Software Procurement & Contract Optimisation 2012

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In a continually evolving business and IT landscape, and with a constant focus on cost reduction, organisations need to understand how to cut licensing costs, how to be sure that their procurement processes deliver value for money, and that oversights in contracts do not lead to costly downsides or penalties later. Spending can be optimised through the right contract, in the most cost efficient currency or country.

Most organisations have a mature procurement process. No professional was new to this field. Discussion topics included: the procurement process itself, negotiating a contract and getting the best deal, the issues of benchmarking, governance, managing vendors and managing licences. There was a very informative expert presentation from an organisation that specialises in software licensing services. It has long-standing global experience of dealing with many software vendors including all of the major software publishers. It has a deep understanding of the nuances of software contracts, legal jurisdictions, country taxation, and country and currency facets.

This report is based on the shared experience of 19 IT professionals, with 220 years aggregate experience in corporate IT, representing 14 organisations. These organisations represented industries including financial services, utilities, airlines, public bodies, pharmaceuticals, construction, a retail franchise and manufacturing, with many being global.