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The Vlaams-Brabant West Fire Department Zone, a group of regional public service providers that includes fire brigades and emergency responders, is located in the Western part of Flemish Brabant (Vlaams-Brabant), a region of Belgium. It is one of 35 emergency service zones in Belgium and was established in 2015 when municipal fire brigades were merged to form a more centralized organization. A total of nine fire stations are distributed throughout the area covered by the Vlaams-Brabant West Fire Department (FD) Zone, employing 600 people in total. The Vlaams-Brabant West FD Zone covers 33 municipalities and serves a total of 600,000 civilians.
Customer: Vlaams-Brabant West Fire Department Zone
Industry: Public Services
Solution: Software Asset Management, Snow Software
“It’s almost impossible for IT admins to keep an eye on every licensing model. Nowadays, you need an expert to guide you through the pitfalls of software licensing”, says Joeri Jacobs, System Administrator for the Vlaams-Brabant West FD Zone.
"Merging all the municipal fire brigades created various challenges in terms of hardware and software. Immediately following the merger, the zone comprised 600 users and 200 desktops. “There was only one department with an accessible inventory”, says Jacobs, adding, “We didn’t know which licenses were installed, or if those licenses were being used. Consequently, we sought a partner with excellent expertise in software asset management. That’s where SoftwareONE and Snow Software came in.”
After comparing various SAM tools, SoftwareONE suggested using Snow Software’s inventory tool. This provides an overview of the hardware and software inventory as well as of which products are actually being used. SoftwareONE will then use this information to develop a licensing policy that ensures the Vlaams-Brabant West FD Zone will only pay for what it needs.
“We’ve taken inventory, but we won’t stop there”, says Dimitri Sienaert, SAM Solution Advisor at SoftwareONE. “We can now proceed to consolidate licensing contracts and suggest removing redundant or even incompatible software, which will lead to significant cost savings in the future.”
- Complete overview of all assets including hardware configuration, software deployment, and software usage
- Complete overview of which software licenses are actually required
- Avoidance of audit penalties through ensured compliance
- Significant cost savings and budget control thanks to needs-based software procurement and usage
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