Slash Spending by Optimizing Your Software Maintenance and Support

• Perpetual software maintenance (SW M&S) is an annual budget cost that increases almost yearly. You don’t really know if there is value in it, if its required by the vendor, or if there are opportunities for cost savings.
• Most organizations never reap the full benefits of software M&S. They blindly send renewal fees to the vendor every year without validating their needs or the value of the maintenance. In addition, your vendor maintenance may be under contract and you aren’t sure what the obligations are for both parties.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

• Analyzing the benefits contained within a vendor’s software M&S will provide the actual cost value of the M&S and whether there are critical support requirements vs. “nice to have” benefits.
• Understanding the value and your requirement for M&S will allow you to make an informed decision on how best to optimize and reduce your annual software M&S spend.
• Use a holistic approach when looking to reduce your software M&S spend. Review the entire portfolio for targeted reduction that will result in short- and long-term savings.
• When targeting vendors to negotiate M&S price or coverage reduction, engaging them three to six months in advance of renewal will provide you with more time to effectively negotiate and not fall to the pressure of time.

Impact and Result

• Reduce annual costs for software maintenance and support.
• Complete a value of investment (VOI) analysis of your software M&S for strategic vendors.
• Maximize value of the software M&S by using all the benefits being paid for.
• Right-size support coverage for your requirements.
• Prioritize software vendors to target for cost reduction and optimization.