There are actions you can take to minimize the effect increased software costs have on your bottom line. And as we approach a potential recession, now is the best time to partner with a third-party software advisory partner to save you money in the long run.

As inflation continues to rise across the globe, prices for everything have increased and likely will continue to. Tech companies are not immune to this increase and as a result, publishers and software tooling vendors are raising their prices. There isn’t a lot of data on these increases yet, but anecdotal evidence is all over Google. As we come out of the pandemic, the cost of business on all levels is increasing – for companies and for software providers.

So, is there a solution to this issue? Unfortunately, no. But there are actions you can take to minimize the effect increased software costs have on your bottom line. And as we approach a potential recession, now is the best time to partner with a third-party software advisory partner to save you money in the long run. Continue reading for our top three tips for minimizing the costs of your licenses to prepare for the uncertainty of the future.  

Inventory subscriptions and licenses for optimum savings

If you are like many businesses out there, you are overpaying for your licenses or are paying for unnecessary or unused licenses. The process of determining the proper number and level of subscriptions is often called right-sizing. Because having an incorrect number of licenses costs your organization money that can be reallocated to other avenues of your business, monitoring your IT asset management (ITAM) is critical to remaining financially fit.  

If you’re not sure what you own or who exactly is using what software, you may be duplicating efforts or paying for far more licenses than you really use. By inventorying subscriptions and licenses, you’ll be taking stock of what you are and are not using, as well as what could be hanging around, costing you money, but not being used. This will also help you to secure your network a bit more, potentially lowering the costs of any security breaches you may experience.  

Prepare for audits

Unfortunately, as impending financial difficulties loom, some software providers may take the opportunity to increase audits. Making sure you are ready for an audit will help you minimize the unexpected costs of license compliance. The key here is to monitor your compliance and have all your self-audits and monitoring in line through effective ITAM. By doing so your business will be able to dedicate fewer financial resources to the audit and the fallout from the audit will have less of an impact.  

If you simply wait until you are confronted with an audit, you will be spending time and money to gather your documents and information, enlist the help required, and embark on the audit process. Your employees are already busy with their daily work and adding the additional burden of an audit costs downtime and may require you to look for temporary help, costing even more money. You want to make an audit as simple as possible – before you are faced with one.  

Partner with a third party for long-term ROI

While self-audits, asset management, and license compliance can often be done in-house. The fact is, at times like now when every dollar counts and needs to be strategically allocated, enlisting a third-party partner will save you the most money in the long run.  

With a partner like Connor, we will analyze your software and subscriptions, determine what is being used and what isn’t, and can make strategic recommendations that will help your company save money. Also, through this process, the third party will also be able to determine if any of the software is potentially harmful or provided by a less-than-trustworthy source. Connor also assists with self-audits and other software asset management processes that can be incredibly helpful in keeping your company on a good financial path. In other words, every element of your ITAM can be far more efficient and effective with a third-party partner helping.

Finally, a partner can help you renegotiate your subscriptions when renewal arrives. However, you don’t want to wait for your renewal to arrive to begin to look at this. A partner can help determine which software and subscriptions are great candidates for renegotiation and provide a plan to implement once your renewal period arrives.  

For more information on software advisory services, contact our team of experts at softwareadvisoryservices@connor-consulting.com  

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