Case Study:
IBM Software Pricing Audit
Client Description
The client is an international outsourcer that has data centers in two U.S. locations.
Client Situation
This client approached ISAM with IBM software license issues. They suspected that they were paying too much. In addition, they were interested in exploring any other cost savings opportunities that could be found. The client requested the IBM Software Pricing Audit to isolate the issues and identify licensing and pricing improvements.
Process for IBM Software Pricing Audit
Once the audit objectives were confirmed, the ISAM process included:
- Signed confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements.
- Collected the client’s IBM mainframe software licensing and pricing information.
- Loaded the client’s licensing and pricing data into ISAM’s Software Intelligence Database.
- The client’s pricing is compared to 130,000 published prices to identify lowest possible pricing option.
- Compared the client’s data to industry “best practice” and “best in class” targets.
- IBM products were reviewed for functional redundancy.
- Identified specific improvement areas and software savings opportunities.
- Developed and presented a report with specific recommendations for improvement.
- Recommendations included multiple scenarios considering different configurations.
- The ISAM report also included suggestions for SAM best practices and tools to raise the company to “Best in Class” status for IBM software pricing.
Results & Benefits
- The IBM Software Pricing Audit was completed in three weeks.
- The client was able to eliminate software products that were functionally redundant.
- ISAM helped the client present its findings to IBM and correct its licensing issues.
- ISAM continued to provide scenarios and updates as their needs changed.
- Total first-year savings: $1.2 million.
- Since ISAM does not charge for an audit if savings are not found, the client agreed to run an IBM Software Pricing Audit every two years.