Good advice is priceless. But we give it to you free of charge. After all, software is expensive enough as it is, so any way to save on it is a bonus. These three tips will help you start saving even more.

1. Take stock

Time is money, but so is software— even if you’re not using it half the time (or at all). The first step towards saving on all the software and applications in your organization is to take stock of what you have, what you need and what you can do without.

You can actually start saving immediately by getting rid of software that you subscribed to years ago but now use only rarely, if ever. The costs are still automatically deducted from your account each year as part of a software-as-a-service subscription. By simply going over your monthly accounts, you’ll be able to identify costs like these, which you may have forgotten all about.

For subscriptions that aren’t as easy to spot, you can use a special tool that scans your network and computers for software installations. Endpoint management software lets you use the software metering function to see which applications are actually being used, who’s using them, and how often. You’ll be amazed at how many licenses, subscriptions and other software-related expenses you can probably get rid of.

2. Virtualize

Another way to save is to switch to using subscription versions of the apps you really need. Take a careful look at the software licenses you listed above. Focus now on the ones that you absolutely cannot do without. Could you save money by switching to the SaaS versions of any of those apps? In most cases, using the SaaS version means you only pay for what you actually use. So, you never have too many licenses. And if you need to scale up or down, you can always adjust the number of subscriptions. SaaS is a form of virtualization. The software runs in the cloud, and the user accesses the app through their web browser instead of using a stand-alone application.

A step further is “real” virtualization, where not only your applications, but your entire operating system runs in the cloud. The major advantage here is that you can run heavy applications, even on computers with lower hardware specifications, as long as the virtual operating system works. This saves you not only on software, but also on hardware.

3. Invest

Invest in a good endpoint management tool, as mentioned before. Because in addition to keeping track of licenses and monitoring software, this will also help you save on other time-consuming chores, such as rolling out software. Any system administrator who’s ever had to update more than ten workstations knows what we mean. While updating would normally take around 10 minutes per app, per computer, with the right tool, you can run the updates in less than half that time. Check out this business case for a full overview of all the facts and figures.

In addition to the money it saves you right away, look at it from an investment perspective: How much more will I save for each euro that I invest? No spoilers here, but we can tell you that with Easy Software Deployment the savings are truly incredible. If you’ve read this post and you’re still not completely sure, then be sure to check out our calculation tool which lets you fill in your own figures, so you know exactly how much you can save. Or how much return you’ll get on each euro you invest. And then feel free to contact us to discuss what we can do to help your organization start saving now.

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