Resellers do useful work. They transact, provision, and support. But the margin that funds their advice is a percentage of what you commit, which means their best commercial outcome and yours point in opposite directions. That is not a criticism of resellers. It is a description of the math. We hold no reseller agreement of any kind.
A reseller earns a margin on the volume you purchase. When you ask them to help you commit less, you are asking them to shrink their own invoice. Most will not say no outright. They will simply not push the number as far as a firm with no margin to protect. The conflict is quiet, structural, and almost always invisible at the table.
Every license you shed is margin the reseller forgoes. Asking the reseller to identify your shelfware is asking them to argue against their own revenue.
An E5 upgrade or a larger Azure commit lifts reseller margin. The advice to step up is rarely neutral when the advisor is paid more if you do.
A reseller depends on Microsoft for status, rebates, and deal registration. Pushing Microsoft hard on your behalf risks a relationship worth more to them than your account.
If your advisor's invoice goes up when your Microsoft commitment goes up, you do not have an advisor. You have a sales channel with a friendly title.Microsoft Licensing Experts · Why not a reseller
The answer is not to fire your reseller. It is to recognize what they are for. Let the reseller transact and provision. Bring an independent buyer side firm to decide what you commit to and to negotiate the price and structure. The two roles are different, and collapsing them into one is what costs enterprises the most on an EA renewal negotiation.
Two analyst calls. We will show you, on your own numbers, where a reseller would stop pushing and where we would not.