Software estate spend assessment
Advisory / Software Spend Assessment

Software Spend Assessment

One independent read across the whole software estate: what it costs, where the audit exposure sits, which renewals are coming, and the five moves worth making first. Delivered in 4 to 6 weeks.

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4 to 6Weeks to the Full Roadmap
Top 5Savings Priorities Ranked
Fixed fee or contingency at 25% of savings. On contingency our fee is 25% of the savings we deliver and you keep 75%: no savings, no fee, zero risk.
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500+ Enterprise Clients Industry Recognized $2B+ Under Advisory 11 Vendor Practices 100% Buyer Side Independent
Who buys this service

Leaders who inherited an estate without a map

The assessment is bought at moments of arrival and doubt: a new CIO or CFO wants an independent view of what the software estate costs and risks, a board asks what the exposure is, or a savings target lands with no evidence base underneath it.

It fits organizations that have never seen their spend, audit posture, and renewal calendar in one picture, and teams that want the first five moves ranked by yield before committing to any of them.

New CIOs and CFOsIT procurementRisk and audit committeesIT financeTransformation leads
What we solve

The questions the estate cannot currently answer

Most estates cannot answer five questions any board might ask:

  • What does the software estate actually cost, all in, across licenses, cloud, and support?
  • Where would an audit hurt, and how much, publisher by publisher?
  • Which renewals land in the next twelve months, and where is the leverage in each?
  • Where are the five largest savings, ranked by yield and effort?
  • In what order should the negotiations run, and why?

The assessment answers all five, in writing, with evidence, in 4 to 6 weeks.

How we do it

Scope, baseline, prioritize, brief

Four phases produce the roadmap: scope locked in week one, the estate baselined independently, priorities ranked by yield and effort, and the executive readout delivered with the negotiation sequence attached.

Workstream 01
Scope and intake
Contract intake, spend data, deployment telemetry, and stakeholder interviews, with scope locked from day one.
Workstream 02
Estate baseline
Independent baseline of spend, consumption, entitlement, audit posture, and the renewal calendar across the covered publishers.
Workstream 03
Priority shortlist
The top five savings priorities ranked by yield and effort, each quantified to a discrete recommendation.
Workstream 04
Roadmap and readout
The executive readout: CFO and procurement briefed on the roadmap, with fixed fee or contingency options for executing each priority.

A typical engagement, week by week

Workstream
W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10W11W12
Contract and spend intake
Stakeholder interviews
Estate baseline
Audit posture and renewal calendar
Priority shortlist and quantification
Executive readout and roadmap
The assessment runs 4 to 6 weeks end to end from complete data intake. Navy bars are analysis and build, gold diamonds mark a deliverable handover, gray bars run on demand.
DeliverableWhat it contains
Software spend reportThe independent baseline: cost, consumption, and contracts mapped to a single view across the estate.
Top five savings prioritiesThe ranked shortlist, each priority quantified with a target outcome and the effort to capture it.
Audit posture reviewThe exposure heat map by publisher with recommended containment steps for open issues.
Renewal calendarTwelve months of renewals with leverage points and decision deadlines plotted to the day.
Negotiation roadmapThe sequenced plan across publishers: which to open first, with what leverage, and why.
Why buy this service

One picture is worth five opinions

Every vendor, reseller, and tool in the estate offers its own version of this picture, each drawn to sell something. The assessment is the version drawn to sell nothing: no reseller agreements, no referral fees, and no stake in which savings you pursue.

The method comes from 500+ engagements across 11 vendor practices, which is what makes the priority ranking credible: the yields are estimated from deals we have actually run, not from tool vendor marketing.

The output is designed for decisions: five priorities with numbers, a calendar with deadlines, and a sequence with reasons. Boards act on it because there is nothing vague in it.

The assessment is fixed price. Executing the roadmap afterward runs engagement by engagement, fixed fee or contingency at 25 percent of the savings we deliver: you keep 75 percent.

Client results

Engagements on the record

What the priorities turn into, on the record.

Frequently asked questions

Questions we hear first

What does the software spend assessment cover?

The whole estate: spend and consumption across licenses, cloud, and support, audit posture by publisher, the twelve month renewal calendar, the top five savings priorities ranked by yield, and the negotiation roadmap to execute them.

How long does it take?

4 to 6 weeks end to end from complete data intake, with the executive readout and roadmap delivered at the close.

What data do you need?

Contracts and renewal schedules, spend data, and whatever deployment or usage telemetry exists. Gaps are normal; the intake works with what you have and flags what to instrument.

Who is the assessment for?

New CIOs and CFOs wanting an independent read, boards asking for the exposure picture, and procurement teams that want the first moves ranked before committing budget to any of them.

What happens after the readout?

Your choice: execute the roadmap internally with the documents, or engage us on individual priorities, fixed fee or contingency at 25 percent of delivered savings. The assessment stands alone either way.

How is this different from a SAM tool report?

Tools report what they measure; the assessment ranks what to do. Every priority carries a yield estimate from comparable engagements, an effort rating, and the negotiation lever to capture it.

Can it focus on specific vendors?

Yes. The standard scope covers the anchor publishers; the depth per vendor flexes to where your spend and risk concentrate.

How is the assessment priced?

A fixed, all inclusive fee for the full assessment and readout. Roadmap execution afterward runs fixed fee or contingency at 25 percent of the savings we deliver: you keep 75 percent.

Advisory team preparing a vendor negotiation

Five questions, answered in writing

Cost, exposure, calendar, priorities, and sequence: the estate in one picture, 4 to 6 weeks from now.

Negotiation intelligence, monthly

One letter a month. Negotiation moves, audit signals, and price book shifts.