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Total Economic Impact
Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By Unified
A FORRESTER TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT™ STUDY COMMISSIONED BY MICROSOFT, MARCH 2025
Total Economic Impact
A FORRESTER TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT™ STUDY COMMISSIONED BY MICROSOFT, MARCH 2025
Microsoft Unified centralizes IT management and supports business objectives across Microsoft investments, enabling organizations to shift from reactive issue resolution to proactive operational optimization. Unified’s scalable and flexible architecture helps businesses accelerate cloud adoption, boost productivity, and mitigate risk while ensuring technology investments align with and drive key business objectives.
Microsoft Unified collaborates with organizations throughout their journeys to offer direct access to technical expertise and strategies that drive success with Microsoft. The support services span the entire Microsoft portfolio, providing comprehensive coverage to resolve critical incidents faster. Organizations can enhance these foundational services with expert-led technical strategies tailored to strengthen their solutions and address unique business needs.
Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) organizations may realize by deploying Unified.1 The purpose of this study is to provide readers with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of Unified on their organizations.
To better understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with this investment, Forrester interviewed five decision-makers and surveyed 321 respondents with experience using Unified. For the purposes of this study, Forrester aggregated the experiences of the interviewees and survey respondents and combined the results into a single composite organization that is a global, billion-dollar enterprise operating in a highly regulated industry. The composite has 10,000 employees and delivers services and products to customers worldwide. The organization relies on seamless IT operations supported by a hybrid cloud and on-premises infrastructure to maintain compliance, optimize performance, and sustain a competitive edge.
Interviewees said that prior to using Unified, their organizations faced fragmented support systems and relied on a combination of multiple service providers, internal resources, and third-party resellers to manage Microsoft applications. However, prior attempts yielded limited success, leaving them with extended downtime, hindered productivity, and reliance on costly ad hoc solutions. These limitations led to increased operational costs, inefficient IT management, delays in delivering proactive security management, and suboptimized IT modernization efforts. With a focus on reactive break-fix support, the organizations struggled to scale effectively and pursue business goals. By centralizing IT management and integrating support across all Microsoft investments, Unified enabled the interviewees’ organizations to shift to a proactive approach, which optimized resources and facilitated the scalability and flexibility needed for future business growth and innovation.
After the investment in Unified, the organizations centralized IT management and integrated support across all of their Microsoft investments. Key outcomes include enhanced operational efficiency, reductions in both customer-facing and internal downtime, increased end-user productivity, an optimized cloud environment, and cost savings by eliminating the need for third-party risk assessments and training resources. These benefits contribute to enhanced business continuity, streamlined IT operations, and a significant reduction in reliance on external support.
Quantified benefits. Three-year, risk-adjusted present value (PV) quantified benefits for the composite organization include:2
Avoided profit loss due to reduced customer-facing downtime worth $87,000. The composite organization experiences 15 customer-facing downtime events per year, with each event resulting in an average of 6 hours of lost production and impacting 10% of annual revenue. With Microsoft Unified, the composite organization reduces downtime events by 40% and decreases the time lost per event by 50%, avoiding $205,000 in annual revenue loss.
End-user productivity gains from reduced downtime for internally facing applications worth $470,000. With improved system reliability and faster issue resolution through Unified, the composite organization experiences fewer disruptions to internally facing Microsoft applications. The composite organization realizes a 50% reduction in downtime events and a 70% decrease in downtime duration per incident, which translates to 24,000 hours of end-user downtime avoided annually for incidents related to internally facing Microsoft applications.
End-user productivity gains from faster adoption of Microsoft capabilities/solutions totaling $290,000. The composite organization uses Unified expert guidance and proactive support to reduce the time required to implement new Microsoft solutions by up to 60% over three years. This efficiency enables its end users to adopt new tools and capabilities sooner, leading to enhanced productivity across the organization.
Accelerated cloud migration/modernization savings worth $108,000. The composite organization streamlines cloud migration and modernization with Microsoft Unified, enabling IT teams to reduce time spent on related tasks by 20%. This saves a total of 2,800 hours over three years. The productivity uplift optimizes the deployment of modern, scalable architectures and drives the composite organization’s long-term growth.
Improvements in IT support that save $567,000. The composite organization reduces its IT support ticket volume for Microsoft product issues by 35% and resolves tickets 30% faster with Microsoft Unified. This results in 15,750 hours avoided over three years. Unified enables this by offering automating ticket routing, providing access to specialized expertise, and supplying real-time diagnostics, which eliminates the need for manual troubleshooting and reduces delays.
Cloud environment optimization savings totaling $422,000. Unified optimizes the composite organization’s cloud deployment and management by refining its compute and storage resource allocation and enhancing IT’s workload management efficiency. With proactive support and improved resource visibility, Unified reduces the composite’s inefficiencies and prevents overprovisioning, resulting in $5,000 in monthly cost savings from proactive support design-assisted cloud deployment and management and a 25% productivity boost in cloud infrastructure management.
Avoided external risk assessments saving $403,000. Unified reduces the composite organization’s need for external risk assessments through advanced risk management capabilities (e.g., integrated security scanning, automated threat detection, real-time monitoring). By eliminating 67% of third-party risk assessments, the organization saves $180,000 annually.
Training cost savings worth $846,000. The composite organization eliminates training costs worth $2,000 per user by replacing outsourced courses with on-demand training resources offered through Unified that help employees become more proficient in Microsoft tools and boost their productivity.
Unquantified benefits. Benefits that provide value for the composite organization but are not quantified for this study include:
Strategic relationship with Microsoft. The composite organization aligns its IT strategies with Microsoft’s evolving roadmap, leveraging proactive guidance and best practices to stay ahead of the curve and make informed investment decisions.
Global compliance. Unified helps the composite organization navigate complex data privacy regulations across global business units, ensuring IT practices align with both local and international compliance requirements.
Costs. Three-year, risk-adjusted PV costs for the composite organization include:
Fees to Microsoft of $772,000 over three years. The composite organization incurs direct costs for Microsoft Unified that cover proactive service add-ons and core support services. These costs incrementally increase over three years to reflect the organization’s growing reliance on Microsoft’s support ecosystem.
Ongoing internal management costs of $210,000. Ongoing internal management costs for the composite organization are comprised of both change management and vendor management efforts.
Note: The ongoing internal management costs modeled for the composite organization are not fees charged by Microsoft. They represent the composite’s own resource investments, and they are included to reflect the total economic impact of a Unified investment.
The financial analysis which is based on the interviews and survey found that a composite organization experiences benefits of $3.19 million over three years versus costs of $981,000, adding up to a net present value (NPV) of $2.21 million and an ROI of 225%.3
Reduction in customer-facing downtime events
Return on investment (ROI)
Benefits PV
Net present value (NPV)
Payback
| Role | Industry | Region | Employees | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VP of technology strategy | Financial services | APAC (India) | 100,000 | $13B |
| Chief transformation officer | Financial services | APAC (Australia) | 1,500 | $700M |
| Chief legal and compliance officer | Manufacturing | NA (US) | 7,000 | $1.8B |
| Head of digital acceleration | Healthcare | APAC (Japan) | 50,000 | $26B |
| Director of infrastructure and technology operations | Healthcare | Europe (UK) | 1,400 | $3B |
Forrester interviewed five decision-makers and surveyed 321 respondents with experience using Unified at their organizations. For more details on these individuals and the organizations they represent, see Appendix B.
