Why organizations overspend on Project, Visio, and other premium M365 add-ons, and how better governance turns licensing chaos into predictable savings
Microsoft 365 has become the center of enterprise productivity, but the ecosystem around it has grown in complexity and cost. Add-on tools like Project, Visio, and premium workloads such as advanced analytics modules promise deeper collaboration and insight. Yet they are also some of the most expensive items in the Microsoft catalog.
Across Microsoft 365 customer environments, a consistent pattern appears. Organizations are not overspending because they love buying premium licenses. They are overspending because Microsoft 365 license governance hasn’t kept pace with M365’s rapid adoption .
This is the M365 license governance gap. And it explains why companies with mature IT teams still find themselves paying for licenses no one has used in more than a year.
Project Plan 5 is priced close to a Microsoft 365 E3 license. Project Plan 3 sits around thirty dollars per user per month. Visio Plan 2 adds another fifteen dollars per user per month. These costs make Project and Visio licensing some of the most expensive Microsoft 365 add-on licenses when governance controls are missing.
These costs become painful when multiplied across large teams, especially when there is no clear visibility into who is using these tools.
Customer analyses repeatedly show that 40-60% of assigned Project or Visio licenses have not been accessed for more than twelve months. In extreme cases, companies have accumulated hundreds of unused licenses simply because there was no process for reclaiming them.
Most add-on licensing problems do not start with bad purchasing decisions. They start with good intentions and no governance guardrails.
Failures in Microsoft 365 license governance usually follow the same pattern. Here are the most common root causes, especially when managing Project and Visio licensing.
Many teams assign licenses by job title, project buzzwords, or convenience. Few stop to define profile groups that match the right tier to the actual role or need.
This leads to tiers being assigned to users who only need basic Microsoft 365 Planner functionality. For example:
Without profiling, every license request risks becoming a long-term assignment by default.
Most users do not request a Project or Visio license with malicious intent. They simply think they might need it.
Without a structured intake process asking what the license is for and how long it will be needed, temporary requests turn into permanent assignments.
Even when licenses are tied to a specific project, few teams set up reminders or expiration dates. Projects end, but licenses stay assigned indefinitely.
This is one of the most significant drivers of waste. Project and Visio are often needed only for short-term project windows, typically three to six months. Without lifecycle management, they remain active for years.
Unassigning a license is the ultimate source of savings. Yet it rarely happens because no one knows the license is sitting idle.
Instead, organizations continue to buy new licenses even when dozens are available for reuse.
Effective Microsoft 365 license governance starts with visibility into how add-on licenses, such as Project and Visio, are used over time.
Most teams do not have reliable usage insights for Project or Visio and instead rely on assumptions, static reports, or self-reported needs.
Tools that track user management, login patterns, and feature usage help IT teams see what is being leveraged. These insights serve two strategic purposes:
Visibility transforms governance from a manual burden into a data-driven, repeatable practice.
Organizations often hesitate to implement license governance structure because they fear it will slow down or frustrate users. Governance exists to enable efficient and cost-aware productivity. When governance is tight, users get what they need, managers approve it, IT tracks it, and licenses return to inventory once the need ends.
A lightweight governance model can dramatically reduce waste without adding red tape:
This simple framework prevents the slow, silent accumulation of cost that plagues most M365 environments.
Microsoft continues to expand functionality across its workloads, licenses, and platforms. AI, analytics, and workflow features create new opportunities, but they also expand licensing footprints and introduce new SKU dependencies.
As organizations prepare tighter budgets and more complex pricing models, license governance is no longer optional. It is the path that keeps costs predictable while ensuring people have the tools they need to succeed.
The governance gap is not a technical problem. It is a visibility and lifecycle problem. Closing it is one of the fastest ways to reduce waste and build a sustainable Microsoft 365 licensing strategy, especially for more short-term or project-based workloads like Project and Visio.
When Microsoft 365 license governance is mature, license optimization becomes a natural byproduct rather than a reactive exercise.
The next article will dive deeper into this costly area of M365 licensing:
Why organizations overspend on Project and Visio, and how to build a practical License Lifecycle Playbook that eliminates waste. Bookmark this page to come back to the series or subscribe to the M365 Licensing blog.
If you would like to see how usage visibility, assignment tracking, and license insights can support governance and optimization, explore ENow’s License Management and Optimization capabilities.
Many organizations lose thousands of dollars every month on unused Microsoft 365 add-on licenses, especially high-cost workloads like Project and Visio. With ENow’s License Management and Optimization tools, teams gain visibility into usage, lifecycle status, and reclaimable licenses. Stop overpaying and start maximizing your Microsoft 365 investment.
See ENow’s License Optimization Tool in action