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MARKET GUIDE FOR INDEPENDENT THIRD-PARTY SUPPORT FOR IBM, MICROSOFT, ORACLE AND
SAP SOFTWARE

Published 12 September 2022 - ID G00757959 - 25 min read

By Jo Ann Rosenberger, Michael Silver, and 2 more

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Software is the second-highest IT spend category industrywide, which drives
sourcing, procurement and vendor management leaders to analyze cost-saving
opportunities offered by third-party providers. Use this guide to identify
options that can reduce your software maintenance costs by 50% or more.



OVERVIEW




KEY FINDINGS

 * Sourcing, procurement and vendor management (SPVM) leaders who research and
   analyze all viable maintenance options for their IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and
   SAP software are well positioned to recommend cost optimization alternatives
   to their stakeholders.
 * Comparing the third-party software support (TPSS) offerings to the support
   policies and contract terms governing the IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP
   products reduces the risk of selecting a third-party provider that has lower
   pricing but insufficient service offerings.
 * SPVM leaders reduce cost and operational risk when they engage stakeholders
   for a TPSS risk-benefit analysis and then arrange proof of concept (POC)
   engagements for the providers to showcase their service offerings and support
   capabilities.




RECOMMENDATIONS

SPVM leaders contracting IT services and solutions with a goal to optimize costs
for IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP should:
 * Use the reference table and services described in this guide to evaluate TPSS
   as one of the options to reduce hefty software maintenance costs across these
   four vendors’ software portfolios.
 * Compare TPSS offerings to the maintenance and support policies and contract
   terms governing their organizations’ current IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP
   software as a key exercise when conducting the risk-benefit analysis for
   moving to TPSS.
 * Send RFPs to all viable TPSS providers discussed in this guide to obtain
   information on their services and pricing. Request TPSS providers to provide
   at least three references and agree to POC engagements to ensure their
   services meet current and long-term support needs.




MARKET DEFINITION

Independent third-party software support providers give organizations a
lower-cost alternative to the escalating maintenance, support and consulting
service fees charged by IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. This Market Guide covers
six independent third-party software support providers that offer technical
support services to replace the maintenance and support programs from IBM,
Microsoft, Oracle and SAP (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Six Independent TPSS Providers Offering Lower-Cost Software Support
Solutions






Independent TPSS service providers are not authorized channel partners. They
offer independent support. The independent TPSS providers have no relationship
with the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or independent software vendor
(ISV) and, as a result, cannot access intellectual property, software updates,
firmware updates or security advisories, or obtain OEM/ISV Level 3 or backline
support.


MARKET DESCRIPTION

TPSS alternatives offer both cost-cutting and cost avoidance opportunities for
organizations to reduce current- and future-year operating expenditure (opex)
spend and budget. Figure 2 illustrates examples of the key offerings and
capabilities of the six independent TPSS service providers discussed in this
guide. These capabilities, further defined in the Market Introduction section,
should be evaluated as part of the feasibility study to analyze cost-saving
opportunities to reduce the rising maintenance and support fees from IBM,
Microsoft, Oracle and SAP (henceforth referred to as the “megavendors”).

Figure 2. Examples of TPSS Providers’ Service Offerings and Capabilities





When TPSS services are analyzed and deemed viable from a risk-benefit standpoint
during a feasibility study, organizations are able to take advantage of the
substantial opex savings and value-added services offered by the third-party
market to:
 * Reduce software budgets, specifically software maintenance profit and loss
   (P&L) operating expense. The average annual savings is typically 50% when
   comparing TPSS services costs to the annual maintenance and support pricing
   models and policies of the megavendors.1
 * Customize contracts for increased flexibility. Organizations look to
   third-party providers to increase flexibility in their software maintenance
   and support contracts, allowing them to opt out of new and future versions
   and release upgrades if these are unnecessary and costly for the business.
 * Provide specialized services to support customized code, modifications and
   unique product-specific requirements as well as offer improved SLAs.
 * Customize agreements for shorter-duration terms than the typical megavendor
   annual maintenance contract commitment requirements. TPSS providers are often
   willing to offer short-term and month-to-month support for special
   product-specific needs under customized service arrangements and contracts.
 * Use the lower-priced TPSS proposals as leverage when negotiating with
   software vendors. TPSS services continue to threaten the software vendors’
   maintenance and support revenue stream. This enables procurement to use these
   lower-priced proposals for bargaining power when negotiating with some of
   these megavendors.


