Reviewing tenant administration with a client
Microsoft 365 Partner · CSP Reseller

Microsoft 365 Administration

A correct configuration describes your organisation at one moment. The organisation then keeps changing, and the tenant quietly stops matching it.

Joiners, movers and leavers, licence housekeeping, policy as the business shifts, and the ordinary problems — handled by someone who already knows how your tenant is configured.

Drift is the normal condition of a system in use. Administration is the recurring work that corrects it: joiners, movers and leavers; licences reclaimed and right-sized before renewal; groups and shared mailboxes kept aligned; policy adjusted as the business changes; sign-in and admin activity reviewed. None of it is a project, which is precisely why it tends not to happen — and why a tenant that was correct at go-live is not correct two years later.

What it covers

Eight recurring jobs

person_add

Joiners

Account created, licence assigned to the right plan for the role, groups and shared mailboxes applied, device enrolled if applicable, and a working setup on day one rather than in week two.

person_remove

Leavers

Sign-in blocked the same day, mailbox converted to shared, OneDrive delegated to a manager, licence reclaimed. Done as a checklist so nothing is left active by accident.

swap_horiz

Movers

The one everyone forgets. People change role and keep every permission they have ever had, which is how a junior ends up with access to payroll five years later.

receipt_long

Licence housekeeping

Unassigned licences reclaimed, people moved between plans as their needs change, and a right-sizing review before renewal rather than after it.

group_add

Groups and shared mailboxes

Distribution lists, shared addresses, Teams and SharePoint membership kept aligned with who actually works where.

policy

Policy and configuration

Sharing rules, retention, conditional access and mail flow rules adjusted as the business changes — rather than set once at go-live and never revisited.

monitoring

Monitoring and review

Sign-in logs, admin activity, failed authentication patterns, and a periodic check that configuration still matches how you operate.

support_agent

Day-to-day problems

Mail not delivering, a shared mailbox nobody can reach, a phone that will not reconnect, a file somebody deleted. The ordinary things, handled by someone who knows your tenant.

What drift looks like

Six findings, every time

These turn up in essentially every tenant that has been running for a couple of years without someone owning it. None of them indicate that anyone was careless.

person

Leavers still licensed and active

No offboarding checklist, so it depends on somebody remembering.

manage_accounts

Permissions accumulated across role changes

Access is granted when people move and never removed.

receipt_long

Licences nobody uses

Bought for a project, or for staff who left, and renewed on autopilot.

share

Sharing links with no expiry

Created under time pressure, never reviewed, still live years later.

admin_panel_settings

Too many global admins

Granted for one task and never revoked. Each one is a full-tenant risk.

warning

Configuration that no longer matches the business

Set correctly at go-live for an organisation that has since changed shape.

How much you want us doing

Four arrangements

We are not trying to displace an internal IT team where one exists. Most clients want somewhere between the first and third of these.

ArrangementSuitsWhat it means
We handle everythingNo internal ITWe are your administrators. All routine work, policy changes and day-to-day problems come to us, with a named contact who knows your tenant.
You do routine, we do the restAn office manager or part-time IT personYou add and remove users from documentation we write for your tenant; anything touching policy, mail flow, DNS or licensing comes to us.
We back up your IT teamInternal IT that owns the platformYour team runs it. We are there for the periodic review, the awkward problem and the projects, rather than the daily work.
Periodic review onlyConfident internal capabilityA scheduled review of licences, security posture and configuration drift, with a written finding list. No ongoing involvement between reviews.

Administration — common questions

help

What does ongoing Microsoft 365 administration cover?

expand_more

The recurring work: joiners, movers and leavers; licence housekeeping and right-sizing before renewal; group, distribution list and shared mailbox changes; policy and sharing configuration as the business changes; monitoring of sign-in and admin activity; and the day-to-day problems. It is the work that has no project attached to it and therefore tends not to get done.

help

Why does a tenant need ongoing administration at all?

expand_more

Because a correct configuration describes the organisation at one moment, and the organisation keeps changing. People join, leave and change role; projects start and finish; somebody needs an exception. Every one of those is small, and the accumulation is a tenant that no longer matches reality. Drift is not a failure of the original setup — it is the normal condition of any system in use.

help

Can we do our own administration?

expand_more

Plenty of clients do, and we would rather set you up to than create a dependency. Routine tasks — adding a user, resetting a password, adding an alias — should be yours, and we document them for your specific tenant. What is worth keeping with someone who does it often is anything touching mail flow, DNS, conditional access or licensing, because those are the ones that are hard to undo.

help

What is the biggest thing organisations miss?

expand_more

Movers. Everyone has some process for joiners because a new person cannot work without one, and most have something for leavers. Almost nobody removes access when someone changes role — permissions accumulate quietly for years, and the result is a long-serving employee with access to everything they have ever touched.

help

How much does administration cost?

expand_more

It depends on user count and which model you want, and it is quoted as a monthly figure rather than hourly. An hourly arrangement for recurring work rewards slowness and makes clients hesitate before asking, which is the opposite of what you want from the people running your platform.

help

Do we have to buy our licences through you?

expand_more

No. We will administer a tenant whose licences you buy elsewhere. Buying through us as a CSP reseller means the billing and the support sit in one place, and you are invoiced in INR with GST — but it is not a condition of the administration service.

help

What happens if we want to leave?

expand_more

You keep your tenant, your data and your documentation, and we hand over admin access. Tech Geum holding administrative rights to your Microsoft 365 is a convenience for you, not leverage for us. Any arrangement that makes leaving difficult is one you should be suspicious of.

help

Do you provide support outside business hours?

expand_more

For agreed scenarios, yes — a cutover, a migration weekend, or a live incident such as a compromised mailbox. Routine administration runs during business hours, which has the advantage of being the same hours you work, unlike a global queue.

Discuss an administration arrangement

Tell us your user count and whether you have any internal IT. We will suggest which of the four arrangements fits and quote it monthly.

  • check_circle

    A named contact who knows how your tenant is configured

  • check_circle

    Quoted monthly, so asking a question costs you nothing

  • check_circle

    You keep your tenant and your data — leaving is straightforward

For institutions whose office-bearers change every term, the four questions to settle before the next handover are on our page for Microsoft 365 partner in Pathanamthitta.

Prefer to talk first? Call +91 99467 89916 or email admin@techgeum.com.

call