Measure it. Manage it. Reduce it.
Mid-size to enterprise companies should be looking at measuring and managing software and hardware costs prior to cutting employees.
Companies are furloughing and cutting employees to save costs. Have you thought about looking at assets prior to letting users go?
Companies overspend on assets more than they realize. I know, you have an asset management team. However, are the assets being managed, or is it just to say you have a team. Per Gardner, companies overspend on assets by 15% – 25%. This can add up to millions.
How does this overspend accumulate? Let us look at common ways this happens.
Are you leveraging \ maintaining maintenance plans?
It has been my experience that the approval process for renewals take months to approve. By the time it is approved, your buying the product again. If the application is widely used, leverage the discounts for 2- or 3-year maintenance plans. This adds up to thousands of dollars in savings, based on the product. Vendors tend to give big discounts for extended maintenance.
Are you rationalizing applications?
As companies grow, or just turnover, new products are brought in regularly under the radar. When found, the excuse is, “I know this product, not that one.” Now you are paying for multiple products that do the same thing.
Version control is important as well. Different versions may cost to maintain if you are out of maintenance, or major versions are a new cost. Sometimes this may be due to other products dependent on specific version of Acrobat Reader for instance. This also leads to security vulnerabilities; vulnerabilities lead to costly liabilities. Verify your licensing agreements if you have to maintain multiple versions.
Are you working with your service providers to include licensing costs into services.
Road Map Technologies works with customers to include renewals with services. If they choose to cut services for whatever reason, it is up to the customer to renew the licenses. This also protects the customer from cost increases from the vendor.
The number one reason for overspending on assets bloat, is lack of action.
We can put all the cool reports and projections in front of customers. The number one reason they do not see ROI is failure to act. Yes, you want your employees to be productive, but do you want to keep your employees too? Retraining employees to streamline products may take less time and money than to maintaining cost of multiple products. Training employees on new technology benefits the company and the employee.
Summary
Look for value add resellers, rationalize your assets, manage your assets, and take action to reduce your cost. I am sure employees would rather learn a similar product than lose their job.
Road Map Technologies works with multiple vendors to provide services and tools to get asset management under control.