Getting the most for your money is always a top priority in any organization, but even more so now, and accounting for every penny spent ensures your organization does not waste budget. So, why would this be any different in the IT department? Focus on mitigating costs normally falls towards hardware as these physical devices cost anywhere between hundreds to thousands, depending on what you are purchasing. Bulk buying physical items for a less expensive deal appeals to all organizations, but what about software licenses? These aren’t tangible items so keeping an eye on costs can be a lot more complicated and less of a concern…’til the bill arrives.
Track and monitor all licenses
Historically, automatically tracking licenses has been tricky, now add the complications of SaaS and Cloud subscriptions (while employees are working from home) and it’s increasingly more complicated. If it’s not continuously monitored and managed, spend can quickly spiral out of control. Ensuring you are collecting all inventory data is essential and understanding what is installed or subscribed to will help highlight the licenses across your estate. Once you have this data, you can start to optimize your IT estate.
Understanding your organization’s usage has a wealth of benefits and really ensures no money is wasted. Start by looking at what is being used across your organization and immediately remove any duplicated or unused licenses. This instant win removes multiple accounts aligned to individuals and can save your organization thousands.
Analysing your employees’ usage will also enable you to streamline the software utilized companywide. Looking at this data will give you the perfect opportunity to ensure all staff members are using the same software and enable you to remove similar products that aren’t being used. This standardization of software licenses ensures you are on the best possible plan with the vendor and means communication and employee experience are enriched, while reducing security risks by removing out of date software.
Recycle and reduce wasted licenses
Having a robust leavers and movers policy ensures your organization minimizes the risk of unused licenses. Sometimes, you will need to continue with an agreement once someone has left the organization but knowing that license is available puts software on hand for new starters. Equally, if there are unused licenses (with no place to recruit) within your estate, you can reduce these at your nearest opportunity.
We have come across situations where organizations will over license their environment by up to 30%, which causes significant overspend. Optimizing your software estate and ensuring everything is utilized correctly can dramatically reduce this risk and ensure you are only paying for what you use.
This clear visibility across your IT infrastructure truly ensures you are reducing IT costs in a year that will continue to be affected by Covid-19. For quick, optimization wins, take a look at how you can reduce costs and ensure you are not spending a penny more than you need to.