Prior to investing in Microsoft Unified, interviewees’ organizations struggled with fragmented support ecosystems and relied on disparate service providers to manage their Microsoft applications. This patchwork approach combined with dependence on internally managed support or third-party resellers resulted in inconsistent service quality and reactive approaches toward IT management. Addressing routine and critical downtime events consumed valuable resources, disrupted user productivity, and impacted revenue generation.
Proactive IT health measures, modernization efforts, and necessary training were often overlooked or managed through costly ad hoc initiatives, which prevented the organizations from keeping pace with evolving technology requirements. Without a centralized partner to deliver modernization expertise, proactive IT health assessments, and responsive support, the organizations struggled to transform their applications and workloads, which subsequently hindered the ability to innovate and remain competitive in the market.
Both interviewees and survey respondents noted how their organizations struggled with common challenges, including:
Extended downtime and lost productivity during critical incidents due to fragmented support and resolution delays. Interviewees and survey respondents said their organizations experienced significant challenges with fragmented support systems because relying on multiple service providers often led to gaps in incident resolution. These delays in addressing critical system outages disrupted operations, caused missed deadlines, and reduced productivity across teams. The lack of a centralized approach to support extended downtime further compounded operational inefficiencies.
The chief legal and compliance officer in manufacturing emphasized the importance of minimizing downtime to protect their organization’s reputation: “With hundreds of thousands of customers relying on our services, reducing the risk of prolonged downtime is crucial for maintaining a strong reputation. As a publicly traded company with investors to answer to, it’s important that our operations remain resilient.”
Heavy reliance on costly ad hoc solutions and external expertise for complex issues. To address complex IT challenges and due to limited internal expertise, the organizations frequently turned to expensive ad hoc solutions or external consultants. This dependency increased operational costs and often resulted in temporary fixes rather than long-term solutions. The head of digital acceleration in healthcare said: “When evaluating other support options, we felt that the degree of expertise offered with Microsoft Unified is superior to [that of] its competitors. We knew we wouldn’t need to rely on outside help for guidance on more complex issues anymore.”
IT inefficiencies from managing siloed systems and reactive processes. Disparate IT systems and siloed operations hindered collaboration and efficiency within the organizations. Teams often dealt with tools and systems that were poorly integrated, leading to delays and increased workloads. Reactive processes further exacerbated these inefficiencies and diverted resources from proactive IT management to constant troubleshooting.
Inadequate security visibility, which led to increased vulnerability and delayed responses to security incidents. Fragmented and poorly integrated monitoring tools reduced the organizations’ ability to maintain adequate security visibility. This lack of cohesion left them vulnerable to security threats and slowed their response times to incidents while delays in identifying and addressing breaches often increased both risk exposure and the time required for recovery. The chief legal and compliance officer in manufacturing explained that concern about cybersecurity was a driver for their organization to invest in Unified. They said, “We knew that investing in Unified would bring significant cybersecurity benefits because [it provides] support under one platform help to enforce a single policy globally and manage our IT infrastructure more effectively.”
Decentralized IT management across business units, which led to inconsistent processes. Interviewees and survey respondents from organizations with decentralized IT management said their company often faced inefficiencies and inconsistencies in processes across business units. Variations in tools and practices made it challenging to achieve standardization, resulting in duplicated efforts and increased costs. This lack of cohesion also complicated compliance efforts and hindered organizational agility. The chief legal and compliance officer in manufacturing noted how their organization chose Unified to help streamline IT operations: “Part of our reason for investing in Unified was to centralize IT management at the global level. Previously, our desktop and server environments were highly decentralized, which worked for a time. But, as we grew, it became clear that a more unified approach made sense. With Unified, we gained greater control over desktop administration, standardizing what gets installed on systems and ensuring consistency across environments.”
Delays due to error-prone cloud migrations that required rework. Cloud migrations presented significant challenges, including frequent errors and the need for extensive rework. These issues often stemmed from inadequate expertise and planning, which led to repeated failures, project delays, and disrupted services. The resulting inefficiencies caused frustration among end users and placed additional strain on IT teams.
Base: 321 decision-makers with experience using Microsoft Unified at their organization
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, August 2024
The interviewees and survey respondents’ organizations searched for a solution that could:
Centralize and simplify IT management.
Reduce customer-facing downtime to improve customer experience and protect revenue.
Reduce end-user downtime during noncritical events and boost end-user productivity via faster adoption of tools/capabilities.
Optimize operational costs (e.g., data storage costs, third-party tools/services, external expertise).
Allow them to adopt a proactive approach to issue resolution.
Enhance security and reduce the need for costly risk assessments.
Enhance IT efficiency and maximize value by providing education/training opportunities.
Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester constructed a TEI framework, a composite company, and an ROI analysis that illustrates the areas financially affected. The composite organization is representative of the interviewees’ organizations, and it is used to present the aggregate financial analysis in the next section. The composite organization has the following characteristics:
Description of composite. The composite organization is a global, billion-dollar enterprise that operates in a highly regulated industry. With a workforce of 10,000 employees, it delivers services and products to customers worldwide. Revenue generation relies heavily on the composite’s ability to ensure seamless IT operations supported by a robust hybrid cloud and on-premises infrastructure. To retain its competitive edge in the market, it’s critical for the organization to maintain compliance, operational efficiency, and a strong digital presence.
Deployment characteristics. The organization’s IT environment includes hybrid deployments combining cloud and on-premises solutions. Core IT capabilities are anchored in Microsoft Unified, enhanced by investments in solution add-ons to meet the organization’s complex needs. Proactive, expert-led engagements address key areas such as security, disaster recovery, performance optimization, and well-architected assessments. Technical advisory services support the organization’s use of Microsoft products, ensuring alignment with its strategic goals and driving innovation.
$1 billion revenue
10,000 employees
Highly regulated industry
Hybrid cloud and on-prem deployments
| Ref. | Benefit | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atr | Avoided profit loss due to reduced customer-facing downtime | $34,933 | $34,933 | $34,933 | $104,800 | $86,874 |
| Btr | End-user productivity gains from reduced downtime for internally facing applications | $189,000 | $189,000 | $189,000 | $567,000 | $470,015 |
| Ctr | End-user productivity gains from faster adoption of Microsoft capabilities/solutions | $94,500 | $118,125 | $141,750 | $354,375 | $290,032 |
| Dtr | Accelerated cloud migration/ modernization savings | $71,280 | $35,640 | $17,820 | $124,740 | $107,643 |
| Etr | Improved IT support | $297,675 | $223,257 | $148,838 | $669,769 | $566,947 |
| Ftr | Cloud environment optimization | $169,830 | $169,830 | $169,830 | $509,490 | $422,342 |
| Gtr | Risk assessment cost savings | $162,000 | $162,000 | $162,000 | $486,000 | $402,870 |
| Htr | Training cost savings | $340,000 | $340,000 | $340,000 | $1,020,000 | $845,530 |
| Total benefits (risk-adjusted) | $1,359,218 | $1,272,785 | $1,204,171 | $3,836,174 | $3,192,253 | |
Evidence and data. Interviewees highlighted that Microsoft Unified played a critical role in reducing both the frequency of customer-facing downtime events and the duration of production downtime per event, ultimately enabling their organization to protect its bottom line. Unified provided insights into system performance and health through advanced monitoring tools, enabling IT teams to detect and address potential issues early before they led to downtime or affected customer-facing services. By proactively mitigating risks, the organizations maintained more consistent service delivery, minimized revenue loss, and ensured more reliable experiences for customers.
