. The grid calculates:

   • Total: The full cost of subscriptions you are paying for

   • Overspend: The cost of unused (Available) subscriptions

Cost quantification is essential. It allows you to measure problems in financial terms, prioritize actions, and expose optimization opportunities on dashboards.

4. Analyze users

The Users grid contains several tabs, each providing different optimization insights.

Account tab

1. Navigate to the Users grid, Account tab.

2. Review user identifying information and the Disabled column.

3. Filter on Disabled = Yes to find users with disabled M365 accounts who still have subscriptions assigned. These are likely wasted subscriptions.

Subscriptions tab

1. Switch to the Subscriptions tab.

2. Filter to identify users with specific subscriptions, or combine with the Disabled filter from the Account tab to see the cost of subscriptions assigned to disabled accounts.

3. Per-user costs here feed into your costed dashboard reports.

Activity tab

1. Switch to the Activity tab.

2. Review last-use dates for M365 products (excluding Office, Project, and Visio, which are tracked on the Activations tab).

3. The Last Used column shows the most recent product usage date. The Usage column shows:

   • None: No usage found

   • Online: Only web-based usage detected

   • Offline: Installed client software usage detected (e.g., Outlook or OneDrive desktop apps)

4. Use this data to find:

   • Users not using products at all (candidates for license reclamation)

   • Users only using web-based apps (candidates for cheaper subscription plans)

   • Users who have not used their assigned products recently

Activations tab

1. Switch to the Activations tab.

2. Review activation dates for Office, Project, and Visio.

3. The Desktop column shows whether users have activated the installable client version.

4. Filter to find users entitled to a desktop plan (e.g., Visio Plan 2) who only use the web app. These users could potentially be assigned a cheaper plan (e.g., Visio Plan 1).

Mailbox and OneDrive tabs

1. Switch to the Mailbox or OneDrive tab.

2. Review consumption and adoption data for these services.

3. Check quota and capacity information to pre-empt service interruptions users may face.

On-prem tab

1. Switch to the On-Prem tab to see matching Active Directory user data from a Certero AD Connector.

2. The Sync columns show whether a user is found on-premise and when they were last seen by the AD Connector.

3. The Last Logon timestamp comes from the AD user account, adding to the overall evidence around user activity.

Organization and location

M365 users in Certero can be assigned an Org Unit and Location for integration into your custom reporting hierarchies. Use the additional user-classification tabs (e.g., Department) to create group-level reports and cost breakdowns.

5. Review product usage grids

The product-specific grids show detailed usage metrics over 7, 30, 90, and 180 day periods for individual M365 products (Teams, Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, etc.).

1. Navigate to the relevant product grid.

2. Review usage metrics for adoption tracking, optimization, and security insights.

3. Use filtering and sorting to identify outliers — both heavy users and inactive users.

6. Identify optimization opportunities

Based on the data in the grids above, focus on these key optimization scenarios:

Every opportunity is a possibility until you have investigated and confirmed it based on your organizational requirements.

7. Build reports and dashboards

Use the Certero platform's reporting capabilities to surface and track optimization over time.

Dashboard ideas

• Key optimization opportunities with costs (Available subscriptions x Unit Cost)

• Navigation links and total costs per subscription

• Grouped costs by department or organization unit

• Usage breakdowns by product

• Trend charts showing growth of waste over time and remediation progress

Scheduled reports

Use the platform's scheduled report feature to email grid reports (filtered or unfiltered) as spreadsheet attachments on a recurring basis.

Custom reports

Use the custom report builder to create reports spanning related data types such as AD users, computers, installed software, and EXE file usage alongside M365 data.

Sharing dashboards

Dashboards can be exported as JSON files, transferred to another tenant, and imported. This is useful for provisioning pre-configured dashboards across environments.

Tips and common pitfalls

• Focus on optimization, not compliance. SaaS subscriptions prevent over-consumption by design, but they do not prevent over-spending.

• Set Unit Costs early. Without costs, optimization opportunities remain abstract numbers instead of actionable financial data.

• Combine multiple data points before reclaiming licenses. A disabled account with no recent activity is a stronger signal than either data point alone.

• Use the On-Prem tab data alongside M365 activity data for a fuller picture of user status.

• Schedule regular reviews. SaaS waste accumulates over time as employees leave, change roles, or stop using products.

• Import a pre-built M365 Optimization dashboard to get started quickly, then customize it to your needs.

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