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Portfolio Optimization

Portfolio Optimization is the tenant-level engine for cost reduction in Beak M365 License Optimizer. It combines plan-mix optimization — modelling the best combination of Microsoft 365 plans for your active users — with license waste detection across the seats you have already purchased. Where the Recommendations page surfaces per-user actions, Portfolio Optimization answers the question: what is the largest available cost reduction across this tenant, and what would it take to capture it?

Headline Metrics​

Four KPI cards summarize the opportunity for the current tenant scope.

  • Current monthly spend — Total committed license spend, alongside the number of active users in scope
  • Combined monthly opportunity — Aggregate monthly savings if every modelled change is executed, with the annualized figure
  • True plan-mix savings — Savings attributable purely to changing the plan mix, with separate accounting for de-stacking opportunities (consolidating overlapping plans on a user) and the number of clusters and stacked users involved
  • License waste (purchased > used) — Cost of seats that have been purchased but are not consumed, with a count of distinct waste signals

Optimizer Tabs​

The optimizer is organized into focused tabs so administrators can investigate one cost lever at a time.

  • Plan-mix optimizer — Run the core optimizer and review the proposed plan mix
  • Waste signals — Drill into purchased-but-unused seats and other concrete waste indicators
  • Quick wins — The highest-impact, lowest-friction recommendations ranked by score
  • What-if simulator — Model the financial impact of hypothetical plan, pricing, or headcount changes before committing
  • Renewals — Upcoming subscription renewals where plan-mix changes can be applied at the natural break point
  • Anomalies — Cost or usage anomalies detected against the historical baseline
  • Forecast — Projected monthly spend and savings under the optimized plan
  • Cost reconciliation — Upload invoiced cost CSVs to reconcile predicted versus actual spend
  • Plan history — Audit trail of past plan-mix changes
  • Pricing quotes — Reference pricing quotes used in the optimization model

Running the Optimizer​

The optimizer is run on demand to avoid recomputing large solves on every page load.

  1. Open the Plan-mix optimizer tab
  2. Decide whether to keep the Honour existing inventory option enabled — when on, the optimizer respects seats already purchased and proposes a mix that fits within that inventory before recommending new purchases
  3. Click Generate plan
  4. The optimizer computes the plan-mix solution; the result populates the tab and refreshes the headline metrics

Note: For tenants over a few thousand users, the solve can take several minutes. The page surfaces a notice while the optimizer is running, and the Generate plan action is disabled until it completes.

Honour Existing Inventory​

The Honour existing inventory option controls whether the optimizer is allowed to assume your purchased seat counts as a constraint.

  • On (default) — The optimizer respects what you have already paid for and proposes a mix that consumes existing inventory before recommending new purchases. Use this for day-to-day optimization.
  • Off — The optimizer ignores current inventory and proposes the theoretically optimal plan mix on a clean slate. Use this for renewal-time strategic planning when you are willing to retire or replace existing subscriptions.

Best Practices​

  • Start with Quick wins — When a tenant first onboards, the Quick Wins tab surfaces the highest-impact, lowest-risk actions. Capture these before tackling the broader plan-mix solve
  • Re-run after every sync — Optimization results depend on user, license, and usage data; re-run the optimizer after material sync events to refresh the proposed mix
  • Use Renewals to time changes — Cost-reduction changes are easiest to apply at a subscription's natural renewal point. The Renewals tab flags upcoming break points so changes can be staged accordingly
  • Reconcile costs monthly — Upload invoiced CSVs in the Cost reconciliation tab so the Forecast and Drift indicators stay accurate
  • Toggle Honour existing inventory deliberately — Run with it on for in-cycle optimization and with it off when planning renewals so you can compare both scenarios