More affordable licensing costs and fewer risks for the KUMA effect.
KUMAVISION AG is one of the most high-performing Microsoft partners in Germany in the field of ERP software based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The company offers future-proof solutions that are both safe investments and drive KUMAVISION AG’s customers’ success. The KIUMA effect accelerates processes, relieves employees of routine tasks, minimises the number of errors and saves time and money thanks to automated processes.
KUMAVISION AG specialises in the integration of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV (formerly Navision) business software. Located in Markdorf on the banks of Lake Constance, the company is one of the leading Microsoft partners in Germany in this field. For 20 years, the company has been implementing industry-specific software solutions for SMEs and international enterprises. One focus is on solutions for businesses in the healthcare industry such as medical supply wholesalers, those in the rehabilitation technology sector as well as medical device manufacturers and home care providers. KUMAVISION AG employees over 350 staff across 15 sites in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and achieved revenues of 39.2 million euros in 2014. For more information, please click here.
Starting point.
KUMAVISION strives to deliver the best for customers and employees alike. It is therefore important to the company to provide its employees with IT that best supports them in their processes and can be used from any location. IT should make employees’ work easier and they shouldn’t have to deal with issues revolving around software. However, the company had several software contract models, making maintenance and operations as complex as licence management.
Project objectives.
KUMAVISION AG were looking to realign its in-house software infrastructure to make it more efficient. To achieve this, not only does licence management have to be automated, but software needs to be easier to manage. The objective was to avoid any legal risks related to licensing, optimally implement and centrally procure software, and achieve a clear overview of licensing and maintenance contracts. Last but not least, KUMAVISION were hoping to lower their licensing costs and achieve better compliance with laws and regulations.
Process.
For Bechtle-Comsoft to be able to optimise processes at KUMAVISION and the software to be supported by its specialists, Bechtle-Comsoft first provided a consultation on the licences. A suitable foundation for a concept to suit KUMAVISION’s needs was then put together by the project team made up of Bechtle-Comsoft specialists and KUMAVISION’s central procurement department. In a next step, the specialists implemented the concept in such a way that on-going operations were not further impacted. To do so, Bechtle-Comsoft compared KUMAVISION’s requirements with the technical implementation with the result that the company could carry on its day-to-day business.
Solution.
KUMAVISION decided to use Bechtle-Comsoft’s SAM Competence Centre (Software Asset Management Services). First of all, Bechtle-Comsoft used the SAM LCC (Licence Compliance Check) to create an overview of the software used at KUMAVISION, and carried out a full and retrospective inventory of licences, which was then compared with the installed software. In this way, KUMAVISION received a compliance report (delta) that gave them an insight into under and over-licensing as well as recommendations on how to correct them. This information was passed on to KUMAVISION’s IT staff by Bechtle-Comsoft’s certified (MCP) SAM specialists within the scope of a SAM consultation. These specialists supported KUMAVISION in the management and optimisation of the software used over its entire lifecycle. This was the first step towards the company making significant reductions in its software expenditure. To simplify processes even more and save costs, KUMAVISION also made the decision to choose the Microsoft Products & Services Agreement (MPSA) licensing programme offered by Bechtle-Comsoft. This covers the procurement of licences and online services for systems, applications and servers in one contract and facilitates the purchase of volume licences. MPSA allows all Microsoft technologies to be procured and managed centrally either as a licence for in-house operation, as a cloud solution or a combination of both. The contract model is valid internationally and can be used flexibly. As a result, KUMAVISION gets the best possible volume discount, which reduces costs and simplifies licence management. Moreover, KUMAVISION is now able to provide information for audits an any time and is well-prepared for the switch to cloud products.
Business benefits.
With the Software Asset Management Services offered by Bechtle-Comsoft, KUMAVISION can now not only makes optimal use of its software, but also avoids licensing issues, while the uniform software standard simplifies migrations, updates and rollouts. Software can be ordered centrally which means that KUMAVISION’s IT staff have considerably less work related to licensing and maintenance contracts. This also means that IT resources can be used more efficiently and manual interventions are reduced. Thanks to the knowledge of Bechtle-Comsoft’s SAM experts, KUMAVISION has also been able to significantly reduce the cost of running their in-house software.