More than 40 Microsoft products will either reach end of support in 2021 or move to Extended Support. We review the list of products that will be sunset and some factors Microsoft enterprise customers should consider as they prepare for these events.
The pandemic has reshaped expectations of how IT sourcing pros can enable business resiliency, continuity and agility in times of unexpected change. What can companies do now to de-risk IT spend and secure protections that minimize the cost of disruption and transformational change?
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Ineffective governance of cloud assets is producing toxic IT spend – as much as 30% of cloud fees are estimated to fall into this category. Jim Hussey, SaaS Optimization and SAM Support Service Practice Lead at NPI, joins Procurement Foundry's Mike Cadieux to discuss the challenges behind SaaS asset management, culprits for overspending and how to optimize large SaaS software estates for savings.
The pandemic has reshaped expectations of how IT sourcing pros can enable business resiliency, continuity and agility in times of unexpected change. What can companies do now to de-risk IT spend and secure protections that minimize the cost of disruption and transformational change?
SAP’s annual self-declaration requirement is one way the vendor sniffs out non-compliance among enterprise customers. What can companies do before providing self-declaration information to SAP to minimize compliance and cost risk exposure?
Are you ready to be audited by your enterprise software vendors? If not, it’s time to prepare. The frequency of vendor audits is skyrocketing. Fortunately, there are steps enterprises can take before and during an audit to ease compliance concerns and minimize unexpected license fees and penalties.
More than 40 Microsoft products will either reach end of support in 2021 or move to Extended Support. We review the list of products that will be sunset and some factors Microsoft enterprise customers should consider as they prepare for these events.
IBM has a long history of game-changing divestitures – the most recent being its decision to spin off its IT services business so it can focus on a trillion-dollar hybrid cloud opportunity. There are steps enterprise customers can take now to prepare for buy-side implications.
In a bid to boost Azure revenues, Microsoft has issued changes to terms of service that limit how a customer can remotely host and access M365 and Windows using rival cloud providers. These changes have the potential to materially increase enterprise license counts and spend.
For on-premise IT, vendors have been the “auditors”—policing customers to assure license compliance. In the cloud, vendor audits are no longer a necessity. Responsibility—and the purpose—for audits have shifted 180 degrees. Without regular self–audits of cloud usage and without detailed usage data from vendors, many companies may find themselves overbuying and overspending.
NPI is working with Facebook to help the company accelerate the IT purchasing cycle, eliminate overspending and increase buy-side confidence. In this short video, Facebook Strategic Sourcing Manager Raj Patel discusses how the partnership has helped the company achieved 22x ROI and identify savings opportunities on 75% of deals reviewed.
Amid current volatility, today’s IT sourcing pros need to be able to deliver immediate reductions in risk and cost with minimal business disruption while also preparing the business for the next unknown. NPI CEO Jon Winsett and Facebook Strategic Sourcing Manager Raj Patel discuss 5 ways IT sourcing can achieve this objective.
Volatility is reshaping the role and priorities of enterprise IT sourcing, and challenging IT sourcing professionals to rethink how they can support enterprise resiliency. Learn how and why as NPI CEO Jon Winsett and Facebook Strategic Sourcing Manager Raj Patel discuss.
NPI finds Verizon Wireless enterprise customers often overpay by 15 to 30 percent (or more). But negotiating better pricing, incentives and terms is no easy task. In this bulletin, we share how customers can negotiate stronger savings and eliminate material overspending.
Contrary to what some believe, vendor lock-in doesn’t go away as companies migrate to a cloud-first IT ecosystem. In fact, this threat may worsen as enterprises face a new set of vendor lock-in characteristics and indicators – and vendors seek ways to harden cloud revenues.
Today’s IT sourcing pros must deliver reductions in risk and cost – as well as prepare for the next unknown. NPI CEO Jon Winsett and Facebook Strategic Sourcing Manager Raj Patel discuss how to overcome these challenges in today’s business climate.
When it comes to reducing IT costs in the enterprise buyers are looking for ways to achieve material IT savings that quickly impact the bottom line with minimal business disruption. Learn 6 tactics that can help you accomplish this objective.
Microsoft is shaking up licensing terms once again. Beginning October 1, 2019, customers that deploy Microsoft’s software on dedicated hosts at certain cloud providers (including AWs, google and others) will pay more. This bulletin discusses these changes and what they could mean for enterprise customers.
One often overlooked area of IT overspending is mainframe software, particularly with IBM. Thousands of companies still rely on legacy mainframe applications to conduct business and there is widespread complacency in how this spend is managed. That’s led many IBM customers to overpay for their ongoing software costs. Bringing transparency to this element of IT spend can deliver significant savings – frequently in the ballpark of seven figures.
In November 2019, AWS announced an overhaul of its pricing model with the introduction of Savings Plans. This bulletin discusses the change, its implications on cost management, and the considerations AWS customers should take into account before moving away from RIs.