The chief transformation officer in financial services explained how customer-facing downtime events impact their organization’s reputation and ability to retain customers: “Avoiding downtime is critical in our business, particularly when it impacts our core systems. If our customers can’t access their funds or view their balances, it directly affects their experiences. In the past, we’ve seen this have a significant impact on our reputation, overall customer satisfaction, and NPSSM (Net Promoter Score). If downtime occurs too frequently, we risk losing our B2B clients as their employees would likely raise complaints about service disruptions. Over time, this could lead to customer attrition and potentially the loss of major contracts. For example, if we were to lose one of our key clients, we could lose access to approximately 20,000 employees as we contract with employers and generate our revenue through them.”
The VP of technology strategy in financial services noted how Unified played a key role in enhancing the resilience of their organization’s IT environment: “Having secure and robust infrastructure ensures applications remain operational. [With Unified,] we’ve seen a decline in downtime incidents that affect critical applications, which is a strong indicator of our system’s overall security and resilience. I would point to the reduction in incidents as evidence of a stronger, more secure ecosystem.”
The chief legal and compliance officer in manufacturing shared how having a global support structure has helped reduce downtime incidents: “The biggest benefit we’ve seen from Unified is having that global support available during critical situations. With it, we’ve noticed fewer downtime incidents, which really helps keep things running smoothly and avoids major revenue loss. Having that consistent support has made a huge difference in minimizing disruptions and improving our overall operations.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
The composite organization generates $1 billion in annual revenue.
On average, 10% of the composite organization’s annual revenue is impacted per customer-facing downtime event.
Before Microsoft Unified, the composite organization experienced an average of 15 customer-facing downtime events per year.
With Microsoft Unified, the composite organization experiences a 40% reduction in the number of customer-facing downtime events per year.
Before Microsoft Unified, each downtime event resulted in an average of 6 hours of lost production.
With Microsoft Unified, the composite organization experiences a 50% reduction in production time lost per customer-facing downtime event.
The composite organization has a 20% operating margin.
Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:
The organization’s total revenue.
The average percent of revenue impacted per customer-facing downtime event.
The average number of customer-facing downtime events before Microsoft Unified.
The average production time lost per customer-facing downtime event before Microsoft Unified.
The organization’s operating margin.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $87,000.
Annual avoided revenue loss
Reduction in customer-facing downtime events
Reduction in production time lost per customer-facing downtime event
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Total revenue | Composite | $1,000,000,000 | $1,000,000,000 | $1,000,000,000 | |
| A2 | Average percent of revenue impacted per customer-facing downtime event | Interviews and survey | 10% | 10% | 10% | |
| A3 | Revenue generated per hour of uptime | (A1*A2)/8,760 hours | $11,416 | $11,416 | $11,416 | |
| A4 | Average customer-facing downtime events before Microsoft Unified | Interviews and survey | 15 | 15 | 15 | |
| A5 | Reduction in customer-facing downtime events with Microsoft Unified | Interviews and survey | 40% | 40% | 40% | |
| A6 | Customer-facing downtime events avoided with Microsoft Unified | A4*A5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | |
| A7 | Average production time lost per customer-facing downtime event before Microsoft Unified (hours) | Composite | 6 | 6 | 6 | |
| A8 | Reduction in production time lost per customer-facing downtime event with Microsoft Unified | Interviews and survey | 50% | 50% | 50% | |
| A9 | Production time reclaimed per customer-facing downtime event with Microsoft Unified (hours) | A7*A8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| A10 | Additional uptime with Microsoft Unified (hours) | A6*A9 | 18 | 18 | 18 | |
| A11 | Avoided revenue loss with Microsoft Unified | A3*A10 | $205,488 | $205,488 | $205,488 | |
| A12 | Operating margin | Composite | 20% | 20% | 20% | |
| At | Avoided profit loss due to reduced customer-facing downtime | A11*A12 | $41,098 | $41,098 | $41,098 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓15% | |||||
| Atr | Avoided profit loss due to reduced customer-facing downtime (risk-adjusted) | $34,933 | $34,933 | $34,933 | ||
| Three-year total: $104,800 | Three-year present value: $86,874 | |||||
Evidence and data. Interviewees reported that investing in Unified significantly enhanced system reliability and accelerated support response times for internally facing Microsoft applications, reducing both the frequency and duration of downtime events. With access to on-demand advisory support, problem resolution with designated response times, and prioritized escalation, IT teams optimized their Microsoft environments, mitigated risks proactively, and streamlined incident resolution. As a result, end users experienced less disruption and remained focused on their core responsibilities.
More than half of the survey respondents reported that Microsoft Unified led to an average of a 65% reduction in downtime remediation time for internal-facing applications.
The chief transportation officer in financial services explained: “Previously, we had to rely on a patchwork of contacts, often involving multiple vendors and teams, to assemble a crisis-response team to help us resolve [internal outages]. With Unified, we now have senior representation through Microsoft and a dedicated account manager to escalate issues as needed. Having a single point of contact to address helps us escalate issues more efficiently. … We’ve seen a significant decrease in our cybersecurity insurance premium with Unified, which points to a safer, more resilient environment that is less likely to experience an outage.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
The composite organization has 10,000 employees.
On average, 5% of the composite’s end users are impacted per downtime event for internally facing applications.
Before Microsoft Unified, the composite organization experienced an average of 24 downtime events per year.
With Microsoft Unified, the composite organization experiences a 50% reduction in the frequency of downtime events.
Before Microsoft Unified, the composite organization experienced an average of 6 hours of downtime per end user per incident for internally facing applications.
The composite organization experiences a 70% reduction in downtime per end user per incident with Microsoft Unified.
The average fully burdened hourly rate for an affected employee is $35.
For this benefit, the composite has a productivity recapture rate of 25%. Employees spend most of the time they save on activities that generate business value, but not all reclaimed time is dedicated to value-added work.
Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:
The average number of end users impacted per downtime event for internally facing applications.
The average number of downtime events and downtime per end user per incident for internally facing applications.
The average fully burdened hourly rates for affected employees.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $470,000.
