How to Reduce Your Software Licensing Costs
Ways to Save
- Switch from licensing per installation to floating licenses based on usage at the time.
- Use software as a service (SaaS) licenses to offer all software services through a common website. Then consolidate site based licenses to a single SaaS license agreement with a bulk discount.
- Contract for a bulk license agreement based on average users per month instead of peak usage. Average usage is always lower than the peak usage.
- Set a system log-off after a short period of inactivity (10-30 minutes) to minimize the number of licenses in use at any given time.
- Require approval to install software or get a software license. This will prevent users who do not truly need the software from getting it.
- Manage software licenses. Ensure that returned computers have the software uninstalled and the license released. Verify that software re-installations after a computer refresh do not consume an extra license.
- Have users access their office PC remotely and run applications through the remote access instead of installing applications on both their work PC and laptop or mobile device.
- Negotiate your software licensing agreement before the next license renewal date. Ask about any and all discounts available.
- Use free, open source software wherever possible and when it is compatible with your licensed applications.
- Find out whether you have multiple software licensing agreements across project groups or work sites. Then seek a consolidated, discount software license for everyone.
- Separate software licenses often exist because there are different versions and “flavors” of the same software in use across the organization. Upgrade everyone to the same software version, using the same operating system where possible. This simplifies software management and often the license management as well.
- When upgrading existing software, seek a discount on the licenses to offset the purchase price of the new software version.
- Reduce
the number of software tools used by the organization. Fewer applications in use simplifies software support, reduces the number of licenses to be managed and can enable bulk license discounts for the remaining tools. At the very least, it eliminates the high cost per seat for specialized tools used by only a few.
- Consolidate tools by finding alternative processes for specialized software tools or migrating users to tools that are company approved to be kept.
Recommended Resources
 | Amazon Price: $55.78 List Price: $89.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $88.82 List Price: $114.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $88.17 List Price: $139.95 |
drspaniel 8 months ago
Great information especially since I have a few software licenses.