CLIENT SUCCESS STORY

How This UK Financial Services Organisation Stopped Paying Support for Its Shelf-ware to Save More Than 95% on Its Annual Support Bill

Organisation Stats

HQ

Industry

Financial

Revenue

$1.5b+

Area

Multinational

Employees

5,000+

This organisation is a leading financial services company providing various financial services, such as credit cards, loans, insurance, mortgages, savings, pensions and investments.

The Problem

The organisation was overpaying for support it didn’t need and for software it wasn’t using, but wasn’t able to cancel

This organisation paid for IT consultancy provider NET(Net) to perform a licensing evaluation in order to identify instances of high and/or unnecessary IT costs. NET(Net)’s efforts helped them discover that the majority of the software it was using was in fact shelfware. This is software that has been purchased but is now not in use.

However, they couldn’t cancel any of its shelfware as it was tied to its Weblogic Middleware contract. This meant that because of Oracle’s business practices, they still had to pay support costs for all its software, even for the elements it wasn’t using.

Frustratingly, their ERP systems were entirely stable and working fine; no support issue tickets had been raised and they didn’t need any upgrades. Even so, they still had to keep paying Oracle’s substantial support fees.

The organisation wasn’t receiving adequate value for money but felt trapped into continuing to pay.

The Solution

We removed their shelfware greatly reducing its software costs

As they couldn’t cancel its shelfware support contracts with Oracle, it considered switching to third-party support.

Unlike Oracle’s support program, third-party support meant that they could just pay for the software it was using.

The organisation evaluated existing third-party support providers, compared its current situation against our use-cases, and realised that Support Revolution could help with all of its software problems.

As part of the transition process to our support program, we conducted a review of its existing Oracle estate, its roadmap, and its broader IT strategy to ensure that we understood the needs of the organisation.

We identified precisely the shelfware that wasn’t being used, as well as highlighting any excess licensing that had accumulated over time.

By removing shelfware and excess licence costs, we were able to make significant reductions to their Oracle bills – and that was before we cut its remaining support costs in half.

The Benefits

Cost savings to invest elsewhere

Before, they paid to support software that required little support, and worse, for software it wasn’t even using.

We saved them roughly 95% on its Oracle support and maintenance bills each year through removing its shelfware and cutting its regular support costs in half. It then used these savings to reinvest elsewhere in the organisation.

A more efficient system

They had been paying expensive fees for disused software, and support for systems that were functioning well. By switching to our third-party support, it was able to keep its systems as they were, reap the benefits of our cost savings, and greatly improve its systems’ value for money.

Freedom of choice

The organisation was essentially trapped by Oracle’s practices; it couldn’t cancel licences for disused products but had to continue paying for them. Support Revolution helped to free them from these practices, which has allowed it to take back control of its own systems and IT roadmap.

Superior support services

The organisation has gained access to superior support through our dedicated account managers and strict SLAs. This is a level of service it just wasn’t receiving from Oracle.

It also has access to legislative patches tailormade to its existing systems, and improved security with our Cloud-based Trend Micro solution that enables fast patching and security updates of its entire Oracle system.

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