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We sat down with Martin Gavin, Senior Program Manager at Carahsoft, to discuss cloud technology licensing challenges, consolidation, management, and cost control.
The biggest challenge that we see is disparate purchasing across campus systems, when licenses are bought and activated without regard to expiration or how services are delivered. This can result in excess costs in the form of reinstatement penalties, late fees, and cost overruns when metered services are left “running” for a course that has ended.
First, we look at the software environment through install base reports. These reports tell us how old certain licenses are and if the licenses have been updated since purchasing. They tell us if certain licenses are at their end of life or no longer provide optimum services.
We then look at logical path upgrades, what license may integrate and perform better, and even if the license is necessary any longer. We often find that institutions are paying year after year for service and support for licenses that they’ve long since forgotten about due to lack of function or use.
Finally, we work with our value-added channel partners and the institution to provide the information for and guide them towards a cloud technology package that will meet their needs throughout the life of the engagement. With that knowledge we work with the vendor, the partner, and the institution to identify ways to save through enterprise level cloud purchasing.
Licensing consolidation is the identification of all licenses within the institutional environment, deciding what licenses are needed and which may no longer be necessary. It’s streamlining to provide optimal functionality while driving down total costs.
Carahsoft has an experienced team of program managers, vendor certified subject matter experts, engineers, and architects to help E&I members identify, build, and manage the consolidation journey.
We have a proven track record with state, federal, and educational institutions managing enterprise agreements with tens of thousands of licenses being delivered and consumed by thousands of end users. Our program management services can be customized to fit individual needs, with several capabilities including customers migrating from existing license contracts, portal trainings, custom reporting, and more!
The best way to start is to identify which contracts you have that are expiring or are scheduled to expire soon. Identify what licenses are most in demand and reach out to the E&I team to schedule a meeting with us and our providers.
Carahsoft Technology Corp. is an industry-leading provider of cloud solutions and related IT hardware, software, and services.