Reduction in downtime events for internally facing applications
Reduction in downtime per end user per incident
End-user downtime avoided annually due to reduced downtime events for internally facing applications
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | Total employees | Composite | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | |
| B2 | Average percent of end users impacted per downtime event for internally facing applications | Interviews and survey | 5% | 5% | 5% | |
| B3 | Average end users impacted per downtime event for internally facing applications | B1*B2 | 500 | 500 | 500 | |
| B4 | Average downtime events for internally facing applications before Microsoft Unified | Composite | 24 | 24 | 24 | |
| B5 | Reduction in downtime events for internally facing applications with Microsoft Unified | Interviews and survey | 50% | 50% | 50% | |
| B6 | Downtime events for internally facing applications avoided with Microsoft Unified | B4*B5 | 12 | 12 | 12 | |
| B7 | Average downtime per end user per incident before Microsoft Unified (hours) | Composite | 6 | 6 | 6 | |
| B8 | Reduction in downtime per end user per incident with Microsoft Unified | Interviews and survey | 70% | 70% | 70% | |
| B9 | Downtime per end user avoided with Microsoft Unified (hours) | B7*B8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| B10 | Total end-user downtime for internally facing applications avoided with Microsoft Unified (hours) | B3*B6*B9 | 24,000 | 24,000 | 24,000 | |
| B11 | Average fully burdened hourly rate for an affected employee | Composite | $35 | $35 | $35 | |
| B12 | Productivity recapture | TEI methodology | 25% | 25% | 25% | |
| Bt | End-user productivity gains from reduced downtime for internally facing applications | B10*B11*B12 | $210,000 | $210,000 | $210,000 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓10% | |||||
| Btr | End-user productivity gains from reduced downtime for internally facing applications (risk-adjusted) | $189,000 | $189,000 | $189,000 | ||
| Three-year total: $567,000 | Three-year present value: $470,015 | |||||
Evidence and data. Interviewees said that by leveraging Unified’s expert-led guidance, training resources, and on-demand advisory services, IT teams accelerated deployments and optimized configurations of new Microsoft capabilities and solutions, which enabled end users to adopt new tools more quickly. Interviewees noted that having access to proactive services and dedicated technical account managers helped tailor implementations to their organization’s specific environment, ensuring smoother rollouts and faster time to value.
Survey respondents said that with Unified, their organization saw an average reduction of 36% in the number of weeks required to implement new Microsoft capabilities/solutions.
The chief transformation officer in financial services noted, “Our IT team was able to deploy new Microsoft tools much faster because Unified gives us proactive guidance to simplify and, ultimately, speed up the implementation process.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
Before Microsoft Unified, it took the composite organization 10 weeks to implement new Microsoft capabilities/solutions each year.
With Microsoft Unified, the composite organization reduces its implementation time by 40% in Year 1, by 50% in Year 2, and by 60% in Year 3.
Five percent of the composite’s end users are early adopters of new Microsoft capabilities and solutions.
For each additional week of productivity made available through faster implementation, each impacted end user saves 2 hours per week.
The average fully burdened salary for an affected employee is $35.
For this benefit, the composite has a productivity recapture rate of 75%. Employees spend most of the time they save on activities that generate business value, but not all reclaimed time is dedicated to value-added work.
Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:
The amount of time needed to implement new Microsoft solutions/capabilities before Unified.
The average fully burdened hourly rates of affected employees.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $290,000.
Reduction in implementation time for new Microsoft capabilities/solutions with Unified by Year 3
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Time to implement new Microsoft capabilities/solutions before Microsoft Unified (weeks) | Composite | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| C2 | Reduction in implementation time with Microsoft Unified | Interviews and survey | 40% | 50% | 60% | |
| C3 | Additional time available for end-user productivity due to faster implementation with Microsoft Unified (weeks) | C1*C2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| C4 | Percent of end users who are early adopters of new Microsoft capabilities/solutions | Composite | 5% | 5% | 5% | |
| C5 | End users impacted by new Microsoft capabilities/solutions | B1*C4 | 500 | 500 | 500 | |
| C6 | User time saved per week (hours) | Interviews and survey | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| C7 | Average fully burdened hourly salary for an affected employee | Composite | $35 | $35 | $35 | |
| C8 | Productivity recapture | TEI methodology | 75% | 75% | 75% | |
| Ct | End-user productivity gains from faster adoption of Microsoft capabilities/solutions | C3*C5*C6*C7*C8 | $105,000 | $131,250 | $157,500 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓10% | |||||
| Ctr | End-user productivity gains from faster adoption of Microsoft capabilities/solutions (risk-adjusted) | $94,500 | $118,125 | $141,750 | ||
| Three-year total: $354,375 | Three-year present value: $290,032 | |||||
Evidence and data. Interviewees said Microsoft Unified brought their organizations more efficient and seamless cloud migration and modernization processes. They explained that before Unified, IT teams frequently encountered roadblocks when moving on-premises workloads to the cloud, and these included technical setbacks, configuration issues, and security concerns that delayed progress. With Unified’s integrated support and proactive guidance, IT teams spent less time on cloud migration and modernization tasks, enabling them to shift focus to higher-value initiatives. Interviewees said that by simplifying these processes, Unified helped their organization move toward modern, scalable architecture with greater confidence, which supports long-term business growth.
Survey respondents reported that Unified led to a 12% average reduction in the time required for solution architects and software engineers to execute cloud migrations, a 9% reduction for IT/site reliability engineers, and an 8% reduction for project managers.
The director of technology in healthcare explained: “One of the challenges we had [before Unified] was when we were moving workloads into the cloud, we didn’t have any cloud experience and had to rely heavily on [external] partners. Unified has given us access to guidance and best practices on cloud migrations. … Unified enabled us to migrate all of our workloads onto the cloud quicker because it gave us confidence and the ability to upskill on the cloud adoption framework. If we had to do it without Unified, it would have taken much longer.”
The VP of technology in financial services highlighted: “Before Unified, deploying an application to the cloud took several weeks due to the complexity of migration processes. Our IT team has since been able to cut that time down to a week with [Unified] in place.”
Base: 321 decision-makers with experience using Microsoft Unified at their organization
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, August 2024
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
The composite organization’s IT resources represent 2% of its total employee count.
Five percent of the composite’s IT resources are devoted to cloud migration and modernization efforts.
On average, the IT resources dedicate 800 hours in Year 1, 400 hours in Year 2, and 200 hours in Year 3 toward cloud workload migration and modernization. In Year 1, this includes core tasks such as legacy system migrations, regulatory compliance, and disaster recovery setup. In Year 2, the focus shifts to enhancing cloud security, improving operational processes, and starting application modernization. In Year 3, the focus moves to optimizing cloud analytics, further improving cloud security, and beginning the integration of new technologies (e.g., AI/machine learning, internet of things) as needed.
With Microsoft Unified, the composite’s IT resources experience a 20% reduction in time spent on cloud migration and modernization.
The average fully burdened blended hourly rate for an IT resource devoted to cloud migration is $66.
For this benefit, the composite has a productivity recapture rate of 75%. Employees spend most of the time they save on activities that generate business value, but not all reclaimed time is dedicated to value-added work.
Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:
The percent of total employees who are IT resources.
The percent of IT resources devoted to cloud migration and modernization.
The average annual time spent executing cloud workload migrations and modernization.
The average fully burdened blended hourly rate for an IT resource devoted to cloud migration.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $108,000.
Reduction in time to execute cloud workload migration and modernization
Time saved on executing cloud workload migration and modernization over three years
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Average percent of total employees who are IT resources | Composite | 2% | 2% | 2% | |
| D2 | Total IT resources | B1*D1 | 200 | 200 | 200 | |
| D3 | Average percent of IT resources devoted to cloud migration and modernization | Composite | 5% | 5% | 5% | |
| D4 | IT resources devoted to cloud migration and modernization | D2*D3 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| D5 | Average time spent on executing cloud workload migrations and modernization (hours) | Composite | 800 | 400 | 200 | |
| D6 | Reduction in time to execute cloud workload migrations and modernization with Microsoft Unified | Interviews and survey | 20% | 20% | 20% | |
| D7 | Total time saved on executing cloud workload migrations and modernization with Microsoft Unified (hours) | D4*D5*D6 | 1,600 | 800 | 400 | |
| D8 | Average fully burdened blended hourly rate for an IT resource devoted to cloud migration | Composite | $66 | $66 | $66 | |
| D9 | Productivity recapture | TEI methodology | 75% | 75% | 75% | |
| Dt | Accelerated cloud migration/modernization savings | D7*D8*D9 | $79,200 | $39,600 | $19,800 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓10% | |||||
| Dtr | Accelerated cloud migration/modernization savings (risk-adjusted) | $71,280 | $35,640 | $17,820 | ||
| Three-year total: $124,740 | Three-year present value: $107,643 | |||||
Evidence and data. Interviewees said that before Unified, resolving IT support tickets often required extensive internal research, handoffs between teams, and additional coordination with third-party providers, which led to delays and inefficiencies. But they explained that with Unified, their organizations reduced both the volume and resolution times for Microsoft product-related support tickets with automated ticket routing, access to specialized expertise, and real-time diagnostics. As a result, IT teams spent less time on repetitive troubleshooting and manual support tasks and spent more time on strategic initiatives.
