19. March 2026
IT leaders face a paradox: never before have so many technologies been available to automate processes, improve collaboration, and accelerate innovation. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage IT decisions effectively. Licensing models, contract terms, and vendor dependencies have a deep impact on budgets, project timelines, and strategic flexibility.
IT architectures without exploding costs
Microsoft licensing in particular is becoming an unpredictable factor. Cloud models and new technologies such as artificial intelligence can no longer be considered in isolation. Every decision has medium- to long-term effects on cost structures, contractual commitments, and the future flexibility of IT.
This is where software distributor MRM Distribution comes in. Managing director Melanie Achten refers to it as smart licensing when Microsoft consultants restructure a company’s licensing and software strategy with a clear focus on cost efficiency and decision-making freedom.
“We design IT architectures whose costs do not spiral out of control, but instead create financial flexibility,” says the licensing strategist.
Savings of over 30 percent
With continuously rising cloud fees and increasing dependency on online services, this may seem difficult to achieve.
“With reusable Microsoft licenses,” is her answer.
These form a core component of MRM’s smart licensing approach. Functionally identical to new licenses, pre-owned Office programs, servers, and CALs selectively replace M365 plans.
“We reduce cloud services to the necessary minimum,” explains Melanie Achten.
The result: savings of well over 30 percent.
The key lies in aligning on-premises software and cloud services from the outset to deliver maximum benefit. During her 18 years as a licensing manager at Bechtle AG, Melanie Achten specialized in exactly this area.
Together with her current team, she combines expertise in cloud licensing, on-premises infrastructures, and the legal aspects of using pre-owned software—providing companies and IT consultants with the knowledge needed to optimize software procurement in terms of cost, functionality, and future readiness.
The approach does not stop at Microsoft. Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware has made many IT departments aware of how dependent they are on individual vendors. At that time, MRM saw a significant increase in demand for alternative virtualization providers. “We recommend Sangfor HCI to our customers,” says Melanie Achten, “a platform that is just as powerful as VMware, but significantly more cost-effective and more customer-friendly in its licensing.” The distributor has also evaluated and recommends solutions suited for mid-sized businesses in areas such as artificial intelligence, automation, and document management:
- Pragatix Private AI for companies that want to make their internal knowledge bases usable in a controlled way. Combined with the Pragatix AI Firewall, the software also protects against careless use of shadow AI. Another advantage: Pragatix is available both as SaaS and on-premises.
- Quickwork is MRM’s preferred hyperautomation solution. The tool enables end-to-end, AI-driven automation of business processes—for example by seamlessly integrating multiple data sources, automating workflows, and enhancing existing systems with AI capabilities.
- The distributor also offers a cost-effective alternative to Adobe products: with FlexiPDF from SoftMaker, PDFs can be fully edited—without any subscription requirement.
For CIOs and IT decision-makers, leveraging MRM’s smart licensing approach creates clear added value: it brings structure to an increasingly fragmented IT landscape. As a strategic licensing partner, MRM delivers everything from a single source. The result: transparency, reduced costs (and risks), greater flexibility, and more budget for digital transformation.
Published in manageIT 01-02/2026.
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