Third Party Support

The Facts
Leading industry analysts firm Forrester Research found that more than 70% of surveyed CIOs are planning to rethink their enterprise software maintenance strategies. 1 

Annual software support costs represent a significant and growing portion of today’s IT budget.2 Forester estimates that maintenance fees consume as much as one-third of IT software budgets.3   Software maintenance has increases to as much as 22% of initial software license fees and even higher with annual increases.  Vendor support contracts add annual increases to maintenance fees.  These annual increases add up and in many cases organizations are essentially “re-buying’ their licenses every three to four years.

Research analyst Ray Wang stated, “When evaluating how a third party might help maximize your IT dollars, don’t discount third-party software maintenance vendors.  It’s a growing trend, despite completive pressures from large vendors to stymie third-party maintenance vendors.

Third-Party Support Saves 50% to 80%
Organizations that have turned to third-party software support have incurred major costs savings – often more than a 50% savings compared to the vendor’s annual support fees. Besides the immediate 50% savings, using third-party software support reduces several hidden costs that could potential save organizations 80% or more.4  

Benefits

• Substantial reduction in maintenance fees


• Responsive level of service with access to developers


• Maximize the return on current software investments until a business case exists for new systems


• Free up IT funds for next generation technology


• Transition to a new software platform at your own pace