More than 68% of survey respondents reported that Microsoft Unified led to faster time to resolution for ticketing and incident response.
The head of digital acceleration in healthcare highlighted the increased efficiency of their organization’s IT team: “Our IT team definitely feels the difference of having Unified because their support response times became noticeably faster. It’s also much easier for them to identify and reach the right support personnel when needed, rather than having to search through multiple channels. They’ve become much more efficient overall.”
The chief transformation officer in manufacturing noted: “Our IT teams participate in monthly Unified training sessions to stay agile and informed with the latest session dedicated to optimizing DevOps practices. This continuous training has enhanced their technical skills and improved their ability to handle support tickets more efficiently.”
Base: 321 decision-makers with experience using Microsoft Unified at their organization
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, August 2024
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
Each year, the composite organization handles an average of five IT support tickets per employee.
With Microsoft Unified, the composite organization eliminates 35% of Microsoft product-related IT support tickets annually. In Year 1, 40% of IT support tickets are related to Microsoft product issues. This rate decreases to 30% in Year 2 and to 20% in Year 3.
Before Microsoft Unified, the composite’s average time to resolve a ticket related to Microsoft products was 3 hours.
With Microsoft Unified, the composite’s IT support resources experience a 30% reduction in time spent resolving Microsoft-related IT support tickets.
The fully burdened hourly rate for an IT support resource involved in resolving Microsoft-related tickets is $63.
For this benefit, the composite has a productivity recapture rate of 75%. Employees spend most of the time they save on activities that generate business value, but not all reclaimed time is dedicated to value-added work.
Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:
The organization’s average number of IT support tickets per employee.
The organization’s average percent of IT support tickets for Microsoft product issues.
The average time needed to resolve a ticket for a Microsoft product issue before Microsoft Unified.
The average fully burdened hourly rate for an IT support FTE.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $567,000.
Reduction in IT support ticket volume for Microsoft product issues
Reduction in time spent resolving IT support ticket for Microsoft product issues
Total time avoided in resolving IT support tickets for Microsoft product issues over three years
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | Average IT support tickets per employee | Composite | 5 | 5 | 5 | |
| E2 | Total IT support tickets | B1*E1 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | |
| E3 | Average percent of IT support tickets for Microsoft product issues | Composite | 40% | 30% | 20% | |
| E4 | IT support tickets for Microsoft product issues | E2*E3 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 10,000 | |
| E5 | Reduction in IT support tickets with Microsoft Unified | Interviews and survey | 35% | 35% | 35% | |
| E6 | IT support tickets eliminated with Microsoft Unified | E4*E5 | 7,000 | 5,250 | 3,500 | |
| E7 | Average time to resolve a ticket for a Microsoft product issue before Microsoft Unified (hours) | Composite | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | |
| E8 | Reduction in time to resolve a ticket for a Microsoft product issue with Microsoft Unified | Interviews and survey | 30% | 30% | 30% | |
| E9 | Time to resolve a ticket for a Microsoft product issue avoided with Microsoft Unified (hours) (rounded) | E7*E8 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| E10 | Total time avoided on resolving Microsoft product issues with Microsoft Unified (hours) | E6*E9 | 7,000 | 5,250 | 3,500 | |
| E11 | Average fully burdened hourly rate for an IT support FTE | Composite | $63 | $63 | $63 | |
| E12 | Productivity recapture | TEI methodology | 75% | 75% | 75% | |
| Et | Improved IT support | E10*E11*E12 | $330,750 | $248,063 | $165,375 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓10% | |||||
| Etr | Improved IT support (risk-adjusted) | $297,675 | $223,257 | $148,838 | ||
| Three-year total: $669,769 | Three-year present value: $566,947 | |||||
Evidence and data. Interviewees reported both a reduction in cloud infrastructure costs and an increase in the efficiency of cloud infrastructure management with Unified. They said using proactive support and design-assisted cloud deployment helped IT teams identify inefficiencies, rightsize resources, and implement best practices that prevented costly misconfigurations. With direct access to Microsoft experts, the organizations deployed and managed workloads more effectively, which helped mitigate performance issues and unnecessary compute and storage costs.
The VP of technology strategy in financial services explained how Unified facilitated the simplification of their organization’s infrastructure: “On-prem setups are highly complex and expensive because they require hardware components like servers, data centers, and an entire ecosystem to manage them. This includes the costs for cooling, physical security, disaster recovery, and power needs. When we shifted to cloud adoption using Unified, we reduced our infrastructure spend significantly, which represents a substantial portion of our annual operational budget.”
The director of infrastructure and technology operations in healthcare noted how Unified helped optimize their organization’s cloud migration: “By using Unified, we are able to make more informed decisions. For example, when moving our SQL (structured query language) workloads, Unified provided guidance on the best tiering options and SKUs (stock keeping units) to choose and how those choices would impact our licensing. This helped ensure we were aligned with best practices and made the most efficient use of our resources.”
The chief legal and compliance officer in manufacturing explained how Unified aided in managing cloud data storage, which helped their organization avoid a 20% annual increase in storage costs: “We initially stored all our data in the cloud without much thought to cost. Over time, as the volume of data increased, we started to realize the expenses were adding up. We worked closely with the Microsoft team to explore better storage options, like using cool storage for data we don’t need to access immediately. We also explored archiving data and accepting longer retrieval times to save costs. The guidance we received helped us better understand how others were managing their storage. And with the insights, we were able to reduce storage costs. Without Microsoft Unified, I don’t think we would have been able to keep our storage costs relatively flat. We’ve been able to avoid a 20% annual increase.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
The composite organization saves $5,000 per month from proactive support design-assisted cloud deployment and management with Unified.
Five percent of the composite’s IT team is dedicated to cloud infrastructure management, and they allocate 50% of their time to the effort.
With Unified, the composite’s IT resources experience a 25% productivity uplift on cloud infrastructure management.
The average fully burdened hourly rate for an IT resource involved in cloud infrastructure management is $66.
For this benefit, the composite has a productivity recapture rate of 75%. Employees spend most of the time they save on activities that generate business value, but not all reclaimed time is dedicated to value-added work.
Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:
Monthly cost savings from proactive support design-assisted cloud deployment and management, which can vary based on number of factors (e.g., cloud infrastructure complexity, size and scale of operations, cloud maturity level).
The number of IT team members involved in cloud infrastructure management.
The average percent of time IT resources spend on cloud infrastructure management.
The average fully burdened hourly rates for IT resources involved in cloud infrastructure management.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $422,000.
