SoftwareOne case study
VTU Group
VTU Group's Microsoft optimization with SoftwareOne (formerly Crayon) makes subtantial savings through addressing portal limitations, ensuring cost-effectiveness, and fostering future partnerships.
Challenges
- Previous Portal Limitations: VTU Group's previous licensing partner had a portal with limited capabilities, hindering their ability to optimize licenses effectively and efficiently.
- Comprehensive Solution Needed: The challenge was to find a partner who could offer a comprehensive solution to address the limitations of the existing portal and provide a more efficient way to manage Microsoft licenses.
- Tenant License Handover: One specific pain point was the handover of tenant licenses, which needed resolution within the project timeline.
Project summary
Microsoft Optimization: VTU Group partnered with SoftwareOne to optimize its Microsoft licensing, focusing on cost-effectiveness rather than compliance. The project aimed to make its IT budget leaner and more efficient.
Business benefits
- Immediate Savings: VTU Group realized immediate savings (€ low six figures) following the completion of the project, thanks to SoftwareOne's license optimization efforts.
- Efficiency and Optimization: SoftwareOne's solution allowed for self-onboarding licenses and optimized the entire Microsoft estate, making the management of licenses more efficient and cost-effective.
- Client
- VTU Group
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Services
- FinOps Services
- Country
- Austria
VTU Group's Microsoft licensing optimization journey
VTU Group plans and realizes future-proof facilities for the life sciences, chemical and process industy in Europe.Headquartered in Grambach, near Graz in Austria, VTU has 35 operations across Europe and employs mor than 1,300 people.
VTU’s offering ranges from engineering services to EPCMv deliveries of complete facilities for a broad range of companies that include renowned international groups such as Novartis, Evonik, or Boehringer Ingelheim. The group has seen rapid growth over the past few years and since 2019 has grown from about 600 employees to more than 1300 in 2023.
No one but SoftwareOne could have delivered license optimization in this way in Austria, that I'm aware of.
Director of IT, VTU Group
The rapid expansion of the business was one of the reasons why Adrian Halbwirth, VTU Group’s Director of IT, took the initiative to review its Microsoft licensing position as its Enterprise Agreement was coming up for renewal.
“Ongoing vendor analysis is part of our brief,” says Halbwirth. “As the business grows we want to stay efficient, keep control of costs, and make sure the IT budget is as lean as it can be.
“The objective was cost-effectiveness. We had a good partner and were confident in our Microsoft reconciliations. Where we thought we could do better was in license optimization. Our previous vendor also had a portal but it was not as comprehensive as SoftwareOne’s Microsoft Optimization Service.”
VTU did consider other vendors but chose SoftwareOne for its professionalism, its understanding of the challenges, and its fresh ideas on how to overcome them. Another consideration was that SoftwareOne could be a potential partner in future projects.
“The initial meeting was great. SoftwareOne’s ideas were great – our workload to manage the Microsoft estate would be lighter, and we’d optimize what we had.”
Achieving cost savings and streamlined operations
The project kicked off in November 2022 and was completed on time in February 2023. “Everything worked,” says Halbwirth. “Changes to the deadlines were no problem, it was all very stress-free.”
One pain point concerned the handover of tenant licenses but this was resolved before the deadline.
“The benefits of self-onboarding licenses and optimization were visible immediately from project end in February,” says Halbwirth.
SoftwareOne optimized the VTU estate of Microsoft licenses for a year, leading to savings of in the . “No one but SoftwareOne could have delivered license optimization in this way in Austria, that I’m aware of,” Halbwirth comments.
VTU will continue to use MOS and SoftwareOne Premium Support to optimize and monitor its licensing position going forward. “We are in ongoing communication about other possibilities,” adds Halbwirth, “because there are multiple intersections between what VTU Group needs and what SoftwareOne has to offer by way of services that add value.”
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