The Problem: Rising License Costs and Confusion
As an executive of an A&E firm(perhaps a CFO or COO), you are likely aware of the significant investment required to maintain licenses for essential software tools. These software packages play a crucial role to accelerate design processes, collaborate with partners, and manage documents within your company. However, the cost of maintaining multiple versions of these software packages adds up quickly, affecting your overall budget.
The main architecture & engineering (AE) packages (including Revit, Civil 3-D, and Bluebeam Revu) can have a price tag of up to $12K+ per person per year! Juggling which version of software to use can confuse staff and software updates can disrupt work.
But with a C-level consolidation strategy, AE firms can save a minimum of 15% on license costs. At slashBlue, we’ve seen that a consolidating strategy works for firms from 20-2000 employees.
The Solution: Embrace Simplification
To overcome the challenges of rising license costs and the pace of change, it's time to simplify. By reducing the number of software versions your firm uses, and when you update them, you can achieve substantial savings in cost and increases in staff productivity. Here's how:
Sequence the Workflow: Assess the steps your A&E firm takes to create work product. Identify the key activities your team performs to accomplish results. Eliminate those that do not provide value.
Streamline Software: Identify the key software functions your team leans on to create designs and diagrams. Consider the software versions being used and determine if there are any redundancies or overlapping features across different packages.
Standardize Versions: Once you have identified the overlapping features, consider consolidating licenses. Choose the fewest versions of software needed to meet the majority of your firm's requirements. This will eliminate the need to purchase and maintain licenses for multiple versions, resulting in cost savings. Explore bundled subscription-based models offered by software partners. When you have a partner who can aggregate all your software, you can ensure your A&E firm stays up to date while controlling license costs.
Strategize Change: Identify the releases and updates for your firm that will have the biggest positive impact on productivity. Eliminate lesser releases unless they have necessary security updates. By reducing the amount of change, you will help your staff maintain productivity. Further, having everyone on the same version of software will reduce the likelihood of incompatibility and disruption.
The Benefits: Cost Savings and Streamlined Operations
We've helped numerous firms accelerate savings and consolidation while working with internal committees to manage the change. By reducing the number of software versions in your A&E firm, you can unlock several benefits:
Save Cost: Eliminating redundant software versions allows you to allocate resources where they will have the greatest return, resulting in money saved on license costs. Saving an average of 15% on software expenses has a direct, positive, impact on your firm's bottom line.
Streamline Change: Consolidating licenses and standardizing software versions across teams streamlines the way teams communicate, collaborate, and manage projects. When updated software is installed for all staff at the same time, everyone is working on the same platform, reducing errors with design documents, and improving overall efficiency.
In Conclusion
As an executive of an A&E firm, you want to make the most of your budget without compromising productive output. By reducing the number of software versions used in your organization, you can reduce costs while streamlining staff work. Evaluate your firm's software requirements, consolidate licenses, negotiate with vendors, and consider subscription models to crack the code and save an average of 15% on license costs.
For 100 software users, that saves ~$180,000!
Embrace simplification and empower your firm to thrive in today's competitive market.