A Microsoft compliance assessment establishes your Effective License Position — entitlements versus real deployment across Windows Server, SQL Server, Microsoft 365 and Client Access Licenses — so you find and fix gaps on your own terms, ahead of any SAM engagement or audit. This directory lists the firms that build that position for Microsoft estates, each with balanced pros and cons, in neutral order.
Last reviewed: 5 June 2026 · Reviewed quarterly · A directory, not a ranking
Microsoft licenses its core server products by physical core, with a 16-core minimum per server for Windows Server and SQL Server, and licenses users through subscriptions (Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365) and Client Access Licenses on a per-user or per-device basis. An Effective License Position reconciles three things that rarely match: what you have bought (the Enterprise Agreement, MCA or CSP entitlements), what is actually deployed and running (often under virtualization, where core counting and licence mobility rules bite), and what your contract actually permits.
The two pressure points a Microsoft assessment almost always surfaces are SQL Server core counting under VMware or Hyper-V virtualization — where licensing the host versus the virtual machine changes the number dramatically — and Azure Hybrid Benefit, where on-premises Windows Server and SQL licences are re-used in Azure but can be double-counted if the on-prem deployment is not decommissioned or correctly tracked. CAL coverage (user versus device), SPLA reporting for hosters, and mixed on-prem/cloud entitlements are the other common gaps.
Microsoft has leaned toward incentive-based “true-up to cloud” engagements run through SAM partners rather than purely punitive enforcement, which is precisely why an independent ELP matters: a SAM Engagement initiated by a Microsoft partner is measured against Microsoft’s read of your estate, so going in with your own defensible position changes the conversation.
A compliance assessment starts with an inventory: deployment data from your tooling, the entitlement records from your agreements, and the virtualization topology. The firm normalises that into an ELP, flags the gaps and the over-licensing (money you are wasting as well as exposure you carry), and gives you a remediation plan you can act on before a renewal or a SAM Engagement. Independent firms take no resale margin on the licences you end up needing; a reseller or Microsoft partner may run the same work inside a sales motion, a trade-off to weigh. This work sits ahead of a Microsoft audit defense engagement and feeds directly into a Microsoft EA renewal.
Listed in neutral alphabetical order with balanced pros and cons — a directory, not a ranking.
Vendor- and tool-agnostic licensing boutique working across Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Salesforce and IBM. Engagements run buyer-side, from compliance position through negotiation and ongoing optimization.
ServiceNow-centric licensing and estate-reconciliation practice that also covers Salesforce, Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, IBM and Adobe. Reconciles entitlement against actual consumption ahead of renewals and reviews.
Independent Microsoft-licensing analyst firm and recognised authority on Microsoft licensing rules, roadmap and CAL/cloud mechanics.
German vendor-neutral consultancy with a SAM and audit-defense practice across the DACH region, fluent in German contract and works-council practice.
Vendor-agnostic licensing boutique founded by ex-vendor auditors. Does not resell, implement or conduct audits, focusing solely on buyer-side Oracle, SAP, IBM and Microsoft defense and negotiation.
Central- and Eastern-European SAM and audit-support boutique with its own SAM tooling, covering Adobe, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and VMware.
Independent multi-vendor licensing practice covering IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and Tier-2 publishers, with a stated 100% impartial, buyer-side model.
Buyer-side licensing boutique combining advisory with the ArxPlatform monitoring tool and a contractual protection model across Oracle, Microsoft, IBM and VMware.
Independent boutique with strong IBM and VMware/Broadcom review depth and broader multi-vendor coverage, known for current licensing-change analysis.
Canada-native independent boutique combining audit defense with data-driven license optimization across IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Adobe and VMware.
Buyer-side independent licensing advisory with one of the broadest multi-vendor footprints, covering Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, IBM, Broadcom, Salesforce, ServiceNow and Workday.
Independent boutique covering Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, Quest, VMware, Red Hat and SAP across audit defense, negotiation and optimization.
Independent Microsoft and Azure licensing voice covering SAM, SPLA and cloud cost, with no Microsoft partnership.
DEMO — listings are compiled from public information and labelled demo until the verified registry is live. Firms are listed alphabetically, never ranked. Independence is shown as a pro; a reseller, Big-Four or vendor-side audit relationship is shown as a con — each a factual trade-off for you to weigh.
Indicative only — the levers that shape the number, not a promise of any specific result.
The figures below are indicative and illustrate where value typically sits in a Microsoft ELP. They are not quotes, not guarantees, and no specific outcome figures are published until the verified registry is live.
The vendor hub, adjacent services, and the same service for other publishers.
The Microsoft audit operation, SAM Engagements and the firms →
Use your ELP to negotiate the renewal →
The cross-vendor ELP service →
Effective licence position for Oracle →
LAW / USMM reconciliation for SAP →
PVU and ILMT baseline for IBM →
Right-sizing and licensing-by-design →
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Direct answers to the questions Microsoft buyers ask most.
Not formally, but the practical effect is similar. A SAM Engagement or SAM Optimization is run through a Microsoft partner and measures your deployment against Microsoft’s entitlement records; the outcome can still be a true-up bill. An independent compliance assessment gives you your own Effective License Position first, so you enter any SAM Engagement with a defensible number rather than accepting the partner’s read.
SQL Server is licensed per physical core with a 16-core minimum, but under virtualization you can license either the physical host (covering unlimited VMs with Software Assurance) or individual virtual machines by their virtual cores. Which is cheaper depends on density and mobility, and getting the choice wrong is the most common and most expensive Microsoft finding. A compliance assessment models both.
It can. Azure Hybrid Benefit lets you re-use eligible on-premises Windows Server and SQL Server licences (with Software Assurance) to reduce Azure cost, but if the on-prem instances are not decommissioned or are still counted as deployed, the same licence is effectively claimed twice. An ELP reconciles the on-prem and Azure sides so the benefit is applied cleanly.
Before an Enterprise Agreement renewal, before accepting a SAM Engagement invitation, and after any major change — a virtualization project, an Azure migration, an acquisition. The point is to hold your own defensible position before Microsoft or its partner forms one for you.
No. This is a directory, not a ranking. Firms are listed in neutral alphabetical order with balanced pros and cons so you can weigh them yourself. The matching service routes your brief to firms that cover Microsoft compliance work; it never tells you who is best.
Yes. Browsing the directory and using the matching service are free for buyers. We publish no prices or fees and take no money from software publishers.
Microsoft and its SAM partners already have their read of your estate. Tell us your situation and we route your brief to firms that build an independent Microsoft Effective License Position. The directory and matching are free for buyers — no markup, no referral pressure, no firm is recommended over another.