Being independent means we do not sell software or accept commissions from Microsoft, Oracle SAP or IBM. This ensures our advice is unbiased and focused only on your best interests. In other words, we sit on your side of the table when dealing with Microsoft, Oracle, SAP or IBM. Clients choose us because they want a partner with no ulterior motives – just genuine, expert guidance to help them save money and reduce risk.

We help clients get a handle on their Microsoft licenses (Windows, Office 365, Azure, etc.) and find significant savings. Our team will analyze your current Microsoft entitlements and usage to identify unused or under-utilized licenses. We’ll also benchmark your contract against industry peers to see if you’re paying more than you should. With that data, we support you in Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) negotiations – preparing counter-offers, highlighting where you deserve better discounts, and ensuring you’re not buying more than you need.

The result: you’ll only pay for the Microsoft products you truly use, under the most favorable terms possible.

Oracle is infamous for its audits and complex licensing (like the Java SE subscriptions and ULA contracts). White Raven IT provides the best Oracle licensing expert to be your guide and shield. We start by reviewing your Oracle deployments (databases, middleware, Java, cloud services) and verifying them against your licenses. If an audit is underway (or looming), we help you prepare your defense – gathering data, rectifying any unintentional compliance gaps, and pushing back against Oracle’s findings where appropriate. We’ve helped companies successfully navigate Oracle audits with zero penalty fees by being thoroughly prepared. For Oracle contract renewals or ULA (Unlimited License Agreement) negotiations, we identify leverage points: perhaps transitioning off certain Oracle products, or using third-party support, to improve your negotiating position. Our goal is to ensure you remain compliant without overpaying – achieving a balanced outcome where Oracle is satisfied and you’re not caught by surprise costs.

You’re not alone – SAP licensing is notoriously convoluted. We assist at multiple levels:

• License Audit & Optimization: We assess your current SAP user licenses and engine metrics to find any mismatch or excess. For example, are some users assigned expensive licenses they don’t need? We’ll spot that and reclassify them appropriately.

• Indirect/Digital Access: Many companies worry about indirect use (e.g., non-SAP systems accessing SAP data). We clarify SAP’s rules and help you quantify any indirect usage. Often, we can find a resolution that avoids hefty additional fees by adjusting configurations or negotiating a custom agreement.

• RISE vs On-Prem: If you’re considering SAP’s RISE offering versus a traditional S/4HANA on-premise route, we’ll lay out the cost implications of each. We simulate long-term costs under different scenarios so you can decide with eyes wide open. SAP may push one option, but we make sure your interests drive the decision.

• Contract Negotiation: When renewing SAP contracts or buying new SAP products, we leverage our market knowledge (discount benchmarks, typical concessions SAP can give) to your advantage. We help draft terms that include price protections and flexibility for the future. In short, we turn SAP’s complexity into a strategic advantage for you. With our support, you’ll regain control of your SAP landscape and ensure you’re not caught off guard by surprise costs.

Absolutely. IBM’s sprawling product portfolio (from WebSphere to IBM Cloud) each has its own licensing quirks. We have deep expertise in IBM’s metrics and tools:

• We’ll make sure IBM’s ILMT (IBM License Metric Tool) is properly deployed in your environment if you’re using virtualized infrastructure. ILMT is crucial for sub-capacity licensing (paying for only the CPU capacity you use, not the full server), but it’s tricky to configure. We ensure it’s running correctly so you reap sub-capacity savings and remain compliant.

• We audit your IBM software usage and compare it to entitlements. If you’re under-licensed somewhere, we devise a remediation plan before IBM ever audits (so you can true-up on your terms, not theirs). If you’re over-licensed, we’ll identify opportunities to drop maintenance or reallocate licenses elsewhere.

While you can’t always prevent a vendor from exercising their audit rights, you can make audits uneventful. White Raven IT helps clients build an “audit-ready” posture:

• Proactive Compliance Review: We perform internal license compliance checks for your major vendors regularly – the same way the auditors would. By finding and fixing compliance gaps early, you reduce the chances a vendor will flag you, or at least you eliminate surprises.

• License True-ups: For any shortfalls we discover, we advise on the most cost-effective way to purchase the needed licenses or subscriptions (or alternate solutions to reduce usage). That way, if an audit happens, you’re already in line with terms.

• Audit Response Plan: We help establish a clear process for handling audit notices – who in your company should respond, what data to gather (and what not to volunteer unnecessarily), and how to interface with the auditors. A calm, managed response often shortens an audit.

• Delay/Schedule Tactics: In some cases, we can negotiate the timing of an audit to better suit your schedule (for instance, pushing it to a quarter where you’ll have more resources available to respond). While you can’t refuse an audit if it’s contractually allowed, you do have some say in scope and timing – and we leverage that. With these steps, many of our clients get through audits with zero financial impact.

Gaining a full inventory of your software assets is a foundational step to optimization. We assist by deploying proven IT asset management (ITAM) tools and processes:

• License Inventory: We’ll compile a centralized list of all your software titles, versions, and entitlements across the organization. This often involves integrating data from multiple sources – procurement records, configuration databases, cloud portals, etc. We then cross-reference usage data (from tools, or network scans) to identify software that might be installed without formal approval (also known as shadow IT).

• Shadow IT Discovery: Using our tools, we can detect applications or cloud services that employees signed up for outside of IT’s purview (for example, someone using an unauthorized SaaS app). Once identified, we help you decide whether to bring them under management or phase them out for security/licensing reasons.

• Dashboard & Reporting: We provide you with dashboards that give at-a-glance visibility into your license compliance status, renewals calendar, and usage trends. Imagine seeing all your major vendors’ compliance positions on one screen – we make that happen.

Utilization of Tools: We often deploy cloud cost management tools to track spending by project, environment, or application. This transparency helps assign accountability and spot anomalies quickly.

Our events are typically invite-only,we target IT executives (CIOs, IT procurement heads, vendor managers) who have a lot to share and gain from the conversation. If you’re interested in attending:

• Reach out to us via the contact form or email with a quick note about your role and interest in our events. We’ll be happy to consider you for the next relevant session.

• We also occasionally partner with specific organizations or host client-specific roundtables; if your company wants a custom workshop or roundtable on a particular topic (just for your industry peers), we can facilitate that as well.

• And if you just want to stay informed, let us know – we can add you to our mailing list for event announcements (we promise, no spam, just occasional updates). Our goal is to bring together a diverse but aligned group for each event – different industries, but facing similar IT challenges – to spark meaningful discussions. We’d love to have you be a part of that if it’s a good fit. Don’t hesitate to get in touch about events, and we’ll connect you with our event coordinator to explore the possibilities!