Situation
Two federal defense software management programs joined forces to reduce the cost of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software through improved enterprise agreements and management of strategic IT vendor relationships. These two programs brought in Censeo to support their efforts, leveraging Censeo’s rigorous analytics, IT subject matter expertise, and vendor relationship management best practices to further reduce costs and drive efficiencies.
Approach
Censeo worked with the client to combine commercial software licensing and strategic vendor management (SVM) best practices, developing an innovative framework tailored to the unique federal defense environment. This framework provided a standardized approach to identifying and evaluating opportunities to drive efficiencies and cost savings through improved enterprise relationships with strategic IT vendors.
Censeo also focused on bringing robust analytics and expert facilitation of collaborative dialogues with both the original equipment manufacturer (OEM)/publisher and key internal constituencies. The team brought actionable business intelligence to inform the client’s decision-making, and developed a range of client-specific analytical tools and techniques that have provided unprecedented spend and asset visibility. Combined with deep IT subject matter expertise, Censeo’s business intelligence toolkit has enabled the client to identify and execute on near-term opportunities (such as enterprise licenses), as well as develop a roadmap of future initiatives to continuously improve management of their vendor relationships.
Expert facilitation of productive engagement with the OEM/publisher is perhaps the most impactful element Censeo brings to the SVM process. The team worked collaboratively to engage each publisher as a strategic partner, facilitating critical dialogue with OEMs to explore “the art of the possible” and maximize outcomes for the agency. In addition, Censeo worked across functional silos within the client’s organization to bridge gaps between the acquisition, business, technical, and financial communities. This cross-functional collaboration was critical to ensure solutions aligned with both component and enterprise strategy and had buy-in from key constituencies.