Responsible with Public Money, €2M in Annual Savings Through Smart M365 Profiling
When it’s public money, every license needs to be justified. Here’s how Amsterdam made that happen.
About the Company
Amsterdam is one of the largest municipalities in the Netherlands, with a large and diverse workforce that includes office-based staff, external contractors, and thousands of employees working out in the city every day. Managing Microsoft 365 licenses across such a varied user base is a complex and consequential task, particularly when it’s public money on the line.
Government
22k+ Employees
The Challenge
With a significant proportion of the workforce in external or field-based roles, Amsterdam faced a common but costly problem: many users were assigned M365 licenses that far exceeded what their role actually required. Without a structured view of actual usage and role profiles, there was no easy way to identify where licenses could be rightsized, or to act on that insight at scale.
How Qhub Helped
Qhub gave the municipality of Amsterdam a complete, structured overview of its M365 environment, with the ability to analyse usage and map licenses to actual role requirements across the organization. The results were immediate and significant.
For the large group of external and street-based workers roles that typically require only basic M365 functionality, Qhub clearly identified that a substantial downgrade was both justified and appropriate. All relevant parameters were carefully validated before any changes were made, ensuring accuracy and confidence in the outcome.
The result: 8,000 users were rightsized, and Amsterdam now saves €2 million per year on Microsoft 365 licensing.
The Results
For a public organization, every euro saved is a euro returned to the community. With €2M in annual savings, Qhub has delivered one of the clearest and most impactful returns on investment possible backed by data, validated thoroughly, and achieved entirely through smarter profiling.
Qhub helps public sector organizations make responsible, evidence-based decisions about Microsoft 365 ensuring every license is justified, and every saving goes where it matters most.
“Qhub showed us exactly where our licenses weren’t matched to reality. Rightsizing 8,000 users was a significant change, but the data gave us the confidence to act and the savings go straight back to the city.”
Pieter Legerstee
Head of Strategic Partnerships, Municipality of Amsterdam