Automated license removal for Microsoft 365

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Automated license removal for Microsoft 365

    ServiceNow Software Asset Management (SAM) enhances Microsoft 365 subscription efficiency by automatically identifying low usage and overlapping license candidates and removing them from the Microsoft 365 admin center. This automation helps customers reduce unnecessary license costs and optimize subscription utilization.

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    Key Features

    • Eligible candidates for automated removal:
      • Low usage individual subscriptions such as Microsoft Teams and SharePoint.
      • Low usage subscription suites like Microsoft 365 and Office 365. These require user notification and SAM Manager approval by default, though the approval step can be bypassed by disabling user notification.
      • Overlapping license candidates across all subscription types.
    • Prerequisites:
      • Microsoft Entra ID Spoke and relevant SAM plugins (Software Asset Management Professional and SaaS License Management) must be installed and configured.
      • Microsoft Entra ID must be granted permissions to read user and group data and manage license assignments (User.Read.All, GroupMember.ReadWrite.All, LicenseAssignment.ReadWrite.All).
    • License removal scenarios:
      • Directly assigned licenses to users are removed automatically.
      • If a user has a license both directly and through groups, the user is removed from the groups and direct licenses are removed, except when multiple licenses are assigned through groups—then users are not removed from groups to avoid losing access to important licenses.
      • If a user’s multiple groups assign only one license type each and the user is low usage, the user is removed from all these groups and direct licenses are removed.
    • Workflow integration: Upon successful license removal, the reclamation workflow automatically closes, streamlining license management operations.

    Key Outcomes

    ServiceNow customers can expect automated, policy-driven reduction of underutilized and overlapping Microsoft 365 licenses, leading to cost savings and improved license efficiency. The solution supports controlled user notification and approval processes to maintain governance and minimize business disruption. Additionally, it integrates with Microsoft Entra ID to ensure accurate and secure license management.

    Software Asset Management optimizes Microsoft 365 subscription usage by identifying low usage and overlapping candidates, and then automatically removing the licenses from the Microsoft 365 admin center. This proactive management helps you streamline costs and enhance the efficiency of low usage and overlapping licenses.

    Eligible candidates

    After a reclamation candidate is generated, the following low usage and overlapping candidates are considered eligible for automated removal:
    • Low usage candidates with individual subscriptions such as Microsoft Teams, Microsoft SharePoint, or other single services.
    • Low usage candidates with subscription suites including Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Office 365.
      Note:
      However, due to the varied usage across different products within these suites, users are notified, and the final removal requires approval from the SAM Manager. The Notify User check box is selected by default in the reclamation rule. But you can clear the check box to skip the approval process.
    • Overlapping candidates with any subscription type.

    Prerequisites

    Before initiating the automatic removal of licenses from the Microsoft 365 admin center, confirm that the following prerequisites are met:
    • The following spoke is set up and plugins are installed:
      • Microsoft Entra ID Spoke
      • Software Asset Management Professional (com.snc.samp)
      • Software Asset Management - SaaS License Management (sn_sam_saas_int)
    • Microsoft Entra ID is configured with the following permissions to access and manage user and group information:
      • User.Read.All
      • GroupMember.ReadWrite.All
      • LicenseAssignment.ReadWrite.All

    Scenarios

    Software Asset Management removes the Microsoft 365 licenses from the Microsoft 365 admin center in the following scenarios:
    • When a license is directly assigned to a user, the license is removed.
    • When a license is directly assigned to a user and also through one or more groups, the user is removed from the group and the direct license assigned to the user is removed.
      Note:
      When multiple licenses are assigned to a user through a group, the user isn't removed from the group.  If a user in a group with multiple licenses shows low usage and is subsequently removed, they may lose access to other important licenses. You must contact your Microsoft 365 Admin to address this issue. For more information, see Manage licensing in Microsoft Entra ID.
    • When a license is directly assigned to a user and also through multiple groups having the same and only one license, the user is removed from all the groups and the direct license assigned to the user is removed. 
      Note:
      When multiple licenses are assigned to a user through different groups, the user isn't removed from any groups. 
       
    • When Software Asset Management removes the Microsoft 365 licenses from the Microsoft 365 admin center successfully, the reclamation workflow closes automatically.