SQL Server cost optimization
Your SQL Server renewal is a decision point.Make the savings pay for where you’re going.
CrossTable Advisory helps IT and finance leaders cut SQL Server costs and spend the savings on what comes next, whether that’s on-premises, Azure, AWS, Google Cloud or a mix. We’re independent, cloud-neutral, and we build every plan around your Microsoft agreement, so the savings hold up at renewal.
Talk to a specialistMost organizations overpay Microsoft for SQL Server. When they fix the technology, the contract often keeps billing the old number. CrossTable works both sides so the savings show up on the next invoice.
Find real savings
Optimize both the technology and your Microsoft agreement.
Fund what’s next
Put the savings toward your cloud, on-prem or hybrid plans.
Independent and cloud-neutral
Objective advice focused on what’s right for your business.
Why this matters
- Your renewal can lock in last year’s estate for three more years.
- Moving to the cloud doesn’t cancel what you pay Microsoft today.
- Free cloud assessments rarely tell you what happens to your bill.
- By the time the quote arrives, most of your leverage is gone.
Where we help
From cost reduction to cloud migration to modernization, we help you get the most value from your SQL Server estate.
Cut costs where you run today.
Most SQL Server estates are licensed for the way they looked five years ago. We review edition mix, core counts, hypervisor consolidation and Software Assurance, and show you what you can stop paying for.
Talk to a specialistMove to the cloud, not just the bill.
Lifting a consolidated estate into the cloud mostly moves the cost. We help you decide what to consolidate, separate or retire, so the savings fund what matters.
Talk to a specialistReset a modernization already under way.
Halfway there, with a cost picture nobody likes? We look at what you own and what’s left to move, and rationalize the whole estate at a cost that makes sense.
Talk to a specialistWhy JC
JC Armand spent 26 years at Microsoft, most recently as Director of Global Business Development for Azure SQL and Database Agentic AI. Before that, he was a hands-on SQL Server DBA and co-authored Professional SQL Server 2005 Administration (Wrox Press). He is a Microsoft Platinum Club member, an honor given to the top 1%, and he understands both how SQL Server runs and how Microsoft sells it.
What ties it together: the contract
Cost-cutting plans often fall apart at renewal. Some agreements only let true-ups go up. Some cloud moves quietly create compliance gaps that surface in an audit. Every CrossTable recommendation is checked against your Microsoft agreement, so the savings you’re shown are savings you can actually keep.
Where others stop, we keep going
Health checks and migration assessments
Review your SQL Server estate. Don’t read your Microsoft agreement. Often tied to one cloud.
Licensing resellers
Know your agreement and price sheet. Not set up to review how SQL Server actually runs.
CrossTable
Both, connected into one plan. Cloud-neutral. Stays through renewal so the savings show up.
Take a look at your own price sheet
Open your Customer Price Sheet and find the SQL Server lines. For many organizations, they’re among the largest on-premises items in the agreement, and the least reviewed. The number is already in front of you. The question is whether it matches how you actually run SQL Server today.
Clear pricing from the first call
Quote Second Opinion
We review your renewal or ESU quote within two business days: what looks right, what looks off, and what to ask for before you sign.
Renewal Readiness Review
A fixed-scope review of your estate and your contract, 2 to 4 weeks, sized to your Microsoft spend.
Optimization and Execution
A share of the verified savings we lock in, plus a monthly retainer while we carry out the plan. The retainer is credited against the savings fee.
How it works
1. A 30-minute call
You tell us what’s driving the decision and when it lands. No cost, no pitch deck.
2. A fixed-fee assessment
We review your estate and your agreement together and give you a clear recommendation with the numbers behind it.
3. Turning the plan into savings
If you want help carrying it out, we work alongside your team and partners through the renewal and the changes, so the savings actually show up on the invoice.
Common questions
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Four things, and none of them require access to your systems.
Your Microsoft agreement: EA, EAS or SCE, with any amendments and your enrollment.
Your pricing: the Customer Price Sheet, or for the Microsoft Customer Agreement for Enterprise, the price sheet for each billing profile.
Your cloud commitments: active reservations and savings plans in Azure, Savings Plans and Reserved Instances in AWS, and committed use discounts in Google Cloud. These live in the portals, not the agreement, so they’re easy to miss.
Your estate: a list of SQL Server instances (no list? we give you a read-only script your team runs), how your virtualization hosts are licensed, and the applications that matter most.
We never need passwords, network diagrams or access to your data.
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No. We don’t resell licenses or take commissions, and we recommend what’s best for you, including staying where you are.
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Usually not, but sooner is better. The months before a renewal are when you have the most room to change what you buy.