The enterprise Salesforce purchase is evolving. While savings for new purchases and renewals have been historically difficult to achieve, things are changing. As market competition grows, the vendor is exhibiting more flexibility at the Salesforce negotiation table - but only for buyers that know which levers to pull.
Microsoft audits are costly, confusing and almost always result in non-compliance claims. So how do you fend off or improve the outcome of an audit with Microsoft? It starts with a clear understanding of how Microsoft’s auditing process works – and where the deck is stacked against you.
Given AWS’s history of pricing and sourcing transparency, is it possible to achieve material savings on enterprise-scale AWS purchases? Contrary to popular opinion, the answer is yes. But only if you know which best practices and levers to apply throughout the lifetime of your AWS agreement.
Not every portion of every company’s Microsoft estate requires software assurance. But how do you know if this option is best for your business? Joshua Osborne – an expert in Microsoft licensing and cost optimization – discusses different factors to consider when evaluating whether to drop software assurance.
What is a Microsoft Licensing Statement? What does it tell you (and not tell you!) about your Microsoft license entitlements? Join Dan Brewster, NPI’s Microsoft Client Services Director, as he discusses the critical importance of this document, how to interpret it, and how to use it to optimize Microsoft costs.
What are the best practices for keeping up with the changing IT buying landscape? What do the best-of-the-best IT and sourcing teams do differently? Join Spend Matters Chief Research Officer, Pierre Mitchell, and NPI COO, Kim Addington, as they answer these questions (and more) about the new realities of IT sourcing and how to tackle them.
Software license audits are on the rise. Knowing your audit risk (and how to stay ahead of it) is key to avoiding hefty compliance penalties and fees. Join Mike Beals, leader of NPI’s Audit Defense Practice, and Dan Brewster, a Microsoft licensing and audit expert, as they discuss the top myths and pitfalls to avoid during a software license audit.
Changes in the current business climate combined with Microsoft’s mission to move enterprises to the cloud is altering how it does business with its largest customers. Companies that plan to renew their Enterprise Agreements, or purchase the vendor’s offerings for the first time, can leverage the forces driving Microsoft’s behavior at the negotiation table.
Whether you’re already a Microsoft Office 365 customer or expect to be one soon, optimizing licensing and cost is challenging. To minimize tcO and maximize usage rights, companies need to take preparatory steps in the months leading up to every purchase or renewal.
Volume purchasing programs may make it easier to buy a vendor’s offerings—but they also make it easier to overspend. IBM’s Passport Advantage program is no exception. NPI estimates a large percentage of enterprise customers overpay on IBM Passport Advantage purchases and renewals. Here are four ways to avoid that outcome.
For on-premise IT, vendors have been the “auditors”—policing customers to assure license compliance. In the cloud, vendor audits are no longer a necessity. Responsibility—and the purpose—for audits have shifted 180 degrees. Without regular self–audits of cloud usage and without detailed usage data from vendors, many companies may find themselves overbuying and overspending.
Despite pressures to reduce healthcare delivery costs, IT overspending within hospitals is rampant. NPI explores how the profound transformations happening across the industry are contributing to this issue, and provides examples of vertical-industry IT vendors with which overspending can easily happen.
Digital transformation is a reality, and for most companies, the stakes are high. This white paper discusses the critical role that IT Sourcing excellence plays in driving the success and profitability of these initiatives.
It’s a complicated time to be an Oracle customer. As the vendor pressures enterprises to move to its cloud offerings, many are still navigating complex purchases and renewals for on-premise solutions. This SmartSpend Bulletin covers five ways companies can optimize and reduce costs across their Oracle estate.
For many enterprises, telecom is a notoriously difficult spend category to manage. Where can companies find material savings? Which cost control tactics yield the biggest impact? This SmartSpend Bulletin digs into these questions.
As companies become increasingly comfortable with cloud environments, the cloud purchase itself presents new risks and challenges. This white paper explores myriad pricing and contractual challenges that can lead to overspending and suboptimal service during the cloud sourcing event.
Most legacy IT vendors are under a mandate to move customers to the cloud. The opportunity to get a great deal is strong – but so is the opportunity to get railroaded into business terms that aren’t optimized. In this SmartSpend Bulletin, learn the questions you need to ask to fully understand the cost implications – and savings opportunities – of getting on board with an incumbent’s cloud journey.
Will hospitals continue to overpay for IT purchases? For those taking a business-as-usual approach to IT sourcing, it’s extremely likely. Right now, the healthcare IT marketplace is especially dynamic and conditions are ripe for transactional overspending. Learn more about what’s driving this epidemic in healthcare, as well as common areas of overspend, in this SmartSpend Bulletin.
Enterprise wireless spending continues to be unwieldy and difficult to manage. NPI estimates 80 percent of enterprises overpay by nearly 40 percent for wireless services. This bulletin explores factors that are driving up spend and what companies can do to rein in wireless costs.
As more companies look for ways to streamline IT financial management and IT/business alignment, a new approach has emerged: Technology Business Management (TBM). In this white paper, learn how TBM is intersecting with, benefitting and driving IT sourcing excellence.