“We worked with SoftwareAdvocates to help guide us through our Microsoft EA renewal. They were a critical asset in helping ensure we were properly licensed using their deep subject matter expertise in a complex licensing model (an expertise we did not have in house). They were extremely responsive to emails, meetings, text, calls; worked with associates at all levels of the organization; and saw us through to the end. I would highly recommend them, especially for those who do not have expertise in Microsoft licensing.”

“Microsoft license policies and terms consistently change and requires a team of people to stay up-to-date with licensing changes and terms. Since we could only do this to a limited extent, it was an easy decision to work with licensing consultants like SoftwareAdvocates.

SoftwareAdvocates was a great help during out Microsoft EA contract renewal, both on the assessment of required licenses and on the contractual side. They recommended optimal plans to convert licensing to enable a leaner true-up, key terms to negotiate on the new contract and were helpful in advising us what to look out for. Their understanding of the connection between outcomes and Microsoft license policy was a basis for informed negotiations with Microsoft.”

“I’ve used SoftwareAdvocates at different companies that faced very different challenges. In both cases, we we’re guided through avoiding audit risk, understanding options previously unknown to us, and negotiating favorable contract terms. Whether a Fortune 500 or a midsized private business, I could not imagine navigating a major renewal without SoftwareAdvocates.”

“I want to thank you for the extremely helpful information you have provided thus far. Your experience and knowledge are amazing.”

“SoftwareAdvocates, and in particular John Grubb, provided insight and guidance that was critical to our decision-making regarding our Microsoft licensing. His tireless efforts to ensure that we were fully educated on all the options as well as the implications of those options gave us confidence in our ultimate decision. I truly appreciated John’s straightforward approach and his ability to simplify the complexities of Microsoft licensing. I will hire SoftwareAdvocates again in a heartbeat when we’re up for renewals.”

“Over the last 4 years, I’ve worked with SoftwareAdvocates at two large companies with very complex Microsoft licensing situations. My current employer is a $1.3B Industrial Services company, having acquired multiple Microsoft contracts with different structures. In January 2018 we worked to normalize one of the largest expiring agreements that includes ERP and O365. The entire SKU scheme had changed, and we were under pressure from Microsoft to move to new SKUs and combine license types. As always, the devil is in the details, and we simply didn’t have the focus or expertise to spot all the pitfalls. John spent many weeks just coming to understand our situation, giving us valuable advice before agreeing that our situation warranted his engagement. Throughout the process, John patiently explained our options and guided us to the most favorable strategies. He was indeed our advocate all the way through the negotiation, and I am very pleased with the outcome; we reduced our spend and increased our counts, and licensed only what we need. Our new, leveraged agreement is the platform onto which the rest will be consolidated as they expire. John is truly a member of our team, and I look forward to working with him again!”

“We engaged SoftwareAdvocates to complete an internal audit, evaluate our license position, review/advise on our long-term licensing plans, and support our Enterprise Agreement renewal. John has a vast amount of knowledge regarding the ever-evolving complexities of Microsoft licensing, agreements and Office365 subscriptions. We are very pleased with our experience working with John through negotiations of our Enterprise Agreement, especially ensuring all entitlements were realized. While we haven’t yet moved to O365, we intend to engage John in the next couple months as we kick off a pilot project to support our transition to a cloud based Office 365 subscription. John has been invaluable in all phases of our engagement. I look forward to a long-term partnership with John.”

“We used SoftwareAdvocates to help us evaluate our existing Microsoft license assets in preparation for our recent Microsoft Enterprise Agreement renewal. John provided excellent insight, analysis and education. This allowed us to leverage existing perpetual licenses while transitioning into Office 365 subscription licensing. His ability to explain the complexities of Microsoft licensing within the context of our unique business model was invaluable. I’d highly recommend SoftwareAdvocates, John Grubb to collaborate on Microsoft licensing projects.”

“We have worked with SoftwareAdvocates over the past year and have been extremely pleased with the relationship and results obtained on several Microsoft licensing efforts. A soft audit turned into a non-event as a result of collaborating with SoftwareAdvocates. Their attention to detail and extensive knowledge of MS licensing provided excellent direction and insight on our recent true-up and Enterprise Agreement renewal. We highly recommend SoftwareAdvocates and look forward to working with them again.”

“Fortunately I have had an opportunity to work with John over the past three years. John’s forward thinking, ability to analyze and understand the key issues of legal, financial or operational matters not only assisted professional growth of our business process, but initiated strategic resolution of existing concerns. It is truly refreshing to work with John. His attention to detail, phenomenal people skills, and ability to see “the big picture” make John a great advocate, a valuable contributor and, when needed, a leader. Contacting John added immediate value to our organization. Our team would gladly act as a reference to any of his clients.”

“We hired John for a week-long onsite session, and I can say without reservation that he’s by far the best consultant we’ve ever used, and one of our best investments made this year. His professionalism and work ethic are beyond reproach, and his expert knowledge of Microsoft licensing was frankly staggering. He was able to explain complex business logic to our business & licensing units, while as a past engineer himself, he was also able to interface directly with the engineering team and make recommendations there as well. I’d highly recommend John without hesitation to anyone looking to better understand Microsoft licensing.”

“We have utilized SoftwareAdvocates’ services for a while without providing much recognition. Our most recent engagement was prior to an upcoming renewal. John was heavily involved in understanding our internal IT strategy and developing various Microsoft licensing scenarios to align with our business goals. SoftwareAdvocates provided valuable insights around licensing changes, compliance & negotiation strategies which helped us structure a solid contract. We will surely utilize SoftwareAdvocates’ services for future renewals.”

