Gartner predicts licensing cost fall
Analyst firm Gartner has predicted that increasing customer pressure to save costs will force many software vendors to lower their prices in the coming months.
Gartner vice president William Snyder said: “Up until now the unique nature of the software market has meant that buyers had very little negotiating power after the initial purchase of a software licence. We expect those dynamics to change considerably over the next five to 10 years giving CIOs and software procurement officers more bargaining power while potentially reducing software vendor profit margins.”
The firm also believes that, while Open Source won’t replace paid-for software, it will turn the screws on the likes of Microsoft and IBM and perhaps change the way reseller margins are structured in the future.
This is good news for organizations looking to improve their Software Asset Management practices, as the cost of truing up or re-negotiating volume licensing agreements looks set to fall.
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