The Experience Feedback of a Major Telecom Player

“Second-hand licenses should become a reflex. You need to consider them as an alternative to the publisher.”

In 2017, facing the scheduled end of support for Office 2007, this major French company, a leader in the telecommunications sector, was obliged to renew its software inventory of nearly 100,000 licenses. An operation that involved very significant maintenance costs. The software asset manager then decided to turn to the second-hand license market. A judicious choice, but one that had to be defended internally.

What software scope was concerned by the second-hand market?

We primarily needed to renew our suite of office software licenses under Office 2007, which was costing us several million euros annually in maintenance. We opted for the second-hand market mainly to reduce our maintenance costs and primarily acquired Microsoft Office 2013 and 2016 licenses.

What factors convinced you to choose the right option?

The economic equation was decisive. The acquisition cost was 75% cheaper. We also considered other publisher solutions, like Oracle, but they were more complex. The timing was right because, eventually, subscription models will overtake perpetual on-premise licenses. Second-hand licenses are a strategy at a given time but not in the long term.

“We saved several million euros compared to a classic license purchase, and even several tens of millions of euros compared to the price of cloud offers.”

What criteria was your marketplace choice based on?

Softcorner was the company that offered the most guarantees among the market players we studied. Not only were they very flexible regarding our request, but their processes were very clear. The principle of connecting with buyers seemed more transparent to us than that offered by brokers.

How did Softcorner support you throughout your process?

They offered us tailor-made support given the very large volume of licenses involved. The complexity of the second-hand market lies in the availability of software. The Softcorner teams not only activated the essential levers to find the right network of sellers for our request, but they also managed to “keep the links active” during the few months necessary for our internal processes.

What main obstacles did you have to overcome?

We had to convince the internal leadership. Their concerns were mainly about the security of the purchased products and the relationship with Microsoft. We are indeed resellers of the brand. But Microsoft is prioritizing its cloud offering, so the second-hand market does not pose a major obstacle. However, we had to take the time upfront to verify the license acquisition contracts and work with the Purchasing department to integrate Mangopay, the payment solution for marketplaces, into our processes.

What are the main advantages of using the second-hand market?

Beyond the financial benefit, it can be interesting to supplement your license inventory with second-hand ones during an audit. If you are using more licenses than planned, you can notably supplement your assets with second-hand software, which is less expensive. Reselling your own software assets could also be an interesting option in the long run. But in our case, it is more difficult because the licenses were acquired in very large batches, making them impossible to resell individually.

Four years after your first acquisitions, what feedback do you have?

Today, this second-hand license principle is very well received internally. The management controllers, in particular, are very satisfied! Since 2017, we have thus supplemented our software inventory with Microsoft Office and Project licenses purchased via Softcorner. The platform is now an integral part of the options considered whenever we need licenses. You just have to check if the license in question is suitable.

What are the next steps?

We plan to use the second-hand market as much as possible, at least until 2026 or even beyond for the very old licenses still in use. It is a real opportunity to keep old systems, which have little need to evolve, alive at a lower cost. There are still a few years left to optimize software costs before perpetual licenses disappear to make way for 100% cloud models. Remote work has changed the game. Prices are likely to soar, so companies will have to make choices to streamline their inventory as close as possible to the actual needs of their users. License management becomes essential.

What recommendations could you make?

Go ahead without hesitation but take the time upfront to study each file and each contract. Make sure to check the usage conditions of the licenses because they depend on each publisher. The second-hand market represents an interesting counterpower vis-à-vis publishers and represents substantial savings for an identical product.

The 3 key points

• Benchmark the different publishers to explore all possibilities for renewing your inventory.
• Compare the different market players: brokers and marketplaces.
• Check the compatibility of your licenses with second-hand purchases to ensure the feasibility of the transaction.

The key figures

• Software inventory of 100,000 Office 2007 licenses.
• Second-hand purchase price 75% lower than a “classic” license.
• Several million euros in savings achieved.