Global organizations are spending billions of dollars on software that is going unused, according to new data from Software Lifecycle Automation company, 1E. The findings have been revealed in a new report analyzing the results of a four-year study of over 1,800 software titles deployed on 3.6 million desktops, in 129 enterprises, across 14 industries.
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The report, entitled “The Real Cost of Unused Software,” reveals the level of waste to be extreme, with a global average of 37%. In the US alone, where the waste is a staggering 37%, this amounts to $259 per desktop and a total of $30bn in wasted IT dollars.* To put that into perspective, $30 billion is how much the Borgen Project estimates is needed to end to world hunger.
Overall, the UK boasts the lowest waste with an overall average of 26%, which equates to £159 per desktop and a total waste of £5.7 bn. Whilst this is substantially lower than the US figure, it still shows that UK firms are still squandering over a quarter of their software spend. The report also reveals the biggest offenders when it comes to software waste by company size, industry and software title.
The statistics and financial implications may seem shocking, however the real costs to business are far more complex. The failure of organizations to keep a handle on their software estates exposes them to many other risks, including cyber-attacks on uncontrolled software and audits from revenue hungry vendors. If this really is the case, why are CIOs letting this slip?
The reality is, that faced with the seismic changes occurring as a result of digital disruption, CIOs are no longer concerned with driving down costs, but have instead turned their gaze towards adding value. Because of this, eliminating software waste, which is often seen as a cost-cutting exercise, has become less of a priority.
Jason Keogh, VP of Product at 1E, comments: “This in-depth report from 1E, confirms that unused software levels are extreme. However, the financial benefits of managing this better are just the tip of the iceberg. CIOs who are successful in adding value to their businesses get a handle on software asset management and embrace automation throughout the software lifecycle. Automating removal of unused software better enables companies to keep up with the pace of digital chance, it will increase security, decrease patch time and effort, free up resources to work on innovation rather than basic tasks and do all of this while reducing cost.”
- The 1E report, The Real Cost of Unused Software, is available for free download, with a related software waste infographic here
- Join our senior IT Financial Analyst Buffi Neal at our live webinar today, November 10, at 12 PM ET / 5 PM GMT, where she’ll breakdown the latest figures by industry and software titles
Find out where your risks lie and provide your decision-makers with a concrete business case today. Download 1E’s Software Lifecycle Intelligence Tool free of charge without obligation. The tool provides access to two dashboards of data that reveal how your software estate measures up in terms of both risk and waste.
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*Research methodology
The 1E analysis into the software that is deployed and unused in organizations was carried out on 3.6m desktops in 129 companies across 14 industry sectors. ‘Unused software’ is defined as software that has not been used for 90 days. The cost estimates are based on the 35 most commonly deployed software titles across the 3.6m desktops.
About 1E
1E empowers the world’s largest organizations to simplify and speed up the complete software lifecycle, from request to delivery, management, retirement and procurement of software. In the digital age, businesses must rapidly create new opportunities and for that they need fast, agile IT. Through its suite of easy to use, fast and secure tools, 1E automates each stage of the software lifecycle, providing consumer grade self-service with enterprise grade governance. With more than 26 million licenses deployed worldwide, 1,700 organizations in 42 countries trust 1E to help them to work efficiently, productively and sustainably. To date, 1E’s clients, many of whom rank among the world’s largest organizations at the top of their verticals, have made more than $2.6 billion in productivity improvements.
For more information, please visit: www.1e.com
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Contacts:
Julia Jerzycka
+44 20 8326 9087
julia.jerzycka@1e.com
