Our Thoughts on IT Matters

Keep Posted on Industry News and Events

   

SAP Savings Opportunities in Spotlight for Q4 2015

Steven Zolman
Oct. 23,2015 |

There is a confluence of events happening right now that makes Q4 2015 one of the best times in recent history to (re)negotiate SAP deals, as the following market conditions are creating an environment that is placing significant downward pricing pressure on the German based enterprise software giant. Opportunistic market conditions: 1 - The Laggard Market Players Believe it or not, there are still first time SAP buyers, and this is a great time to enter the market. New ERP purchasers are among the most coveted buyers in the market right now. Relatively new cloud ERP offerings as well as strong competition between traditional software ...

Read More

Top 10 Software Audit-Crazy Suppliers

Steven Zolman
Oct. 8,2015 |

There is a perfect storm of sorts brewing for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) resulting from (i) increasing demands for new license revenue, (ii) aggressive competition from disruptive suppliers, and (iii) a significant migration away from software licensing to subscription cloud-based solutions. As a result, ISVs are scouring the market for revenue injections wherever they can find them. The mission today for the big market software players is less about innovation and ‘delighting the customer’, and more about protecting the revenue streams of their business, and nothing is more important to them than the golden goose egg of annual ...

Read More

Disruptive Technology: Tame the Microsoft Gorilla One Google at a Time

Scott Braden
Aug. 11,2015 |

Gorillas. They can be cute and seem cuddly from a distance, but up close they are probably more scary and intimidating. There’s little doubt that Microsoft is the 800 pound gorilla in the desktop productivity market. The real question is, how do you get away from the gorilla when you’re trapped in its domain? Everywhere you turn…there it is, blocking your escape. Door number 1 is blocked by the CIO who’s not a ‘change agent’. Door number 2 is blocked by the groups who don’t ‘want their cheese moved’. Doors number 3 and 4 aren’t even blocked…they are wide open and they have a Google or Amazon logo on them. But you’re not so sure about running ...

Read More

7 Ways to Walk the Walk With Disruptive Technology

Andrea Alterman
Jul. 1,2015 |

The Internet of Things ( IoT). Disruptive Technology. Market Disrupting Suppliers. Strategic Supplier Sourcing. Have you been hearing a lot about these terms within your organization while sitting in I.T. meetings and in line at the local Starbucks? Are you already seeing that shift in some technology spend to marketing and other digitally enabled parts of the business? Have your teams looked into investing more in technologies that would challenge the status quo, but in the end just go with what’s comfortable? Have your tier one technology suppliers filled you with enough fear, uncertainty and doubt around disruptive technology that you now ...

Read More

What's Your Microsoft Licensing IQ?

Steven Zolman
Jun. 4,2015 |

Windows 1.0 was launched over 25 years ago in 1985, and Microsoft introduced its first volume licensing program for enterprises in 1993. One would presume that in an age where technology is leveraged to increase productivity and eliminate inefficiencies, the world's largest software company would be leading the way in simplifying how their products are purchased and managed. Sadly as many of us know, that is not the case. Keeping up with the constant changes in your requirements, user demographics, and options, coupled with Microsoft's hundreds of products being sold in languages and countries all over the globe, contribute to an ever more ...

Read More

Punch Above your Weight with your Existing Suppliers and Modernize Your Supply Chain

Steven Zolman
Jun. 4,2015 |

Suspend your disbelief! You are likely significantly overpaying your current technology suppliers. In our history of helping our clients rationalize and renegotiate their legacy spend, we help clients punch above their weight and capture 20-30% savings on average. In helping our clients modernize their supply chain by sourcing technology deals for new spend, we help clients modernize their supply chain and average 30-40% savings. Combined, even with a roster of world class client brands who all thought they were pretty good at managing suppliers and buying new stuff, we have helped clients capture over $200 billion of incremental value, and ...

Read More

Top 5 BI Trends for 2015

Steven Zolman
Jun. 4,2015 |

Business Intelligence (“BI”) has been experiencing explosive growth over the last 15 years or so, and 2015 is perhaps the most exciting year on record. Many believe it is a tipping point year for BI. Below are the Top 5 trends we expect to see in 2015. #5) Mobility becomes table stakes. Getting the right information to the right people at the right time is what BI is all about, and mobility has been a key consideration of this goal. For years, mobile access via smartphones and tablets has been viewed by many clients as an advanced feature, but more and more, clients are making this a strong requirement in 2015. As the proliferation of mobile ...

Read More

Microsoft Case Study: Saving $18M+ Over 3 years on a Global Subscription EA Renewal.

Scott Braden
May. 5,2015 |

NET(net) completed a successful engagement for a global client that has over 70,000 employees and operations in 17 countries. With NET(net)'s guidance and expertise, the client was able to save $18M+ over 3 years on a global subscription EA renewal. This client engagement combined several factors which are increasingly common in today's Microsoft licensing deals and can provide valuable lessons for other Microsoft customers: A global footprint including diverse and, in some cases, quasi-independent local IT decision making This leads to numerous challenges including communication, coordination of plans, information sharing, contract and ...

Read More

Are Your SLA's Meaningless?

Steven Zolman
Apr. 30,2015 |

In our history of Client advocacy in thousands of professionally managed supplier engagements globally, we have seen virtually every Service Level Agreement (SLA) ever developed, constructed, negotiated, implemented, monitored, measured, reported on, or renegotiated. In that history, we can recall some that stood up well to the situations they were designed to protect. However, most SLAs don’t have the ability to change over time and almost none evolve to keep pace with the changing nature of the relationship between the Client and the supplier, or the changing environment. This is the fundamental premise on which we base most of our ...

Read More

Cybersecurity Spend on the Rise

Dave Young
Apr. 29,2015 |

Not surprisingly, investments in Cybersecurity are on a significant upward trend in all categories. This past summer 2014, Gartner reported global numbers from businesses and governments that indicate they will have spent an estimated $71.1B protecting their information assets in 2014, up 7.9% from the previous year. The research firm also predicts the growth rate will increase to 8.1% this year, for an estimated total of $76.9 billion of spend in this area in 2015. This growth is expected to accelerate significantly from there, reaching an estimated $155.74 billion in spend by 2019. As NET(net) reviews the IT spend of our clients, seeking ...

Read More