“We asked Silver Tree to help us save 40 to 50% on Microsoft licensing while maintaining the high-level of service we currently have in place. They didn’t.
Silver Tree put together a strategy for Microsoft licensing that saved us over 75% annually. And, they did it in less than two months.”
– Brian Buchanan, CIO, Heritage Home Group
Microsoft Licensing Case Study – 75% Saving Annually
Challenge
Heritage Home Group (HHG), High Point, N.C. had 2 months to renegotiate their Microsoft licensing agreement. As an organization in transition, the typical three-year MS licensing agreement limited their flexibility to make changes to the technology landscape year to year as needed to remain competitive.
HHG needed expertise in MS licensing to determine how to best leverage the license agreement to reduce costs and be nimble, without impacting operations and customer service.
Silver Tree’s Approach
Silver Tree conducted a detailed survey of HHG’s current IT environment, license usage history, IT operations, and IT strategic direction. Under the current Microsoft contract type, the various versions and licensing levels were also evaluated.
With the Macro and Micro picture in place, Silver Tree developed a roadmap for HHG that included multiple licensing and cost models. These models were based on their business lifecycle stage, strategic direction, and the need for cost savings and flexibility.
Result
“We were actually surprised how little we knew about our Microsoft licensing options! With Silver Tree’s expertise and deep dive into our strategic direction, IT environment and business needs, we gained a GREAT understanding of what was possible” said Brian Buchanan, CIO, Heritage Home Group. “We learned what license levels we were entitled to, where upgrades made sense, and where license upgrades were not necessary. When comparing our needs and direction, it became crystal clear that we didn’t need the latest and greatest at this juncture. Silver Tree showed us how to set up the license in such a way that we could target upgrades when it made sense for the business.”
Bottom Line – More That We Expected
Walking through the exercise and becoming educated on what is possible opened up a world of opportunities to HHG. Silver Tree revealed six very good options (in less than two months!). We went into this engagement thinking we would save 40 to 50%. We ended up saving 75%, in a one year contract, with more flexibility. Next year, we even have the option to pay less, or more if infrastructure demands, and choose what levers we need to pull moving into 2019.