Over the past year we have seen the same picture again and again across our clients. IT budgets are under pressure from every direction, and the in-house teams expected to manage it all are stretched too thin to keep pace.
The numbers tell the story. Microsoft prices have risen 25 to 40% over three years, with a further increase that took effect on 1 July 2026. An estimated 29% of Microsoft 365 licences sit unused, and the average organisation wastes close to a third of its cloud spend on resources it does not need. At the same time, VMware renewals are arriving at multiples of last year’s cost, and SQL Server 2016 is now out of support, forcing migration decisions many had not planned for.
Behind the cost pressure sits a capacity problem. Most in-house IT teams are between one and five people, covering the service desk, endpoints, identity, security and governance all at once. Asking a team that size to run a modern estate to a defined standard, on top of everything else, is not a resourcing gap. It is structurally impossible.
We built three new managed services as a direct response to what we were seeing.
Three new services, one aim
Microsoft 365 Management and Optimisation runs your Microsoft 365 estate to a defined standard, with a managed Secure Score, governed identity and data protection, and a licensing review that typically pays for the service. It also confirms whether you are ready for Copilot.
Azure Cloud Management takes control of both cost and risk in your Azure estate, built around a FinOps programme that recovers waste rather than just reporting it, with governed Landing Zones and tested disaster recovery.
Modern Workplace Managed Services is co-managed IT that supplements your in-house team rather than replacing it, consolidating vendors, providing a Level 1 and Level 2 service desk, and running Copilot adoption as a managed programme.
Proven before you commit
As with everything we do, we prove it first. Every engagement starts with a free assessment that shows you, in pounds, what you are wasting and where your gaps are before you commit to anything. It is a model backed by real outcomes: Ocorian cut associated costs by around 20% after moving its SQL Server estate to a Northdoor managed service, and we have run the digital workplace for the Salvation Army for more than seven years across 700-plus UK locations. Independent for 37 years, and accountable to our clients rather than to an acquirer.
See where you stand
If your costs are climbing and your team is stretched thin, start by seeing exactly where the waste and the risk sit. Book a free assessment for whichever service fits, and we will show you the numbers before you commit.