“John Grubb’s expertise in the area of Microsoft Enterprise licensing ensures a strong ROI from his engagement. He offered multiple strategies for cost savings during our Enterprise renewal which resulted in significant cost savings and reduced the time required to complete the renewal. His focus was to ensure we remained compliant while meeting the needs of the business.”

“John’s customer service passion and in-depth knowledge with the Microsoft technologies and licensing positions John as a valued asset to our organization. John’s partnership has provided significant cost savings both in time and capital expenditures while ensuring compliance. John is the first person I contact when requiring assist with Microsoft Licensing.”

“SoftwareAdvocates was instrumental in helping us prepare and finalize our 3 year EA renewal with Microsoft. John’s in-depth experience with software licensing and the renewal process gave us a huge advantage and helped us effectively prepare and formulate a solid strategy aligned with the business goals of each of our Lines of Business. John worked with each stakeholders to ensure we accurately assessed our software position and he also provided insightful information which helped us get more value from our renewal. John is a trusted partner that we will continue to leverage in the future.”

“John is truly passionate about Microsoft licensing and solving problems. He provided key input to us, meeting with us three times to answer all of our questions – all at no cost!”

“I have had the pleasure of working with John for many years now. He is extremely knowledgeable with Microsoft licensing and strategy. He has many years of history with Microsoft which ensure he has the fundamental mechanics of each product set and the changes that have transpired over the last decade. This is a very important component since history does tend to repeat itself in the Microsoft world. He is very good at working with your internal stakeholders to ensure proper understanding and counts of installed software, hence, cutting down the hours you need to devote to large EA renewals. We will use him for many years to come.”

“John helped lead our organization through the complexity of a Microsoft Licensing agreement renewal, ensuring we remained compliant but at the same time identifying opportunities to reduce our bottom line expenses. In addition to his ability to translate technical matters into business outcomes to enhance our understanding of MS licensing process, we valued the professionalism and work ethic he displayed throughout the renewal process.
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“John brings a tremendous energy and passion to one of the most complicated negotiations I’ve been involved with in my career. His expertise brought a significant value from both a monetary perspective as well as an increase in confidence in our decisions which significantly increased our credibility with our Executive Leadership team. John brought a level of expertise that no individual organization could organically develop which ultimately resulted in a significant short term and long term return on investment. I slept a lot better during this process knowing that John was on our side.”

“SoftwareAdvocates have been superb to work with. John led us through the complexity of Microsoft licensing and was a great asset to our team. Our IT team is relatively small and didn’t have the time to dedicate learning the intricacies of Microsoft’s usage rights. SoftwareAdvocates filled that role and really saved the day for us.”

“SoftwareAdvocates provided the expertise we lacked internally to navigate the renewal of a $7 million licensing agreement. It addition to helping to craft the agreement so that it supported our long-term strategy, SoftwareAdvocates improved our governance processes. This increased our confidence and understanding of what we own and how we use it.”

“SoftwareAdvocates is a valuable resource to have available for understanding and managing your software contacts. The ability to integrate the forward looking corporate objectives into the renewal and/or purchase process is strategic and smart. The guidance and leadership provided by SoftwareAdvocates demonstrates a value beyond expectations. We appreciate the professionalism as well as the integrity of SoftwareAdvocates to provide balanced services that is collaborative and beneficial.”

“John Grubb can take a very complicated process with extreme deadlines and simplifies the entire procedure for those of us who are not Microsoft expects. John has a unique talent for explaining Microsoft so you can work with John without having any experience with Microsoft and still come out on top.”

“We used John Grubb to help us negotiate our recent Microsoft Enterprise Agreement. John provided invaluable and incalculable data and insight into Microsoft’s way of licensing that saved us a substantial amount of money. John’s experience in this area is unmatched. He was professional, easy to work with, direct and extremely helpful. I’d highly recommend John to anyone trying to tackle a Microsoft agreement of any type.”

“John Grubb is an honest, sincere consultant who understands how Microsoft licensing works. He gives me unbiased information that helps me understand the cost structure of Microsoft licenses. I enjoy John’s ability to cut through the complexities and to summarize in a clear manner.”

“I was introduced to John Grubb and quickly understood that he has a wealth of knowledge that I could use to my advantage. I entered Asset Management 8 years ago and he has brought numerous new details to my attention that I can use today. He has helped advise me on Microsoft licensing and in-house purchases. I would not hesitate to recommend his services to any of my associates or another company.”

“John has been a valuable asset in identifying issues and architecting corrective measures when it comes to managing our MS Enterprise Agreement and the annual true up process. It is my intent to make John a part of next year’s true up as well as inject John into our pending EA renewal.”

“Microsoft licensing can be very confusing, and without deep licensing knowledge you can get yourself into a non-compliant situation. John provided us with that licensing knowledge, and has continuously given us excellent service as it relates to anything Microsoft. He has assisted us with Enterprise Agreement renewals, negotiations on EAP’s and has helped us set up our Microsoft SPLA program. In each scenario, John took the time to explain to us what Microsoft may be thinking and how we can save money, all the while being compliant and ethical in our licensing practice.”

“John is passionate about ensuring you are presented with every viable option and excels at communicating the pro and cons of each option. He is patient with the clients; takes the time to ensure the clients understand each option and has the aptitude to explain the options to even the non-technical clients. I was impressed with his diligence, work ethic and commitment to determining all the opportunities to benefit my organization.”