Case Study: IBM Licensing Review for a Large UK Bank
Challenge
A leading UK bank renowned for its retail and corporate banking services engaged Redress Compliance to conduct a comprehensive IBM licensing review. The bank’s IT infrastructure supported critical operations, including transaction systems, customer relationship management, and regulatory compliance platforms.
With a complex licensing environment spanning virtualized systems, cloud platforms, and legacy systems, the bank sought to ensure compliance, reduce financial risks, and identify opportunities for cost optimization. Given the high stakes of regulatory compliance in the financial sector, the bank required expert guidance to navigate IBM’s intricate licensing terms.
The Process
- Comprehensive Licensing Review: • Redress Compliance performed an exhaustive review of the bank’s IBM licensing agreements and entitlement data. • Evaluated software deployments across physical servers, virtual environments, and cloud platforms to ensure accurate entitlement mapping.
- Non-Compliance Identification: • Validated usage data to identify discrepancies and areas of potential non-compliance. • Discovered misaligned entitlements and misconfigured sub-capacity licensing setups.
- Optimization and Cost Savings: • Identified underutilized licenses and redundant IBM products, creating significant cost-saving opportunities. • Reallocated existing licenses to match actual usage, eliminating the need for additional purchases. • Recommended the decommissioning of four redundant IBM solutions to streamline the bank’s software portfolio.
- Governance and Long-Term Compliance: • Developed a governance framework incorporating automated compliance monitoring tools and periodic internal audits. • Delivered training sessions to IT and procurement teams to improve understanding of IBM licensing terms and governance practices.
Results
- Reduction in Non-Compliance Exposure: • Initial financial exposure due to non-compliance: £20 million. • Final exposure after remediation: £0.
- Cost Savings Achieved: • Annual savings from eliminating unused licenses: £4 million. • Additional savings from decommissioned products: £1.8 million. • Total savings achieved: £5.8 million annually.
- Optimization Outcomes: • 25% reduction in total IBM licensing costs. • Reallocated over 12,000 processor value units (PVUs) to meet current needs. • Streamlined product portfolio, improving operational efficiency and reducing overhead.
Quote from the CIO:
“Redress Compliance’s IBM licensing review ensured we were fully compliant while delivering substantial cost savings. Their expertise and guidance helped us optimize our licensing strategy and strengthened our IT governance. They were an invaluable partner in this process.”
Key Results:
- Initial Exposure: £20 million.
- Savings Achieved: £5.8 million annually.
- Compliance Enhanced: Fully compliant with IBM licensing terms.
- Operational Efficiency: Optimized software portfolio and reduced licensing overhead.
This case highlights Redress Compliance’s ability to deliver significant financial and operational benefits to financial institutions, ensuring compliance and cost efficiency in complex IBM licensing environments.
