Fx sd slo_smsr_sept12

1. Rein in Spending
Software maintenance and support costs continue to
consume a significant portion of the IT OPEX budget
in most IT organizations. Reining in spending in
this area is nearly impossible unless IT establishes a
proactive, standardized approach for rationalizing
software maintenance and support needs to
optimize return on investment.
Without a consistent level of due diligence and
adequate governance, misalignment between the
requirements of the business and contracted levels of
vendor support are likely to occur. The result of that
misalignment can include:
· Unnecessary spending
· Business continuity concerns
· Negative user experiences
Flexera Software helps IT tackle this challenge.
Through our Software Maintenance & Support
Rationalization offering, our experts assist IT
organizations in developing a rigorous decision
process for “right-sizing” their maintenance and
support levels. Companies that implement such a
discipline typically achieve cost savings ranging
from 6 to 15 percent.
Streamline Maintenance and Support
Renewal Management
The Software Maintenance & Support
Rationalization offering is a consultative services
engagement that accelerates the development
and implementation of a robust rationalization
methodology for the enterprise. During the
engagement, a Flexera Software consultant works
with the IT staff to develop a highly efficient process
for managing maintenance and support renewals.
Our skilled staff is well versed in not only software
asset management (SAM) but also IT spend
management best practices. So IT can take
advantage of the knowledge and experience Flexera
Software consultants have gained from scores of
engagements in organizations similar to yours. As a
result, IT can quickly develop the optimum approach
for the enterprise. The engagement culminates with
knowledge transfer to the enterprise.
DATASHEET
Software Maintenance & Support Rationalization
Streamline Management of Maintenance and Support Renewals to Improve Business
Continuity and Cut Costs
Benefits to
Your Organization:
• Proactive and
rigorous management
of software
maintenance and
support renewals
delivers software
savings of 6 to 15%
• Consistent and
thorough oversight
ensures that vendors
deliver contracted
levels of support
• Support corporate
objectives related to
business continuity
and cost control
• Knowledge transfer
to ensure ongoing
success with
management of
software maintenance
and support

2. Software Maintenance Support Rationalization Services
Software Maintenance Support Rationalization
This 20-day engagement progresses through assessment, identification of optimized approach, documentation and pilot.
Objectives
The Maintenance Support Rationalization offering has four primary objectives:
• Raise stakeholder awareness of factors to consider in making an informed decision regarding software maintenance
and support needs and costs
• Identify and leverage data sources in which data that is critical to the rationalization process resides
• Develop and document an optimized rationalization strategy that meets the unique needs of the enterprise
• Prove the value of the resulting rationalization methodology by conducting a pilot on a representative sample of the
vendor portfolio
Assess current
rationalization
approach
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
ComponentsKeyActivitiesDeliverables
Determine
optimized
rationalization
approach
Document
optimized
rationalization
methodology
Pilot new
methodology;
knowledge
transfer
Review current
state process
documentation
Explore
rationalization
strategy
alternatives
Develop
document
process flows
Identify vendor
renewals for
pilot
Conduct key
stakeholder
interviews
Assess viability
of strategy
approach
alternatives
Define
document
roles
responsibilities
Pilot optimized
rationalization
methodology
Review recent
rationalization
examples
Summary of
Current State:
1. Strengths
2. Gaps
3. Improvement
Recommendations
Optimized
rationalization
strategy and
approach
Process
Documentation
(Level 3)
RACI Matrix
Datasource
elements map
Rationalization
reommendations
for pilot vendors
Knowledge
transfer workshop
Gain agreement
on optimal
strategy
approach
Define data flow
and tool support
Conduct
knowledge
transfer to key
stakeholders
Knowledge
Transfer

3. Software Maintenance Support Rationalization Services
Delivery Approach
This service is delivered as a short-term consulting engagement in which Flexera Software consultants:
• Assess the current state of maintenance and support rationalization, including
- Review of existing process documentation (as available)
- Interviews with key stakeholders
- Review of a representative sample of recent maintenance and support renewals, with an analysis of data inputs,
process and tools leveraged along with resulting outputs
• Summarize the key findings of the assessment with emphasis on:
- Strengths (drivers)
- Gaps (restrainers)
- Recommendations (across roles, process, data and tools)
• Propose an optimized rationalization strategy and approach
• Document a rationalization methodology that includes roles, process, data and tools
• Implement and pilot the rationalization methodology for targeted subset of vendors
• Conduct knowledge transfer sessions with process stakeholders
Project Timeline
Deliverables
As part of this engagement, the client receives:
• High-level assessment summary of the current state across roles, processes and tools
• Proposed rationalization strategy and approach
• Rationalization process documentation
• Rationalization roles definitions and responsibility matrix
• Key rationalization data elements (e.g. software upgrade plans, retirement dates, etc.) and data source map
• Recommendations for a targeted subset of vendors based on the pilot execution of the new rationalization methodology
• Knowledge transfer workshop
Primary Audience
This offering is targeted at IT personnel who are responsible for managing the IT OPEX budget where maintenance and
support resides as a line item. Such roles include IT infrastructure lead, IT domain leads and application owners bearing
responsibility for applications in support of their specific business areas, IT vendor management, IT procurement and
potentially IT finance.
Prerequisites
• Access to key personnel familiar with current software asset lifecycle processes
• Access to all related process and policy documentation
• Visibility into all enterprise data sources in which current or prospective data relevant to rationalization may reside
• Early identification of and concurrence regarding targeted vendor subset for pilot
Assess and
summarize current
state
WEEK 1
Review findings, discuss
best practices and
commence development
of strategy and proposed
optimized methodology
WEEK 2
Finalize
documentation
WEEK 3
Pilot methodology
and conduct
knowledge transfer
WEEK 4

4. Copyright © 2012 Flexera Software LLC. All other brand and product names mentioned herein may be the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners.
FX_SD_SLO_SMSR_Sept12
Flexera Software LLC
1000 East Woodfield Road,
Suite 400
Schaumburg, IL 60173 USA
Schaumburg
(Global Headquarters):
+1 800-809-5659
United Kingdom (Europe,
Middle East Headquarters):
+44 870-871-1111
+44 870-873-6300
Australia (Asia,
Pacific Headquarters):
+61 3-9895-2000
For more office locations visit:
www.flexerasoftware.com
Software License Optimization Services and Solutions
Software spending and license complexity continue to
grow and organizations require best practice processes
and next generation tools to gain control of their software
estate. Flexera Software’s Software License Optimization
Services provide the data and insights needed to
understand the business value of a SAM and license
optimization program, as well as the processes and
roadmaps required for successful implementation.
License optimization services provide organizations with
an accurate and optimized view of their license position,
enabling them to reduce ongoing cost and risk and
accelerate time to value. Our FlexNet Manager Suite for
Enterprises is the only Software License Optimization
product that automates and optimizes license and
contract management processes to reduce software
license, maintenance and audit costs, while maintaining
license compliance.
About Flexera Software
Flexera Software is the leading provider of strategic solutions
for Application Usage Management; solutions delivering
continuous compliance, optimized usage and maximized
value to application producers and their customers. Flexera
Software is trusted by more than 80,000 customers that
depend on our comprehensive solutions- from installation
and licensing, entitlement and compliance management to
application readiness and software license optimization
- to strategically manage application usage and achieve
breakthrough results realized only through the systems-level
approach we provide. For more information, please go to:
www.flexerasoftware.com
Next Steps:
Learn more about optimizing your software license management
processes – visit www.flexerasoftware.com/SLOServices or
contact a Flexera Software representative.