Copilot Renewal Review

Should you renew Microsoft Copilot? Get the answer before the renewal date.

Most Irish organisations renewing Copilot cannot evidence usage or productivity impact. The dashboard says adoption looks fine. Dig deeper and meaningful usage is a fraction of what it suggests. Add to that Microsoft's own push toward usage-based pricing — hardly a move designed to lower your bill — and the renewal conversation demands proper evidence: what is actually being used, by whom, and whether the spend is justified.

The renewal decision

Enterprise Agreement or annual terms come up on a date. Renew all seats, cut seats, or reallocate. The review is the evidence base for that negotiation — and typically pays for itself in deprovisioned seats alone.

The internal defence

The sponsor who bought Copilot needs an independent answer for the board or CFO. Not their own homework marked by themselves. An independent review provides that evidence without the conflict of interest.

The next purchase

The rigorous review of tool one is the business-case discipline for tool two. Organisations that evidence the first AI investment properly make sharper decisions on the next one.

What we actually do

Pull real usage evidence

We extract adoption and interaction data from Microsoft Graph and admin telemetry. Days, not weeks. You see exactly which teams are using Copilot, how often, and for what.

Map workloads to the right tool

Not every task belongs in Copilot. Most organisations do not need more than 40% of their workforce on full Copilot licences. We often find that Copilot Chat — included in the base M365 subscription — combined with better awareness of what is already in the M365 stack, works better for a lot of users than the full add-on. We assign each workload to one of three tiers: belongs in full Copilot, served well enough by Copilot Chat and existing M365 tools, or better handled by purpose-built tooling.

Deliver a renewal recommendation

A written report with seat counts, workload assignments, and a negotiation position. Keep, cut, or reallocate — with the evidence to support each decision.

Deliverable, fee and timeline

Written renewal recommendation with usage evidence, workload assignments, and seat-count guidance
Fixed fee — €3,500 to €5,000 depending on deployment size
Delivered in two weeks from kickoff

Why independence matters here

Acuity has no vendor relationships and no reseller margin. We can recommend cutting seats, keeping seats, or adding a different model entirely. That matters because the recommendation has no commercial interest in the outcome.

Common questions

How much does Microsoft Copilot cost per user in Ireland?

Microsoft 365 Copilot costs €28.10 per user per month (approximately €337 per user per year) on an annual commitment. For an organisation with 200 licences, that is over €67,000 per year. The renewal decision should be proportionate to that spend — and grounded in evidence of what those licences are actually producing.

How do I measure whether Copilot is being used?

Microsoft provides adoption metrics through the Microsoft 365 admin centre and Viva Insights, but these measure activity (prompts sent, documents opened with Copilot) rather than productivity impact. A proper usage review pulls telemetry from Microsoft Graph and admin reporting, then maps it against workload patterns to distinguish genuine adoption from incidental interaction.

Can we reduce Copilot licences at renewal?

Yes, in most Enterprise Agreement and Microsoft Customer Agreement structures, licence counts can be adjusted at renewal. The question is which licences to keep, which to cut, and whether to reallocate budget to purpose-built tools for specific workloads. The renewal review produces the evidence base for that negotiation.

Is Claude better than Copilot for some workloads?

For certain workloads — long-form analysis, document synthesis, structured reasoning, and research — purpose-built models like Claude outperform Copilot's embedded assistance. Copilot is strongest when the work happens inside Microsoft 365 applications. The right answer is usually a combination: Copilot where the workflow lives in Office, and a purpose-built model where it does not.

Do we need this before the EU AI Act literacy deadline?

The EU AI Act requires organisations using AI systems to ensure adequate AI literacy among staff by August 2026. If your organisation has deployed Copilot, you are using an AI system — and the literacy obligation applies. The renewal review includes an assessment of your AI literacy position as it relates to your Copilot deployment.