Blogs

A best practice guide for IT procurement professionals

October 13 2020

IT procurement professionals face increased pressure to deliver efficiencies and cost-savings as businesses assess their finances amidst evolving demands.Finding innovative ways to deliver value back to the business and gain the competitive edge requires effective IT procurement processes. All soft... Read More Read More

Why the public sector needs to optimise its software costs now more than ever

September 28 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has deeply impacted industries across the globe and the UK’s public sector has been no exception, with increased pressure felt beyond central government, impacting all public institutions. All eyes are on the public sector’s handling of the current situation, and o... Read More Read More

Re-booting ITAM for the cloud era

August 21 2020

Most US enterprises today have well organized, highly-skilled IT departments that are laser-focused on supporting and enabling wider business objectives. As part of this, the department typically has a dedicated software asset management (SAM) team, whose job it is to ensure that the company has the s... Read More Read More

Careless talk: undermining your software vendor negotiations

August 12 2020

We know that getting into negotiations with vendors is a daunting process. There are many facets to consider, from having clarity on product requirements through to having a market view of what commercial terms you should be able to achieve. Being confident in your commercial position is a must, yet i... Read More Read More

Do you know your audit risk? Part 2

July 28 2020

In my previousblog, I looked at the some of the most common triggers that will spur a supplier into asking to audit your IT estate. These varied from the differing ‘personality’ traits of various publishers, to global economic forces. These factors – and many more – all have a ... Read More Read More

Do you know your audit risk?

June 09 2020

When it comes to software audits, organisations typically keep a keen eye on the vendors that they spend the most money with. Afterall, if they’re audited by a tier one provider, the financial ramifications could be significant. Focusing on the bigger providers also makes a great deal of practic... Read More Read More

Will 2020 be the year we reach ‘peak audit’?

May 26 2020

Software vendors usually send out their audit letters on a fairly predictable basis. The most common triggers are a contract term or ULA coming to an end, or indeed the end of the publisher’s financial year, something we covered in more detail in a previous blog aboutOracle’s audit strateg... Read More Read More

The Software Vendor negotiation game has fundamentally changed, do you understand the new rules?

January 24 2020

I have worked across a wide range of Public Sector organisations with a multitude of software licensing programs throughout my career. Common themes always remain “am I getting a good value from my investment” and “do I have enough confidence in my current & future requirements t... Read More Read More

Cloud Shock: what is it & why should you care?

April 17 2019

As a term, cloud shock has been with us a few years now, but it’ use is not yet quite yet sufficiently widespread to safely assume that everyone knows what you’re talking about when you say it.Cloud shock is, in very simple terms, the moment of realization that money being spent on cloud s... Read More Read More

Managing software applications post-COVID

August 20 2020

As organizations settle into the new normal, it’s time to take back control of your software applications and address all the changes that will have been implemented during the Pandemic to allow ‘Business As Usual’ to reign. In this 15 minute session Livingstone Group’s Chie... Read More Read More

An expert guide to SAP S/4 HANA Contract Migration Challenges

February 20 2020

After 2025 SAP will only be supporting Customers who are converted to S/4 HANA. Many customers are already in the process of planning the technical migration since this is a quite complex exercise. Whilst the technical migration is complicated, the license contract conversion will also confront you... Read More Read More

Vendor audits are on the rise in 2021; here’s how to prepare

February 05 2021

Over the last three or so months, Livingstone Group has witnessed a marked up-tick in the number of audit letters and new audit requests being sent out to our clients. Our conservative estimate is that requests are up by 40 percent when compared to pre-pandemic levels. While worrying for ITAM profe... Read More Read More

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