For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals (Length: 5 pages)

Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

Many clients complain to Forrester about expensive software maintenance and unsympathetic vendors but recognize that they are in a weak negotiation position. Whether it's application software or infrastructure, both problems often have a common cause — shelfware. The ongoing maintenance on excess license capacity and superfluous products provides zero value for money. Worse still, these redundant assets actually reduce your customer service from the vendor, because the vendor's rep sees shelfware as a barrier to future commission. You should consider the longer-term implications of shelfware before you agree to increase the size of your purchase order (PO). If you follow some straightforward buying tactics, you can get a very similar discount on a smaller-scale initial purchase but avoid paying maintenance for software your company is not using, while also retaining leverage for future negotiations.