Jump to a section
OVERVIEW
- $50K–$100K avoided in software costs after initial implementation
- License reassignment model eliminating unnecessary new purchases
- Minimal CPU and memory impact with Xensam’s lightweight agent
- Data-driven buy-in for change management across departments
- Fast support and custom development tailored to specific needs
THE CUSTOMER
A mid-size environmental engineering and consulting company based in the western United States, providing a range of engineering, science, and construction services focused on environmental sustainability across the US.
THE Challenge
Summarize:
ChatGPT
Perplexity AILicense utilization guesswork with no reliable usage data
The company struggled to determine their licensing needs during budget cycles. License quantities were difficult to justify without reliable usage data, and an earlier attempt to solve this with a software metering platform proved disappointing — the data was highly inaccurate regarding software usage, installation status, and user allocation.
The platform’s agent also created performance problems. The high CPU and memory demand on endpoints led to complaints about computer performance across the organization.
As more services transitioned to the cloud, the team needed a SAM platform that could work across their environment regardless of cloud provider.
“We became increasingly aware of our license underutilization and started to search for a SAM platform. As most of our services had transitioned to the cloud, we wanted it to be cloud-agnostic and provide usage and metering data irrespective of the cloud provider.”
— Director of Digital Services Support
Xensam’s cloud-agnostic platform and lightweight agent addressed both core requirements: accurate, comprehensive usage data across their entire environment, with minimal impact on device performance. Unlike their previous metering tool, Xensam covers every application the company owns and tracks utilization down to the minute.
“Now, we have a robust platform that looks at every application we own. It gives us usage and entitlements, plus we can add cost centers and examine the total cost of software as well.”
— Director of Digital Services Support
$50K–$100K in software cost avoidance
With access to accurate usage data, the company has avoided between $50,000 and $100,000 in software costs since initial implementation. This is just the beginning — the team plans to expand Xensam’s use across more of the business and is exploring hiring a dedicated Software Asset Management specialist to build on the momentum.
“This is just the initial impact, and we plan to expand its implementation throughout the business to explore more applications. Now, we’re potentially looking into hiring someone specializing in software asset management to expand our focus in that area.”
— Director of Digital Services Support
License reassignment eliminating unnecessary purchases
Rather than automatically purchasing new licenses when demand arises, the team now checks actual usage first. Unused licenses are reassigned to those who need them, only triggering new purchases when genuine need is demonstrated.
“We monitor usage closely. If someone isn’t using their license, we reassign it to someone who needs it until the need for a new license is demonstrated. This saves us money by avoiding unnecessary software purchases.”
— Director of Digital Services Support
Data-driven change management across the organization
Reliable usage data has changed how the team handles software co-management, co-authoring, and change management conversations across the organization. Rather than relying on opinion, decisions about software reallocation and licensing adjustments are now backed by metrics, making it easier to build agreement across departments.
“Change management is crucial for our organization, and we rely on metrics to support our decisions. Presenting metrics during discussions about software reallocation or licensing adjustments helps to facilitate agreements.”
— Director of Digital Services Support
The team also facilitates self-service reporting for the finance department, giving them direct access to the information they need without relying on IT.
Minimal impact on device performance
Xensam’s lightweight agent gathers extensive, high-quality data with minimal impact on CPU and memory, a significant improvement over the metering agent it replaced.
“I initially thought it might slow down once we added all our endpoints, but it still runs fast. We consistently monitor CPU and memory utilization on the endpoints, and Xupervisor has one of the lowest numbers among the systems we have deployed.”
— Director of Digital Services Support
Fast support and custom development
Xensam’s support team has been responsive and fast, handling both application recognition requests and custom development needs.
“The support team is very responsive and fast to reply to queries. If the web application doesn’t exist, you can contact Support, and they will add it for you.”
“The engineering team quickly provides custom builds for reporting or other tasks when needed. They’re swift to get things done.”
— Director of Digital Services Support
“The engineering team quickly provides custom builds for reporting or other tasks when needed. They’re swift to get things done.”
