Outside of our specific approach and technology set we offer a number of standalone services to help clients either reduce software costs or risk. These can be taken as one off projects or as part of a combined Support Service.
All Principle consultants will have a minimum of 15 years delivery experience. With a blend of compliance and cost take out experience.
We cover all of the major software publishers within our service portfolio; however we do not always believe in employing 3rd party SAM tools to manage them where the licensing is complex. The ‘cost to return’ ration is minimal – The reality is that automating complex terms and conditions that change annually is almost impossible. The real give away is that most experienced software licence consultants will use a Microsoft Excel sheet to perform a licence reconciliation report on publishers like SAP, IBM and Oracle…. once a report is generated an organisation will only need to create a report once a year; this then reduces the requirement for 3rd party SAM tools that claim to automate the process.
Cost Take Out
For many businesses there is a sharp focus on managing and reducing costs. Software is very often over looked or at best a brief look at the top ten software publisher contracts is performed.
At Appstrato we have built a solid reputation on helping our clients reduce all elements of software costs. From application rationalisation, non authorised SaaS applications through to tail end spend. We cover all areas that help our clients, not just the areas that create ‘sales’ opportunities.
Appstrato prides itself on a 100% win rate when it comes to cost take out. To back this statistic we work on a ‘no savings – no fee’ model.
CLOUD COST MANAGEMENT & FINOPS
Are you experiencing high cloud cost growth and are unsure if all the services are actually being consumed in the right way? Many CIO’s and CFO’s are now trying to get to grips with this problematic area.
Our team can help you perform a short cost take out review or simply help you install a FinOps framework that can be combined with your Hyperscaler cost reporting and the Appstrato platform.
Founder & Principle consultant Steven Davison worked on the first certified FinOps review platform (PyraCloud via SoftwareONE) in 2020. From there Steven and the team have worked with FTSE 100 companies through to businesses with a few hundred employees.
FinOps in many respects is very similar to ITAM; it’s about building strong foundations rather than solely focussing on ‘quick wins’. The Fundamental difference with cloud cost management is that it is 10x harder to implement due to its agile nature.
ITAM Program Management
ITAM as a subject has been well documented for over 20 years. The benefits associated with good ITAM are well known. Conversely the pitfalls are equally documented; especially when technology has controlled the agenda.
Ninety percent of successful ITAM projects have a significant amount of planning and design built into the early stages. This is especially the case now that we must incorporate SaaS, cloud and AI. Following a SAM standard or certification does not provide the benefits it did 5 or 10 years ago.
Appstrato’s Founder and Principle Consultant Steven Davison has led hundreds of ITAM projects globally over the past 25 years. More recently working with a FTSE 100 company to define a FinOps target operating model, incorporating ITAM, blockchain and AI technologies .
Early stage planning and design along with program transition services are available.
Software Recognition Services
Utilising the Appstrato SAM platform we can help end users and partners understand their software estate in a matter of hours rather weeks.
Most software audit tools require manual effort to clean the raw data. The real intelligence and effort is in normalising the raw audit data. For this reason, Appstrato has designed an automated recognition system that heavily reduces the manpower associated with the data normalisation process.
Taking raw software audit data from multiple audit sources (Microsoft MAP, SCCM, Snow, LANDesk, etc) the Appstrato recognition platform uses a set of rules based scripts to identify, clean and summarise software data.
This service is used by end users and SAM service providers to reduce the timescales associated with software audit normalisation.
Cloud Migration Strategy
Moving to the cloud is not always the most efficient way to deliver your IT services. Our Azure Feasibility Service will allow you to understand your current state IT environment and then detail a practical road map for transition.
With leading class Microsoft Azure consultants Appstrato is able to deliver fast and independent results. A successful cloud migration starts with reliable and insight driven data.
Our consultants have delivered hundreds of Microsoft Migration Strategy Reviews over the past 3 years. Whilst the core element of the service is migration approach and benefits; Appstrato will also be able to help you understand where you may have current opportunities to reduce the cost of your existing services.
