Information Technology

Symphony Consulting delivers value with immediate, measurable results in both IT Procurement and Indirect Procurement. We partner with you to:

• Maximize value in your IT initiatives through strategic sourcing and procurement initiatives
• Leverage benchmarks to negotiate the most competitive pricing with suppliers
• Apply rigor to software, SaaS, and Cloud contracts to mitigate risks and preserve value beyond the initial term
• Organize contracts and contract obligations to allow for more effective contract management
• Lead and manage ERP sourcing and implementation activity with software suppliers and system integrators
• Assess cost reduction opportunities and implement savings through spend analysis, collaborative negotiations, and cost modeling
• Assess your information security posture and devise remedial measures to mitigate risks associated with cyberattacks and ransomware

Sourcing and Procurement

IT purchases are substantial investments for an organization because of the time, resources, and funds required to deploy technology. The significance of initial spend, high switching costs and length of contracts are a few reasons IT departments should pay particular attention to the ways in which they procure and manage their spend.

Examples of services we can provide:

• Negotiating competitive pricing and terms based on situation analysis, effective use of leverage points and proprietary methods and benchmarks
• Structuring predictable long-term cost of ownership and flexibility for future expansion or down-sizing
• Mitigating contractual risks by negotiating important but often-neglected terms
• Solution assessment and comparison; RFIs and RFPs
• Defining SLAs, tracking performance and negotiating remedies
• Developing robust governing agreements (i.e. master service agreements, statements of work and score cards, etc.)
• Licensing Analysis, rightsizing and rationalization
• Optimizing and negotiating support renewals
• Assistance with internal and formal software compliance audits to reach compliance with optimal license position at minimal cost

Software/SaaS/Cloud

Software costs are a major component of IT spend and, in most cases, are a long-term commitment. It is critical that your software and SaaS/Cloud contracts are negotiated to fit your business requirements today, and empower your vision for the future in a safe and cost-effective manner. Whether you are looking at an on-premise or cloud solution, perpetual or subscription license model, new purchase or renewing existing licenses, our team can help with the area-specific terms and appropriate negotiation approaches to improve your contract. We have hundreds of Software and SaaS contracts with major providers such as Salesforce, VMware, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. We approach software contracts from various angles to ensure that your spend is optimized and risks are mitigated.

Examples of services we can provide:

• Assess your licensing requirements and apply “lean” methodologies to ensure your software environment is rightsized
• Rationalize your license deployment to map your purchases to your user’s requirements
• Apply pricing benchmarks for the size of your purchase to ensure that your discount structures are optimized
• Negotiate salient terms in your contracts that provide flexibility as your licensing needs and business environment evolves
• Negotiate Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that outline key metrics that are critical to the success of the service delivery
• Audit your software licenses to ensure compliance and negotiate on your behalf when you are audited by software suppliers

Cost Reduction

It is crucial to review IT spend in order to identify areas of excess or overlapping solutions that can be fine-tuned to reduce cost. Symphony has the expertise to uncover cost-saving opportunities in Hardware, Software, Maintenance & Support, and Professional Services. Our benchmarks and best practices applied to pricing and contract terms have helped us achieve savings that far exceed our fees. Depending on the size of the spend, we have achieved Returns on Investment (ROI) ranging from 5X to over 100X, allowing us to become self-funding in a very short period of time. Our cost reductions can be delivered through various fee structures, including a gain-share model in which case you will not need to pay any consulting fees until the savings have been realized.

Examples of services we can provide:

• Review your current spend and contracts associated with various hardware, software, and services solutions in your environment
• Identify overlapping or excess solutions, licenses, support, etc.
• Provide recommendation for rightsizing and/or rationalizing your software license portfolio
• Compare your pricing to industry benchmarks for the size of your purchase/renewal
• Strategize on various alternatives such as platform changes, supplier consolidation, or simply negotiating with incumbent suppliers

ERP Sourcing and Implementation

Symphony’s mission is to (a) keep you from overspending on software, (b) ensure the SI’s work is properly scoped with the right schedule, (c) make sure you only implement modules that are fully understood and required to achieve your stated business objectives, and (d) project-manage your implementation to help you stay on time and on budget.

Examples of services we can provide:

• Readiness Assessment – Before deciding on any ERP selection and implementation, you need to understand what problem you are trying to solve, or what capability you want to enhance. Without this upfront analysis, you are susceptible to choosing a popular package for the wrong reasons. Symphony works with your cross-functional team to articulate your business needs and optimize your business processes so the core functionality is understood and ready for transport to a new ERP system, should one be needed.
• ERP and System Integrator Selection – Filtering through the marketing hype and getting to the information you need can be a daunting task. Symphony can facilitate the right conversations with the software supplier, SI, and the internal team to make sure the solutions are going to solve your business problems.
• Negotiations – To ensure you have leverage, it’s important to take a strategic and well-thought-out approach to your negotiations. There are a number of options for securing value through both aggressive pricing and creative contract terms. Symphony can tailor an approach to meet your needs.
• Financial Analysis – Making the right financial decision and analyzing multiple proposals is not an easy task. The availability of knowledge from seasoned professionals who have worked with SAP, Oracle, Netsuite, and others can help you avoid the pitfalls that are commonly associated with selecting an ERP vendor.
• Benchmarking – Most companies want to know how much they should be paying for an ERP package based on their volume, company size, number of licenses, and number of modules they’re interested in. Symphony can help you take advantage of what we call “extreme deals,” rather than the standard “market pricing” towards which many other consulting firms will guide you.
• Project Management – Managing your System Integrator, verifying that you are not over-customizing, and avoiding “scope creep” will ensure that your costs do not spin out of control. You need a knowledgeable professional who can manage the full spectrum of ERP implementation activities to keep your project timing and deliverables on track, with minimal surprises along the way.
• Domain Expertise – Assigning domain experts in Operations, Materials, Purchasing, Planning, Warehousing, etc. to confirm that your ERP configuration accurately reflects your business needs. Our staff is skilled in enabling you to ensure that the tool is implemented in a fashion that meets the requirements of your products and business processes.

Information Security

While larger corporations have robust information security teams on their IT staff, small and mid-sized companies often lack the expertise and/or budget to protect themselves and their buyers from security risks. It is prudent for companies to assess their suppliers’ vulnerabilities to avoid penalties and business loss due to security breaches; small and mid-size companies need to ensure a secure environment to minimize their risks and exposure. We have recently seen an increase in security breaches associated with virtual business models and remote working structures, with attacks concentrated on small/medium-sized companies.

Symphony’s seasoned industry practitioners are experienced in focusing on small to medium-sized enterprises, and can help assess your security posture, develop a risk mitigation or remediation plan, and implement such a plan in collaboration with your company.

Examples of services we can provide:

• Security strategy and governance
• Training of internal staff by Symphony SMEs
• Risk assessment, implementation of solutions
• Internal security audits
• Customer audit support
• Response to customer questionnaires
• Development of security policies and procedures
• Practical implementation of policy requirements based on industry frameworks (NIST, PCI DSS, ISO27001)