Annual cost savings from proactive design-assisted cloud deployment
Cloud infrastructure management productivity uplift
Annual time saved on cloud infrastructure management
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Monthly cost savings from proactive support design-assisted cloud deployment and management | Composite | $5,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | |
| F2 | Subtotal: Cost savings from proactive support design-assisted cloud deployment and management | F1*12 months | $60,000 | $60,000 | $60,000 | |
| F3 | Average percent of IT team involved in cloud infrastructure management | Composite | 5% | 5% | 5% | |
| F4 | IT resources involved in cloud infrastructure management | D2*F3 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| F5 | Average percent of time spent on cloud infrastructure management | Composite | 50% | 50% | 50% | |
| F6 | Total time spent on cloud infrastructure management before Microsoft Unified (hours) | F4*F5*2,080 hours | 10,400 | 10,400 | 10,400 | |
| F7 | Cloud infrastructure management productivity uplift with Microsoft Unified | Interviews and survey | 25% | 25% | 25% | |
| F8 | Total time saved on cloud infrastructure management with Microsoft Unified (hours) | F6*F7 | 2,600 | 2,600 | 2,600 | |
| F9 | Average fully burdened hourly rate for an IT resource involved in cloud infrastructure management | Composite | $66 | $66 | $66 | |
| F10 | Productivity recapture | TEI methodology | 75% | 75% | 75% | |
| F11 | Subtotal: Cloud infrastructure management savings | F8*F9*F10 | $128,700 | $128,700 | $128,700 | |
| Ft | Cloud environment optimization | F2+F11 | $188,700 | $188,700 | $188,700 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓10% | |||||
| Ftr | Cloud environment optimization (risk-adjusted) | $169,830 | $169,830 | $169,830 | ||
| Three-year total: $509,490 | Three-year present value: $422,342 | |||||
Evidence and data. Interviewees said Unified’s advanced risk management capabilities (e.g., integrated security scanning, automated threat detection, real-time monitoring) reduced reliance on costly third-party risk assessments while still maintaining robust environment security. While the organizations significantly reduced the need for external risk assessments through Unified’s advanced tools, they continued to conduct a limited number of assessments for specialized or complex scenarios that required external expertise or certification to meet stringent regulatory standards in highly regulated industries.
Survey respondents reported an average reduction of 55% in the frequency of external risk assessments required for their organization per year with Unified.
Survey respondents reported their organizations previously spent an average of $380,000 per year for proactive support, which included risk assessments.
Base: 321 decision-makers with experience using Microsoft Unified at their organization
Note: Percentages may not total 100 because of rounding.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, August 2024
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
Before Microsoft Unified, the composite organization conducted an average of three external risk assessments annually.
With Microsoft Unified, the composite avoids an average of 67% of external risk assessments.
Each external risk assessment costs $90,000.
Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:
The average number of external risk assessments the organization conducts before Microsoft Unified.
The cost per external risk assessment.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $403,000.
Percent of external risk assessments avoided
Annual risk assessment cost savings
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G1 | Average external risk assessments conducted before Microsoft Unified | Composite | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| G2 | Average percent of external risk assessments avoided with Microsoft Unified | Interviews and survey | 67% | 67% | 67% | |
| G3 | External risk assessments avoided with Microsoft Unified (rounded) | G1*G2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| G4 | Cost per external risk assessment | Interviews and survey | $90,000 | $90,000 | $90,000 | |
| Gt | Risk assessment cost savings | G3*G4 | $180,000 | $180,000 | $180,000 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓10% | |||||
| Gtr | Risk assessment cost savings (risk-adjusted) | $162,000 | $162,000 | $162,000 | ||
| Three-year total: $486,000 | Three-year present value: $402,870 | |||||
Evidence and data. Interviewees said their organizations realized significant cost savings on training by replacing expensive third-party courses with on-demand training resources available through Unified. The training offerings helped users become more proficient in Microsoft tools, which boosted their productivity and maximized the organizations’ investments in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Nearly 80% of survey respondents reported a reduction in training costs since utilizing on-demand training through Microsoft Unified.
More than 250 survey respondents reported that their organization incurs an average annual cost of $580,000 to provide education and training on Microsoft products to its users.
The VP of technology strategy in financial services discussed the flexibility of on-demand Unified training offered. They said: “[Employees] don’t need to be available at a specific time of day to complete them. The training courses are pre-uploaded, predefined, recorded, and made accessible on the cloud. They can do it according to their own schedule so they can prioritize their work throughout the day.”
The chief legal and compliance officer in manufacturing explained how their organization leverages training resources offered by Microsoft Unified for both general training on Microsoft platforms and specialized training for department-specific needs: “We’ve really been able to get the most out of the trainings that Unified offers. Our employees can attend general training courses to learn how to use Microsoft platforms, such as Power BI and Power Automate. We’ve also been able to do trainings for more specific cases. For instance, our legal operations team has taken advantage of the training resources to become more proficient in Microsoft’s business analytics tools to learn how to build out additional dashboards for our legal department.”
Base: 321 decision-makers with experience using Microsoft Unified at their organization
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, August 2024
Base: 253 decision-makers with experience using Microsoft Unified who said their organization has seen a reduction in training costs with the solution
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, August 2024
Accelerating Copilot Adoption With Microsoft Unified
Interviewees emphasized that Microsoft Unified expedited the adoption of Microsoft Copilot by streamlining both implementation and end-user training, and they said Unified provided the essential support to ensure users could quickly begin using the platform. Centralized support reduced the complexity of rolling out Copilot at scale, with proactive guidance and 24/7 assistance enabling a smooth transition from pilot to full adoption. Interviewees said this efficiency is crucial for organizations aiming to unlock Copilot’s potential to automate tasks and improve operational efficiency across teams.
The chief legal and compliance officer in manufacturing explained how Unified played an important role in their organization’s Copilot deployment and user training: “We used Unified’s training resources to help with our Copilot rollout. The training started with IT teams and then expanded to include management and other end users. It helped users across many different departments understand how to build queries and use Copilot to be more efficient at their job. Having access to training resources through Unified made the deployment process smoother.”
The same interviewee continued: “The ability to access training resources helped us easily deploy Copilot across various parts of the organization, especially during the pilot phase. Unified helped us identify quick wins and use cases that could be deployed faster, allowing us to be more responsive to business stakeholders’ needs.”
The chief transformation officer in financial services highlighted how Unified enabled effective Copilot training to boost user productivity at their organization. They said: “Copilot is a great example of how we benefited from our investment in Unified. We ran several workshops supported by Microsoft to train our team. Without Microsoft’s facilitation, we would have likely needed to hire external facilitators. They also involved their L&D (learning and development) team to develop a targeted program, training a cohort of 100 senior leaders on how to use Copilot to drive productivity.”
More than half of the survey respondents reported that Microsoft Unified accelerated AI adoption by enabling faster implementation, expanding user training, and addressing AI risk, privacy, and security concerns.
Base: 321 decision-makers with experience using Microsoft Unified at their organization
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, August 2024
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
An average of 10% of the composite’s end users impacted by new Microsoft capabilities or solutions participate in training courses each year.
Each end user attends four training courses annually.
The composite organization previously outsourced training courses at a cost of $2,000 per course.
Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:
The average number of end users impacted by new Microsoft capabilities/solutions involved in training courses.
