What we Address
The complexities we help you navigate
Enterprise software licensing is one of the most complex and costly areas of IT management. SMC brings clarity, control, and commercial discipline to the process.
Compliance Risk Mitigation
Many organisations are unknowingly non-compliant. We identify exposures and “gotchas” before vendor audits occur, allowing you to remediate proactively and avoid costly penalties.
Cost Optimisation
With 20–30% of a typical enterprise IT budget dedicated to software, applying basic licence optimisation and usage tracking can deliver significant, measurable savings and reduce shelfware.
Cloud Migration Readiness
Moving to hyperscaler cloud platforms changes licensing rules significantly. We review contracts for clauses that may prevent you from transitioning licences to cloud or third-party support models.
Vendor Audit Preparedness
We help you prepare for and respond to vendor audits by establishing accurate inventory data, licence entitlements, and documentation — so you can demonstrate your position with confidence.
Contract Negotiation
We identify the best licensing and contractual terms for your organisation, conduct price benchmarking, and support your team during vendor negotiations to achieve optimal commercial outcomes.
SaaS & Subscription Management
Analyse usage and licensing allocations across SaaS platforms to identify unused or underutilised subscriptions, enabling you to optimise allocations and control ongoing subscription costs.
Is this You?
Recognise the signs - and the solution
If your organisation is experiencing:
- Uncertainty about your true licence position across vendors
- Unexpected vendor audit requests or compliance notices
- Software renewals approaching without visibility of usage
- Conflicting advice from vendors about your obligations
- Difficulty tracking licences across cloud and on-premise environments
- Concern about overspending on unused or redundant licences
SMC can help you achieve:
- A clear, accurate Effective Licence Position across your entire footprint
- Audit readiness and reduced compliance exposure
- Informed renewal decisions backed by usage data
- Objective, independent advice free from vendor influence
- Consolidated visibility across hybrid and cloud environments
- Measurable cost savings through licence optimisation
Our Approach
Two phases. One clear outcome.
We provide expert licensing advice at any point along your software journey. Our service is available as a complete end-to-end engagement or as targeted, standalone phases.
Phase 1
Software Licence Inventory & Effective Licence Position
We conduct a comprehensive review of your current licence position, following the same processes and interpretations of agreements used by vendor compliance teams. Covering your entire software footprint, we compare actual usage against contractual entitlements to identify any exposures.
Once you have a clear understanding of your position, we develop an appropriate remediation or optimisation strategy and guide you through the process.
- Full software inventory and deployment discovery
- Usage versus entitlement analysis
- Compliance gap identification and risk assessment
- Remediation and optimisation strategy
- Cloud and third-party support readiness review
Phase 2
Software Licence Agreement Negotiation
Drawing on deep market insight and extensive vendor negotiation experience, SMC helps you identify the optimal commercial and compliance position based on your current software environment. We define the best licensing and contractual terms for your organisation.
We conduct price benchmarking and support your team throughout vendor negotiations to achieve the desired commercial outcomes.
- Negotiation strategy and leverage definition
- Commercial benchmarking against market rates
- Licence model and metric optimisation
- Contractual risk identification and mitigation
- Vendor negotiation support and representation
Vendor Coverage
Deep expertise across major enterprise vendors
Our team understands the unique licensing models, metrics, audit processes, and contractual nuances of the enterprise software vendors that matter most to Australian organisations.
Microsoft’s licensing models and metrics are complex and constantly changing. We bring clarity to your Microsoft estate — from M365 and Azure to on-premise server products — and help you negotiate Enterprise Agreements that reflect how your organisation actually operates.
Oracle licensing is among the most complex in the industry, with significant exposure risk for organisations running Oracle products across virtualised or cloud environments. We demystify Oracle’s licensing terms and help you mitigate compliance risk with confidence.
SAP’s licensing structures change frequently, with usage rights updated on a quarterly basis. We help you conduct scenario analysis, perform audit assessments, and develop negotiation strategies to ensure your SAP licensing models support your growth.
With over 200 licensing metrics and continually changing requirements, IBM is one of the most complex vendors to manage. We help you navigate all aspects of IBM software licensing and prepare proactively for audit challenges.
Salesforce subscription models and user-based licensing can lead to significant overspend if not actively managed. We help you right-size your Salesforce estate and negotiate renewal terms that reflect your actual usage and future requirements.
We also provide licence advisory across Adobe, Autodesk, VMware, Red Hat, Infor, and other commercial and SaaS platforms — tailoring our approach to the vendors with the highest complexity or compliance risk in your environment.
SMC’s structured approach enables a fair, confident and streamlined path to vendor selection, while their expert negotiation support delivered significant savings across 5 year total cost ownership.
Kylie Donaldson,
Finance Project Manager
Why SMC
Independent advice. No vested interests.
SMC is a 100% independent, client-side advisory firm. We do not resell software, take commissions from vendors, or have a vested interest in any solution. Our advice is always objective and in your best interests.
- Truly Vendor-Agnostic We do not resell, audit, or implement software. Our recommendations are based solely on your needs, goals, and commercial interests.
- Deep Vendor Knowledge Our team includes professionals with extensive experience inside major software vendors, giving us an insider understanding of licensing structures, audit processes, and negotiation strategies.
- Proven Track Record Since 2006, SMC has guided Australian and New Zealand organisations through complex digital and commercial challenges, consistently delivering measurable outcomes.
- Integrated with the SMC Model Licence management sits within SMC's broader digital transformation model, meaning we can connect your licensing strategy to your wider ERP, AI, and enterprise software roadmap.
20
years of combined enterprise vendor experience across our advisory team
30%
average reduction in software spend through licence optimisation
93%
of clients save money by establishing their licence position before an audit
The SMC Model
Part of your complete transformation journey
Software Licence Management is a core component of the SMC Review & Optimise phase – helping organisations extract more value from what they already have before committing to new investments.
Phase 1
Strategy & Roadmap
Set clear direction and priorities before committing to change.
Phase 2
Select & Negotiate
Make critical vendor decisions with confidence and achieve optimal commercial outcomes.
Phase 3
Plan & Implement
Plan and ready your organisation the right way, minimise disruption and realise the expected benefits.
Phase 4 – You are here
Review & Optimise
Improve performance and extract more value from what’s in place – including software licence management.
Ready to take control of your software licences?
Book a free, no-obligation consultation with our team to discuss your current licence position and how SMC can help.
The industries and sectors SMC works across.
In-depth, practical guides developed by SMC experts to support informed decision-making.
Explore independent insights and practical guidance on leading ERP and enterprise platforms.