Streamline license and subscription management with Software-defined Infrastructure Services

When aligned with business practices, your organization’s technology assets and the licenses that govern their use are not necessary evils – they are tools for creating business value. 

According to our 2024 Infrastructure Lifecycle Management Report, CIOs and CTOs name digitalization and greater adoption of innovation and new technologies as one of their top business objectives (second only to their environmental, social and governance goals).

In this blog, NTT DATA’s Bjorn Borger, Senior Solution Manager: Software and Support Services, and Andreea Ciurea, Go-to-Market Support Services Manager, discuss asset lifecycle management and how it’s affecting the Dutch market.

Replace “end of service” with “end of vulnerability”

Bjorn: About three years ago, the focus started shifting from hardware to software, and this trend keeps gaining traction. The way organizations purchase software has also changed. With subscription-based software, they now need to keep track of all their hardware and their software licenses – both software and hardware now have an expiry date. This “end of x” means older networks can’t take advantage of all the functionalities you have licensed, which creates vulnerabilities.

Andreea: So, organizations need to focus on managing their technology assets effectively and sustainably. Without effective lifecycle management, they can have excesses assets. It can be difficult to manage all the technologies they’ve accumulated from different vendors, causing excess expenditure. Then there’s the issue of sustainability. Buying additional technology to fix gaps can have a higher environmental impact than managing the technology lifecycle and disposing of technology responsibly.

Bjorn: I agree. Lifecycle management is about sustainability, security and knowing which licenses you have and how you’re using them. That’s where our Software-defined Infrastructure Services (SDIS) come in. For example, we helped an education client who experienced a series of security breaches because their licenses were out of date. We identified which licenses had expired, creating vulnerabilities. We also helped one of our bigger clients with license management. Using our SDIS saved them about EUR 200,000 a year just by knowing which licenses they were using from different vendors and how the licenses could be applied across architectures.

Andreea: SDIS enables our clients to develop and scale services more quickly to meet their needs. It allows them to be cost-effective because it reduces some of that spend on hardware. Because you have the visibility and control, you can repurpose some of those resources to work on something else.

• ALSO READ → Making sense of software-defined infrastructure with NTT DATA

The priorities driving lifecycle management in the Netherlands

Bjorn: Broadly speaking, our Dutch clients have three main priorities: AIOps driven by Enterprise Agreements, sustainability and creating a strategy for lifecycle management.

Our platform enables clients to see all the functionality they have access to, so they can avoid situations where they have several licenses that do the same thing. Enterprise Agreements create opportunities for automation, as everything is designed to connect.

Andreea: What SDIS does very well is that it allows clients to have a clear, comprehensive view of their base. With this visibility and control, you have opportunities to automate, create applications and use AI that ingests the data that you already have. If you do this continually and consistently, from a good, streamlined base, automation will give you the type of returns that you want.

Bjorn: Our clients are starting to think more about how to invest in technology to achieve business outcomes instead of just keeping systems running. We consult with them to really see what’s good for their organization from a net infrastructure perspective.

Let's consider one of our clients in the education sector. They had Cisco Catalyst Center in place but weren't really using it. We demonstrated how automation within Catalyst Center could predict and solve network issues, freeing up time to concentrate on strategic business goals rather than managing the network manually.

Andreea: Sustainability is also a key consideration when we talk about technology management. We need to look at how we can optimize resource usage to reduce energy consumption. It's all about making sure that we get that return on investment from what is there already in the network and ensure that we extend and optimize the lifecycle of the technology so that we get the most out of it while producing the least waste and use the least energy possible.

Bjorn: We’re often asked to help with sustainability. It’s a broad topic, but for networks and services it often boils down to what assets a client has. Using older, less energy-efficient infrastructure can unnecessarily increase their carbon footprint, as can having too many assets and licenses. We can help them find the right balance.

• ALSO READ → Want to become more sustainable? Start with your technology

An Enterprise Agreement in action

Andreea: Enterprise Agreements help clients get the most out of their licenses. Our lifecycle specialists recommend solutions and give clients insights into how SDIS will help them.  

Bjorn: One example of this is a Dutch client in the industrial sector. We sold them an Enterprise Agreement, but it was more than a sale. We ensure that our clients understand the potential business outcomes they can achieve with the features they're purchasing. During the presale process, we discussed the goals our client wanted to achieve and tailored the solution to fit their goals.

The first Enterprise Agreement lasted for three years, and we actively worked with the client through demos, workshops and continuous discussions to get the best return on investment out of the agreement. We made the client aware of all available functionalities, including lifecycle management and network automation. We know this approach is effective because the client renewed the Enterprise Agreement when the three years were over.

Andreea: Security and compliance is always woven into these workshops. We explain how, with up-to-date software, our clients can keep ahead of vulnerabilities. And with Enterprise Agreements, it’s easier for them to remain compliant and maintain security.

Bjorn: With hardware, you used to look at the vendor’s end-of-sale and end-of-service dates and advice clients from that perspective. With the shift to software, we now give advice based on our services and insights, like those from our Digital Wallet. During workshops, we review important dates and inform them about upcoming software vulnerabilities, particularly when software will soon become vulnerable.

We had a great discussion with a big finance client who wanted this kind of information. We used our Lifecycle Management Services, which are part of our SDIS, to gain details on when licenses were going to expire and determine what to do next. With this information, when we talk about a refresh we can help the client to make sure that security is still in place. Based on our initial advice, we can offer further guidance, helping the client to address wider security issues.

What’s next? Emerging market trends in SDIS

Bjorn: Our services give clients a comprehensive understanding of how critical their networks are to business outcomes. When it comes to software and automation, organizations want to benefit from all the functionalities built into their network licensing. At the moment, SDIS makes up about 60% of our sales. I think it will grow to 90% very soon.

Integrated AIOps is the hottest trend in license and subscription management. Our services, especially SDIS Premium, offer proactive insights into the network. This works much better and takes much less time than backward-engineering the cause of a network problem, which means employees can be more productive. We provide excellence in customer experience and adoption, and facilitate security and compliance. We can support organizations to not only adapt to the current environment, but to drive and to really transform amid ongoing change.