The number of training courses each end user attends per year.
The cost of outsourced training per course.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $846,000.
Annual training cost savings
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H1 | Average percent of end users impacted by new Microsoft capabilities/solutions who are involved in training courses | Composite | 10% | 10% | 10% | |
| H2 | End users involved per training course | C5*H1 | 50 | 50 | 50 | |
| H3 | Training courses per end user | Composite | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| H4 | Cost of outsourced training per course | Interviews and survey | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | |
| Ht | Training cost savings | H2*H3*H4 | $400,000 | $400,000 | $400,000 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓15% | |||||
| Htr | Training cost savings (risk-adjusted) | $340,000 | $340,000 | $340,000 | ||
| Three-year total: $1,020,000 | Three-year present value: $845,530 | |||||
Interviewees and survey respondents mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:
Strategic relationship with Microsoft. Interviewees emphasized that Microsoft is more than just a vendor for resolving technical issues; they said it serves as a trusted, strategic partner in shaping their organization’s long-term IT and business strategies. They explained that investing in Unified has given their organization access to proactive guidance, industry best practices, and tailored recommendations that helps optimize the IT environment. They also highlighted that having the ability to align with Microsoft’s technology roadmap ensures their organization stays ahead of emerging trends and can make informed investment decisions. The chief transformation officer in financial services explained: “Microsoft’s involvement in our transformation gives us confidence that we are making the right technology investments. Their visibility into what’s coming next allows us to plan ahead and stay competitive.”
Global compliance. Interviewees said Unified helps their organization navigate complex data privacy regulations in business units across the globe, ensuring IT practices are consistently aligned with local and international compliance requirements. The head of digital acceleration in healthcare said: “An added benefit of having Unified is ensuring our systems meet compliance standards at the international level. We want to make sure we’re remaining compliant in all the regions we operate.”
The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement Unified and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:
Business growth. Interviewees said Microsoft Unified helps maintain continuity as their organization continues to grow by providing consistent, scalable support across global operations. They explained Unified ensures seamless deployment and management of Microsoft solutions as their organization expand — whether through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity or opening operations in new regions. Interviewees also explained that having a centralized support structure reduces complexity, which makes it easier to scale IT infrastructure. Additionally, they said that with proactive guidance and 24/7 support, Unified helps their organization navigate growth challenges like data migrations and system integrations, which enables them to maintain operations without disruption while optimizing their technology investments.
The chief legal and compliance officer in manufacturing said: “Unified makes expanding our business units much easier. It’s not like adding a completely new unit; it’s more like hiring an employee in an existing team. With one global set of licenses and resources, we can seamlessly allocate them across geographies. We don’t have to worry about finding a new Microsoft partner or negotiating costs in each new country. We already know the cost structure and can deploy globally without complications. This helps us streamlines everything from due diligence to planning.”
Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Appendix A).
| Ref. | Cost | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Itr | Fees to Microsoft for Unified | $0 | $288,750 | $311,063 | $335,279 | $935,091 | $771,476 |
| Jtr | Ongoing internal management | $83,948 | $50,505 | $50,505 | $50,505 | $235,463 | $209,546 |
| Total costs (risk-adjusted) | $83,948 | $339,255 | $361,568 | $385,784 | $1,170,554 | $981,022 | |
Evidence and data. Interviewees said their organization leveraged the core Microsoft Unified offering alongside proactive service enhancements and keep flexible allowances to address evolving needs. They explained that this combination delivered a robust approach to support that offered responsive assistance, proactive guidance, and strategic development resources.
Note: Pricing may vary. Contact Microsoft for additional details.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
The composite organization incurs a base cost for Unified’s core support offering, which includes IT assessments, on-demand training, and rapid incident resolution. This cost increases over time, which reflects the organization’s growing reliance on the Microsoft support ecosystem as its operations scale.
The composite organization augments its core support with proactive service add-ons to ensure support remains aligned with evolving IT needs.
The composite organization benefits from a flexible proactive allowance that offsets a portion of the overall fees to Microsoft based on its overall investment in Microsoft applications and workloads.
Risks. This cost will vary among organizations based on:
The organization’s level of investment with Microsoft applications and workloads.
Organizational scale and computing needs, which may necessitate additional investment in proactive services.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $772,000.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I1 | Base cost of Microsoft Unified | Composite | $0 | $200,000 | $220,000 | $242,000 | |
| I2 | Proactive services add-ons | Composite | $0 | $125,000 | $131,250 | $137,813 | |
| I3 | Flexible proactive allowance | Composite | $0 | $50,000 | $55,000 | $60,500 | |
| It | Fees to Microsoft | I1+I2-I3 | $0 | $275,000 | $296,250 | $319,313 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↑5% | ||||||
| Itr | Fees to Microsoft for Unified (risk-adjusted) | $0 | $288,750 | $311,063 | $335,279 | ||
| Three-year total: $935,091 | Three-year present value: $771,476 | ||||||
Evidence and data. In addition to paying direct fees to Microsoft, interviewees’ organizations incurred internal management costs related to change management and vendor management.
Change management: Interviewees explained that change management costs were focused on adapting workflows and configurations based on Microsoft’s proactive recommendations and new features as well as determining the best use of proactive service credits like workshops and expert sessions. IT teams dedicated time to reviewing and customizing offerings to align with organizational needs. As the organizations became more efficient in their internal processes, the time spent on change management activities decreased.
Vendor management: Interviewees said IT resources spent a few hours each month engaging with a Microsoft customer success account manager (CSAM) and escalation managers for support on specific issues, helping resolve service tickets and address ongoing service issues. As the organizations became more efficient in their internal processes, the time spent on vendor management activities decreased.
Note: The ongoing internal management costs modeled for the composite organization are not fees charged by Microsoft. They represent the composite’s own resource investments, and they are included to reflect the total economic impact of a Unified investment.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
Five percent of the composite’s IT resources are dedicated to change management.
During the initial period, these IT resources spend 75 hours on change management. Due to increasing internal process efficiency in years 1 to 3, the amount of time required drops to 50 hours per year.
Five percent of the composite’s IT resources are involved in vendor management.
During the initial period, these IT resources spend 4 hours per month on vendor management. As efficiency improves in years 1 to 3, the amount of time required drops to 2 hours per month.
The average fully burdened hourly rate for an IT resource is $65.
Risks. The cost of ongoing internal management will vary based on:
The percent of IT resources allocated to change management and vendor management.
The average fully burdened hourly rate for an IT FTE.
