Entra License Usage Insights Page in Microsoft 365

Microsoft Entra ID is a pivotal cloud-based identity and access management service delivering a seamless end-user experience and improved visibility and control. However, optimizing its licenses has proven to be both challenging and costly. 😣 Despite the advantages in security and management it offers, the absence of transparent usage information has led to concerns over license optimization among organizations. To tackle this issue, Microsoft has rolled out the Entra ID License utilization portal in public preview.

Following its initial release, the portal is now revamped as the License usage page, with notable changes to the user experience. Without further delay, let’s explore the latest changes and compare them with the previous experience to understand how they enhance license management efficiency.

The Microsoft Entra License Usage page provides clear insights into Entra ID license consumption across your tenant. It shows the number of P1, P2, and Suite licenses assigned, along with the usage of key features mapped to each license type.

To simplify analysis, the portal uses a single representative metric for each license type. For example, Conditional Access users are used as the key metric for P1 licenses, while Risk-based Conditional Access users represent P2 usage. In addition, a visual bar separates active users and active guest users, highlighting usage levels while making it easy to spot limits and usage spikes.

These insights help you understand license usage, avoid overuse, and make better decisions. Microsoft also plans to expand this to include more SKUs and related features in the future.

Earlier, the Microsoft Entra ID License Utilization Portal was accessible under ‘Usage & insights’ within the ‘Monitoring & health’ section of the Entra admin center. It has now been relocated as follows:

1. Login to Microsoft Entra admin center and navigate to Billing → Licenses.
2. Next, the License usage (preview) page opens by default under the Manage section.

The updated Entra License usage insights page provides the following insights:

• Highlights a single key metric for each license tier, making it easier to understand how effectively paid features are being utilized.
• Covers feature usage across Microsoft Entra capabilities such as Microsoft Entra ID Governance, Verified ID, Private Access, and Internet Access.
• Shows feature usage separately for Entra ID and ID Protection, making it easier to compare and help you quickly assess feature adoption.
• Provides a visual usage bar that compares current usage against entitled licenses, helping identify underutilization or overconsumption.
• Differentiates between active users and active guest users, offering better visibility into how licenses are consumed across user types.
• Displays current month license entitlements and previous month feature usage trends, making it easier to track and manage license consumption.

Here are the key changes and improvements in the Entra License Utilization Portal:

• Combined vs separated insights
  Earlier, license counts and feature usage were shown in a single view. Now, they are split into License entitlements for counts and Product usage insights for feature usage, making decisions around license allocation easier.
• Data freshness
  Previously, data availability was more immediate in a unified view. In the new experience, Product Insights data may take up to 3 days to appear in the charts.

• Visualization style
  The older portal used multiple visuals such as donut charts and clustered columns. The new page simplifies this with a clean horizontal bar layout, improving readability.

• Historical usage visibility
  Earlier, there was limited emphasis on past trends. Now, the page includes last month’s feature usage, helping admins track changes and plan optimizations.

• License usage clarity
  Previously, identifying unused or overused licenses required more effort. The new experience clearly highlights used, unused licenses, and usage spikes for quicker insights.

• User segmentation
  The older view did not clearly separate user types. The new page displays users and active guest users in separate bars, offering better visibility into license consumption.

Here’s a comparison of the License Usage page and the earlier Entra License Utilization Portal.

Before:

Now:

Note: Additional eligible features will be added to the Product Usage Insights section over time to improve visibility into license usage.

You can also leverage PowerShell to view your Entra License usage insights, in addition to using the Microsoft Entra admin center. To view Entra license utilization insights, make sure to connect to the Microsoft Graph PowerShell using the cmdlet below.

You can use the “Invoke-MgGraphRequest” cmdlet to view your Entra license usage with PowerShell. Execute the following cmdlet to retrieve the overall number of Microsoft Entra ID Plan 1 and Plan 2 licenses.

To retrieve only the P1 feature usage using PowerShell, run the following cmdlet.

For getting only the P2 feature usage using PowerShell, use the cmdlet below.

Thus, this approach offers a programmatic way to extract a license usage insight using PowerShell. It can be particularly useful for automating Entra license utilization reports or for compliance audits.

Let’s explore how the Microsoft License Utilization portal can be beneficial in this section.

• You can optimize costs by identifying and reallocating underutilized licenses.
• Ensure compliance with licensing agreements and reduce the risk of misuse.
• You can assign licenses more effectively based on usage data and avoid over-usage issues.

In conclusion, the Microsoft Entra License usage page is an essential for understanding your license count and the value derived from your Microsoft Entra license. Microsoft is committed to enhance transparency around Entra usage, signalling continuous advancements. Keep an eye out for forthcoming updates!

We trust this post has offered insightful details on the Entra License usage blade to optimize licenses effectively and boost Microsoft 365 security. We’d love to hear about your experiences and any questions you might have, so please share them in the comments below.