by Herb Addis, CompuCom Software Expert, Toronto, Canada
January 26, 2011

One of the most important things any cost-conscious organization should do is review and analyze software purchases on a monthly – or at least quarterly – basis. Spending a little time every month can help you not only save big on your annual budget but also minimize the amount of time you spend managing agreements and renewals. A thorough review would include the following tasks:
Identify products purchased for the first time and categorize each product’s functionality.

>>>Understanding who is buying what and why is one of the first steps in identifying long-term saving opportunities.
By identifying new products that appear to have the same functionality as products previously purchased, you can reduce the number of publishers and products you need to support and renew every year. Once you identify a product that has overlapping functionality, you can work with the technical decision maker and determine if it is going to become the new standard.

If it is going to become the new standard, you should proactively determine what the expected spend will be moving forward to determine the best purchasing model. In addition, if it is a publisher you are already buying other products from, you may be able to qualify for additional volume discounts on all the products you are purchasing.

If you find out that it is a product they are testing and/or piloting because they are unhappy with the current solution, you may be able to offer additional alternatives from current vendors that could help you consolidate publishers and/or achieve higher discounts.

>>>Compare year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter product sales volumes.
For those products where purchases have either dramatically increased or decreased, you should further investigate why that may be the case. If purchases are decreasing, find out whether licenses are still being acquired when products are installed, to ensure ongoing compliance. If purchases are exceeding prior levels, determine whether or not you may qualify for additional discounts by having your current contract renegotiated.


If you have never done this type of analysis, getting started may seem a daunting task. CompuCom has a comprehensive service to assist clients in this situation. We can help you consolidate purchasing activity, reconcile with partners and come up with current state analysis that you can then use to compare with monthly purchases.