The time spent on vendor and change management, which may vary depending on the complexity of the IT environment, the scope of the Microsoft Unified services in use, and the organization’s change management and vendor management maturity.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $210,000.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J1 | Average percent of IT resources involved in change management | Composite | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | |
| J2 | IT resources involved in change management | D2*J1 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| J3 | Time spent on change management (hours) | Interviews and survey | 75 | 50 | 50 | 50 | |
| J4 | Average fully burdened hourly rate for an IT FTE | Composite | $65 | $65 | $65 | $65 | |
| J5 | Subtotal: Change management | J2*J3*J4 | $48,750 | $32,500 | $32,500 | $32,500 | |
| J6 | Average percent of IT resources involved in vendor management | Composite | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | |
| J7 | IT resources involved in vendor management | D2*J6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| J8 | Time spent on vendor management (hours) | Interviews and survey | 48 | 24 | 24 | 24 | |
| J9 | Subtotal: Vendor management | J4*J7*J8 | $31,200 | $15,600 | $15,600 | $15,600 | |
| Jt | Ongoing internal management | J5+J9 | $79,950 | $48,100 | $48,100 | $48,100 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↑5% | ||||||
| Jtr | Ongoing internal management (risk-adjusted) | $83,948 | $50,505 | $50,505 | $50,505 | ||
| Three-year total: $235,463 | Three-year present value: $209,546 | ||||||
| Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total costs | ($83,948) | ($339,255) | ($361,568) | ($385,784) | ($1,170,554) | ($981,022) |
| Total benefits | $0 | $1,359,218 | $1,272,785 | $1,204,171 | $3,836,174 | $3,135,558 |
| Net benefits | ($83,948) | $1,019,963 | $911,218 | $818,387 | $2,665,620 | $2,154,536 |
| ROI | 220% | |||||
| Payback | <6 months | |||||
The financial results calculated in the Benefits and Costs sections can be used to determine the ROI, NPV, and payback period for the composite organization’s investment. Forrester assumes a yearly discount rate of 10% for this analysis.
These risk-adjusted ROI, NPV, and payback period values are determined by applying risk-adjustment factors to the unadjusted results in each Benefit and Cost section.
The initial investment column contains costs incurred at “time 0” or at the beginning of Year 1 that are not discounted. All other cash flows are discounted using the discount rate at the end of the year. PV calculations are calculated for each total cost and benefit estimate. NPV calculations in the summary tables are the sum of the initial investment and the discounted cash flows in each year. Sums and present value calculations of the Total Benefits, Total Costs, and Cash Flow tables may not exactly add up, as some rounding may occur.
From the information provided in the interviews and survey, Forrester constructed a Total Economic Impact™ framework for those organizations considering an investment in Microsoft Unified.
The objective of the framework is to identify the cost, benefit, flexibility, and risk factors that affect the investment decision. Forrester took a multistep approach to evaluate the impact that Unified can have on an organization.
Interviewed Microsoft stakeholders and Forrester analysts to gather data relative to Unified.
Interviewed five decision-makers and surveyed 321 respondents at organizations using Unified to obtain data about costs, benefits, and risks.
Designed a composite organization based on characteristics of the interviewees’ and survey respondents’ organizations.
Constructed a financial model representative of the interviews and survey using the TEI methodology and risk-adjusted the financial model based on issues and concerns of the interviewees and survey respondents.
Employed four fundamental elements of TEI in modeling the investment impact: benefits, costs, flexibility, and risks. Given the increasing sophistication of ROI analyses related to IT investments, Forrester’s TEI methodology provides a complete picture of the total economic impact of purchase decisions. Please see Appendix A for additional information on the TEI methodology.
Benefits represent the value the solution delivers to the business. The TEI methodology places equal weight on the measure of benefits and costs, allowing for a full examination of the solution’s effect on the entire organization.
Costs comprise all expenses necessary to deliver the proposed value, or benefits, of the solution. The methodology captures implementation and ongoing costs associated with the solution.
Flexibility represents the strategic value that can be obtained for some future additional investment building on top of the initial investment already made. The ability to capture that benefit has a PV that can be estimated.
Risks measure the uncertainty of benefit and cost estimates given: 1) the likelihood that estimates will meet original projections and 2) the likelihood that estimates will be tracked over time. TEI risk factors are based on “triangular distribution.”
The present or current value of (discounted) cost and benefit estimates given at an interest rate (the discount rate). The PV of costs and benefits feed into the total NPV of cash flows.
The present or current value of (discounted) future net cash flows given an interest rate (the discount rate). A positive project NPV normally indicates that the investment should be made unless other projects have higher NPVs.
A project’s expected return in percentage terms. ROI is calculated by dividing net benefits (benefits less costs) by costs.
The interest rate used in cash flow analysis to take into account the time value of money. Organizations typically use discount rates between 8% and 16%.
The breakeven point for an investment. This is the point in time at which net benefits (benefits minus costs) equal initial investment or cost.
Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists solution providers in communicating their value proposition to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of business and technology initiatives to both senior management and other key stakeholders.
| ROLE | |
|---|---|
| Director | 51.1% |
| Vice president | 33.0% |
| C-level executive | 15.9% |
| REGION | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing and materials | 10.9% |
| Retail | 10.9% |
| Financial services and/or insurance | 8.1% |
| Healthcare | 6.9% |
| Energy, utilities, and/or waste management | 5.9% |
| Technology and/or technology services | 5.6% |
| Telecommunications services | 5.3% |
| Consumer product goods and/or manufacturing | 4.7% |
| Government | 4.7% |
| Transportation and logistics | 4.7% |
| Construction | 4.4% |
| Advertising and/or marketing | 3.7% |
| Travel and hospitality | 3.7% |
| Chemicals and/or metals | 3.4% |
| Electronics | 3.4% |
| Media and/or leisure | 3.1% |
| Consumer services | 2.8% |
| Agriculture, food, and/or beverage | 2.2% |
| Business or professional services | 2.2% |
| Legal services | 2.2% |
| Education and/or nonprofits | 1.2% |
| REGION | |
|---|---|
| APAC | 34.3% |
| Western Europe | 33.6% |
| North America | 32.1% |
| EMPLOYEES | |
|---|---|
| 500 to 999 employees | 21.2% |
| 1,000 to 4,999 employees | 29.3% |
| 5,000 to 19,999 employees | 31.5% |
| 20,000 or more employees | 18.1% |
| REVENUE | |
|---|---|
| $500M to $749M | 25.2% |
| $750M to $999M | 24.0% |
| $1B to $2.99B | 17.1% |
| $3B to $4.99B | 8.8% |
| $5B or more | 24.9% |
1 Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists solution providers in communicating their value proposition to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of business and technology initiatives to both senior management and other key stakeholders.
2 PV represents the present or current value of (discounted) cost and benefit estimates given at an interest rate (the discount rate). The PV of costs and benefits feed into the total NPV of cash flows.
3 NPV represents the present or current value of (discounted) future net cash flows given an interest rate (the discount rate). A positive project NPV normally indicates that the investment should be made unless other projects have higher NPVs.
Readers should be aware of the following:
This study is commissioned by Microsoft and delivered by Forrester Consulting. It is not meant to be used as a competitive analysis.
Forrester makes no assumptions as to the potential ROI that other organizations will receive. Forrester strongly advises that readers use their own estimates within the framework provided in the study to determine the appropriateness of an investment in Unified. For the interactive functionality using Configure Data/Custom Data, the intent is for the questions to solicit inputs specific to a prospect's business. Forrester believes that this analysis is representative of what companies may achieve with Unified based on the inputs provided and any assumptions made. Forrester does not endorse Microsoft or its offerings. Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this model, Microsoft and Forrester Research are unable to accept any legal responsibility for any actions taken on the basis of the information contained herein. The interactive tool is provided ‘AS IS,’ and Forrester and Microsoft make no warranties of any kind.
Microsoft reviewed and provided feedback to Forrester, but Forrester maintains editorial control over the study and its findings and does not accept changes to the study that contradict Forrester’s findings or obscure the meaning of the study.
Forrester fielded the double-blind survey using a third-party survey partner. Microsoft approved the interviewees before the interviews were conducted.
Consulting Team:
Zahra Azzaoui
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