Zero software purchased: everything runs on your Microsoft 365

I added up everything I delivered this year for CAC 40 groups. It all has one thing in common: zero software purchased, zero extra subscriptions, zero servers. Everything runs on the Microsoft 365 license these groups were already paying for.

The software you already pay for

When people say Microsoft 365, they think of Outlook, Teams, Word and Excel. That's already a lot. But the subscription also includes what you need to build business tools.

Three names keep coming up, which I'll translate into plain words:

• Power Apps is for building business applications, the ones that replace a shared Excel file.
• Power Automate runs tasks by themselves: imports, reminders, approvals, filing.
• Copilot Studio is for creating AI agents, assistants that work in Outlook, Teams and your files.

In most cases, what a project needs is included in the Microsoft 365 subscription you already pay for.

So why buy more software, with its subscription, its server and its access rights to manage, when the essentials are already paid for?

The three promises

What executives like isn't the technology. It comes down to three promises.

Copilot AI agents. Assistants that sort, read, answer and follow up, in Outlook, Teams and your files.

Let's take a typical scene. A supplier invoice arrives by email. The agent reads it: amount, due date, order number. It matches it to the purchase order. It alerts the manager in Teams, who approves in one click. The invoice goes to accounting, filed in the right folder. Zero retyping, zero reminders.

Your data stays with you. Everything runs in your Microsoft 365 environment, with your access rights. Nothing leaves, even for AI.

Zero extra cost. Included in the subscription you already pay for. No software, no extra subscription.

Zero servers: what it means for your IT department

Purchased software doesn't come alone. You have to manage its accounts, follow its updates, connect it to everything else, sometimes host it. Every extra tool means one more contract, more access rights and more maintenance.

Here, none of that. No machine to install. No server to monitor. The applications live in your Microsoft 365 space, with the accounts and rights your IT department already manages.

And you stay the owner. The tools live in your company. You receive the documentation, the user guide and the quick reference guide, and your teams are trained.

What "zero extra cost" doesn't mean

To be honest, "zero extra cost" doesn't mean "no cost, ever". Some needs require an extra license.

In that case, I say so before starting, with the exact cost. Not after delivery. Not at renewal time.

It's the only way to hold a fixed price. A written scope, a fixed price, and no surprises later on licenses. A fixed price that forgets a license isn't a fixed price.

What this means for you

The question I ask executives is simple: what percentage of your Microsoft 365 license do you actually use?

If the answer is "Outlook, Teams and Excel", there's a lot of room left. Before buying software to replace a shared Excel file, an approval process by email or a report rebuilt by hand, look at what you already pay for.

• List your subscriptions to business tools, and what they cost each year.
• For each one, ask your IT department whether Microsoft 365 already covers the need.
• For the remaining cases, ask for the exact cost of an extra license, before signing anything.

One example: the cash consolidation of a CAC 40 group, rebuilt without purchased software. That's the story of the Excel consolidation that ends in a six-month debate, and of the case study One single truth for treasury. Before you start, the two-day audit puts a figure on what your process costs you. AI agents are described on the page A Copilot AI agent that works for your teams.

The cheapest software is the one you already pay for.