CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR SOFTWARE COSTS? OUR BIG TICKET SOFTWARE PROCUREMENT TRAINING DELIVERS REAL BOTTOM LINE VALUE

Transcription

1 CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR SOFTWARE COSTS? OUR BIG TICKET SOFTWARE PROCUREMENT TRAINING DELIVERS REAL BOTTOM LINE VALUE

2 INTRODUCTION Large organisations struggle to meet the ongoing challenges of delivering their products and services costeffectively and with minimal business risk. Customer markets and segments are changing. Technology is a key enabler. And software is at its core. Our training course will help you procure software and related IT services better. This will result in lower costs and less risks and these are sustainable through better software procurement practice. TABLE OF CONTENTS The ongoing challenges for Procurement in complex IT sourcing Deal sweeteners and contract gotchas lead to locked-in customers The business rationale for Software Procurement training Typical training course structure and topics Contact Testimonials 2/

3 THE CHALLENGES FOR PROCUREMENT Internal clients want their procurement colleagues not only to be skilled in procurement but also knowledgeable in the complexities of the software market, vendors and products and the challenges that this brings for business units and their technology teams. Software procurement knowledge and expertise doesn t come easily it is generally built on years of focused client, market and project engagements. And procurement specialists in other sourcing categories can find the move to the complex software category is a daunting one. This doesn t have to be so. Using focused software procurement training and well-tested and proven take-aways such as checklists and mind maps, procurement personnel who are moving to the software category can get up to speed quickly. This helps develop the knowledge and skills that will enable them to transition across from other sourcing categories with minimum disruption and delay in essence, to hit the ground running. The software market is dynamic and complex and vendor business, services and licensing models are often unique and subject to unrelenting change. Sometimes, it is difficult to know where to start with large software procurement projects. However, like most complex supply categories, understanding a core set of market and vendor fundamentals and using solid, well-tested procurement techniques will ensure confident engagement with software vendors - and consistent value delivery. 3/

4 DEAL SWEETENERS AND CONTRACT GOTCHAS Short-term deal sweeteners and contract gotchas lead to locked-in customers and vendor dominance. Software suppliers use aggressive short-term discounting to entice customers to commit to volume licensing deals. However, their complex licensing and support models mean that once the deal is done, customer switching options evaporate and the customer becomes captive to the supplier s onerous contract terms. Enterprise licensing agreements and supplier licensing policies and metrics are complex and burdensome and subject to ongoing change; customer breaches of usage policies can result in potential litigation and significant additional cost. Supplier software audits, if invoked, can result in business disruption and exceptional additional third party audit costs. a recent Forrester Research study showed that c. 70% of organisations polled had either been audited by or had received audit/compliance letters from their software suppliers. Customers often over-buy discounted software so as to have a cushion for over-usage against planned demand; while this may appear to make some sense at the outset, the lock-in of recurring incremental support charges result in large additional year-on-year support charges that deliver no real underlying value. This is a complex and onerous area and one that costs large organisations dearly, year in, year out Up to 80% of customers will have material compliance issues Amy Konary, IDC (quoting global software vendor), Software Compliance Webinar March 2015 Global spending on Enterprise Software is forecast to grow by 5.8% in 2015 Source: Gartner Group, January /

5 STRONG RATIONALE FOR BEST PRACTICE SOFTWARE PROCUREMENT TRAINING Procurement are often the gatekeepers who structure software deal outcomes to maximise long-term value and protect customer s interests beyond the initial deal. However, busy sourcing category managers and procurement specialists can find it difficult to keep abreast of changing market trends, evolution of supplier products, licensing policies and commercial regimes. Our software procurement training embodies the breadth and depth of our many years experience delivering key sourcing outcomes for large organisational clients in the UK and Ireland. Our training can cover broad software and services contexts or it can be tailored specifically to suit client-specific needs; for example, enterprise software licensing and support agreements for major software vendors understanding the inter-linkages between the legal and commercial terms how to create - and deliver against the focused software sourcing project plan best practice SLAs for software delivery and support key techniques and checklists to ensure the right commercial and contractual arrangements are implemented to keep bespoke design and development projects on track and within budget case studies and role plays to reflect real life scenarios This facilitates rapid upskilling and learning through focused training, rather than at the negotiation coal face where mistakes can be costly. Our training is backed by our extensive hands-on experience in negotiating and implementing big ticket agreements with major software vendors on behalf of many clients over many years. 5/

6 Training Course Topics Our best practice training addresses the category from a number of perspectives, including: Software market evolution - from simple to complex Software market challenges and key market changes Changing software licensing, support and services regimes Understanding vendor contracts and commercial models The role and impact of SaaS on the software market and its customers Understanding total cost of ownership (TCO) for SaaS and non-saas software and services The sourcing project business case and commercial options modelling The nature of large software development, implementation and integration projects - and the commercial regimes and mechanisms to keep them on track Busy category managers and procurement specialists can find it difficult to keep abreast of changing market trends, evolution of supplier products, licensing policies and commercial regimes. Experienced software Buyers are thin on the ground and the market for skilled software category experts can make capability resourcing prohibitive. Regular knowledge refresh and cross-category upskilling can therefore deliver real value for the procurement department and, ultimately, the wider organisation. We speak the language and understand the challenges We have been negotiating software and services deals, delivering strong strategic sourcing outcomes, mentoring client staff and providing software procurement training to our clients since As a result, we speak the business language and understand the business challenges. We don t need interpreters to translate business requirements into clear specifications, implementation plans and, ultimately, successfully-delivered outcomes. Our clients include many who have been at the forefront of procurement transformation and best practice implementation in the UK and Ireland, including AIB, Aviva, Barclays, NatWest, Reuters, BAA, Lloyds Banking Group and Capgemini. 6/

7 Strategic Computing Limited Georgian House Business Centre Holly Park Newtownpark Avenue Blackrock Co. Dublin Ireland Contact: Ray Murphy T: +353 (0) E: 7/

8 Ray demonstrated deep knowledge and experience of the topic, his expertise in the subject matter came through all day. The presentation, content and course materials were excellent and well received. We look forward to applying our new knowledge and best practice tools in the workplace. Mary Fennelly, Procurement Portfolio Manager for ICT, Office of Government Procurement I liked Ray s expert knowledge of the subject matter and the way in which this was supported with real world examples. Excellent course material and reference materials Ken Wilkinson, eircom I would recommend this course to anyone involved in software procurement Dan Ware, M.Sc., MCIPS Procurement Consultant, the Co-op Group The course was excellent and the course presenter had great experience and credibility Al Larragy, eircom The best aspect was the knowledge and first-hand experience of the presenter. A very detailed and well-presented course. IT Procurement Manager, British Airways I learned more in one day than on 3-day training courses I had previously attended Senior Buyer, BT The best practice software procurement course was particularly valuable in that it covered a broad breadth of relevant content. I will certainly be rolling out some of the best practice tools. Mike Gurr, Head of Procurement, BT Procurement and Supply Chain The delivery of the course was excellent, both in the content that was shared and the way in which Ray presented to the group, encouraging group discussions and making the day not only useful in gaining knowledge but a thoroughly enjoyable day also. Sharon Jones, MCIPS, IT Procurement Manager, Capgemini I learned a lot about the real issues around software procurement. Excellent course and delivery inhouse was very convenient. Senior IT Manager from large UK Corporation Masses of useful information and techniques Senior Software Buyer, Royal Bank of Scotland..covered all aspects of software procurement and I especially like the way it was linked back into negotiation strategies. Senior IT Services Buyer, Royal Bank of Scotland 8/