BrightSourced announce new partnership with License Dashboard to focus on reducing customer’s software and hardware spend

BrightSourced, a company dedicated to ensuring organisations do not overpay for IT investments, has partnered with License Dashboard in launching a new Software and Hardware Asset Management Service, looking to save companies up to £500,000 a year.

Working with License Dashboard, BrightSourced will provide companies with a platform to manage and control their software and hardware assets, optimise the software investments that are currently in place, and ensure no company is over or under spending on their licenses.

Underpaying for licenses or being deemed as non-compliant based on inaccurate or no information can in fact be as expensive as overpaying due to being subject to the possibility of software mis-use fines

Johnny Ellis, Managing Director, License Dashboard said “We are extremely excited to be working with such an innovating company, it’s an absolute pleasure to invite them to our ever growing partner program. As many organisations face asset management challenges each day, from simply understanding their Effective License Position (ELP) to having a greater understating of their ITAM estate in readiness to moving to the cloud and user based software, we know BrightSourced will bring innovating and successful processes into their customer’s IT and business strategies.”

At the same time as focusing on cost optimisation, BrightSourced emphasises that the right strategic IT solution is the critical foundation for achieving the best results from all hardware and software investments. To achieve this they not only help analyse companies’ needs, but encourage close engagement with the vendors directly.

Mark Bradford Software Asset Management & Compliance Lead Microsoft UK commented “We welcome BrightSourced’s entry to the UK SAM Market. Its offering aligns clearly to the Microsoft Software Asset Management and Compliance mission to help organisations maximise value, minimise risks, and achieve more with their IT investment. An effective SAM programme provides a highly valuable "check and balance” with established IT security update policies playing an important role in helping customers identify potentially harmful applications and practices“

BrightSourced co-founder and CMO, Simon Smith commented, ‘For many companies trying to identify the right solution for them, and then monitor what is being paid for but not used, is a nightmare. When staff leave or move to another job in the business for instance, frequently the company fails to reassess its needs and cancel licenses that were being used but are no longer required. We estimate that every year companies employing around 2500 spend on average £500.000 unnecessarily, and implementing a successful SAM strategy can save up to 30% on your annual software spend. There is of course the other side of the coin where businesses are using software licenses outside of the agreements, and exposing themselves to fines. The partnership we have established with License Dashboard will help companies identify the right systems, ensure that they are compliant with their payment obligations, and remove the risk of fines’

One of the key problems identified by BrightSourced is that when the providers of licenses and hardware try to contact users, they are often seen as both checking up on existing use, and trying to make further sales. On both counts they find constructive dialogues very difficult. It is for this reason BrightSourced has joined forces with License Dashboard, offering companies an independent, informative approach.

Smith added, ‘It’s our objective at BrightSourced to help both companies and providers, optimise their IT investments without over or under paying. Particularly at the moment, and in all probability for the coming months, cash flow will prove critical for many companies and the amounts that we believe we can save will in some cases be the difference between survival and failure. At the same time, those companies using licenses outside of their agreements, many innocently, run the risk of material fines, partnering with License Dashboard will enable us to mitigate this risk. Our association with License Dashboard, is a big step for us in doing so.’


About Bright Sourced

BrightSourced provides a range of procurement services designed to help your business control purchasing processes, procure efficiently, and continually improve on previous contracts BrightSourced was founded in 2011 by leading procurement veterans, with the aim of helping businesses and organisations maximise the benefits of integrating procurement strategies, technology, market intelligence and purchasing expertise into their existing operations. Since that time we have worked with some of the UK’s largest retail chains and FTSE 100 companies, managing a spend portfolio worth over £1 billion.