MARKET DIRECTION

Gartner predicts that this market will continue to see both the emergence of new
TPSS providers as well as new and expanded service offerings by the existing
providers. The TPSS market growth continues to expand, exemplified by Origina’s
recent announcement adding mainframe software support services.


MARKET ANALYSIS

Gartner’s 2022 IT Key Metrics data reflects that software is a significant spend
across industries and ranks as the second-highest spend category over the
five-year period of 2017 to 2021 (see Figure 42 in IT Key Metrics Data 2022:
Industry Measures — Executive Summary). In organizations with significant
megavendor software portfolios, lower-priced TPSS can offset a significant
percentage of the year-over-year annual maintenance and support increases
typically imposed by these software vendors.

The 2021 Gartner Sourcing, Procurement and Vendor Management Survey reflected a
significant percentage of third-party software support vendor negotiations
across all three regions.2 Third-party software support deals comprise 45% of
all technology deals negotiated across North America, EMEA and Asia/Pacific
(APAC). Between the 2020 and 2021 survey, these third-party deals rose by 18
percentage points, from 27% to 45%. This can be attributed to the financial
disruption imposed by the impacts from COVID-19, the Russian invasion of
Ukraine, inflationary headwinds and the threat of a looming recession.

When third-party support is a feasible alternative, the significant software
maintenance and support cost reduction opportunity can be a “quick win.” It can
help keep budgets flat by eliminating the ongoing year-over-year software vendor
maintenance and support increases when organizations are challenged to meet
cost-saving goals and initiatives.


SCENARIOS AND FACTORS THAT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO CONTINUED TPSS MARKET GROWTH

The TPSS provider market remains relatively small. But while the number of
providers is limited, the majority of services offered are mature and continue
to be enhanced and expanded to offer additional service categories (see the
Market Introduction section for details on each provider’s service offerings).

Several factors will contribute to the continued growth in the TPSS market,
which are illustrated in the five scenarios below:

 * Scenario 1: Cloud migrations — During a migration to cloud, when phasing out
   some or all of the megavendor software portfolio is part of the migration
   plan, perpetual software licenses can continue to be used. This can occur
   when the customer-entitled version of the software can support the needs of
   the organization until the cloud migration cutover date. The
   customer-entitled version is the last version that was announced and made
   generally available by the vendor when the end-user maintenance and support
   was terminated. However, end users should ensure that they access and review
   vendor website policies and read their contracts and support policy handbooks
   to make sure there are no terms that contradict this standard support policy.
   When version upgrades are no longer needed during these cloud migrations, the
   TPSS providers can offer technical support for the customer-entitled version
   so organizations can realize the average 50% cost reduction noted above. This
   analysis should be part of the cloud migration planning checklist and total
   cost of ownership (TCO) analysis.
 * Scenario 2: Migration to alternative vendors or solutions — When new vendors
   or alternate solutions are selected to replace on-premises software products,
   third-party support can be analyzed to determine if a viable option is to use
   software with perpetual licenses under the customer-entitled version until
   the migration cutover date, and beyond, as necessary. This TPSS option should
   be part of the organization’s product replacement migration analysis and
   planning checklist.
 * Scenario 3: Low-value maintenance evidenced by low-frequency technical
   support tickets/incidences — The historical volumetric analysis of all help
   desk and service desk technical support and incident tickets should be
   analyzed every six months. This analysis helps to determine the ROI when
   comparing the value received to the annual cost paid for the vendor
   maintenance and support service. This analysis should include the frequency
   of support calls, type of support, severity level, resolution time and
   results, and incident ticket close data for each of the software products in
   your megavendor portfolios. For low-value, low-incident software product
   support findings, TPSS services should be considered as an alternative for
   cost-saving opportunities.
 * Scenario 4: End-of-support announcements or notifications by software vendors
   — Older-version software may still be used to support certain applications,
   but will no longer be provided by the megavendors without a customized
   support agreement and for an additional fee. Evaluate TPSS services to
   support these older-version products, which is a standard service performed
   by most TPSS providers. This would not only result in the average 50% cost
   reduction compared to the current software vendor standard maintenance and
   support fees, but also avoid the high customized professional service rates
   that software vendors would typically charge after the end-of-support date.
   TPSS providers will typically commit to supporting older legacy software
   versions for 15 years — and in some cases, even longer.
 * Scenario 5: Absent or expiring maintenance increases caps for price
   protection in contracts — In some cases, no price protection exists for
   ongoing maintenance and support in vendor contracts. In such cases,
   particularly with the three- to five-year term multiyear commitment contracts
   (e.g., enterprise license agreements [ELAs], enterprise agreements [EAs] and
   unlimited license agreements [ULAs]), there is high risk of escalating
   maintenance and support costs or end-of-support announcements during these
   multiyear terms. If there is no price protection language in your contract,
   or if the price increase protection is higher than the current consumer price
   index (CPI) rate, evaluate TPSS services to compare the pricing to that of
   the vendor renewal proposals. This should be done at least six to nine months
   before the expiration date of these multiyear contracts. We recommend a term
   of six months minimum to ensure there is sufficient time to evaluate the TPSS
   services and pricing, and to give adequate notice to the incumbent provider.


REPRESENTATIVE VENDORS

The vendors listed in this Market Guide do not imply an exhaustive list. This
section is intended to provide more understanding of the market and its
offerings.



MARKET INTRODUCTION


SIX INDEPENDENT THIRD-PARTY SUPPORT PROVIDERS FOR IBM, MICROSOFT, ORACLE OR SAP

The six TPSS providers selected for this Market Guide offer independent
third-party software support for IBM, Microsoft, Oracle or SAP products are
Alui, Origina, Rimini Street, Spinnaker Support, Support Revolution and US Cloud
(see Note 1). The types of services each of these six providers offer, and the
vendor products they support, are identified in the table and provider-specific
summaries that follow.


SOFTWARE AND REGIONS SUPPORTED BY TPSS PROVIDERS

Table 1 provides detailed information on each third-party software support
provider. Use this table, in conjunction with the vendor profiles, to compare
and contrast providers’ offerings by the software vendors’ products they
support.



TABLE 1: REPRESENTATIVE VENDORS IN INDEPENDENT THIRD-PARTY SUPPORT FOR IBM,
MICROSOFT, ORACLE AND SAP SOFTWARE

Enlarge Table
TPSS Provider
Software Supported
Regions Supported
 Alui
Oracle
EMEA
NA
 Origina
IBM
APAC
EMEA
NA
 Rimini Street
IBM
Microsoft
Oracle
SAP

International
U.S.
 Spinnaker Support
Microsoft
Oracle
SAP
APAC
EMEA
LATAM
NA

 Support Revolution
Oracle
SAP
International
 US Cloud
Microsoft
APAC
EMEA
NA
APAC = Asia/Pacific; NA = North America


Source: Gartner (September 2022)

Note: This guide focuses on IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP software only. The
vendor profiles do not include service offerings by the TPSS providers for other
software.




VENDOR PROFILES




ALUI

Corporate Information and Customer Base:
Company Website:  www.alui.com

Headquarters: Hampshire, U.K., and Stamford, Connecticut
Fiscal Year-End: 31 December

Number of Current Customers: 97
Certifications to International Standards: Not provided

Overview: Alui offers technical support and consulting services for Oracle’s
Hyperion suite of enterprise performance management products. Hyperion Solutions
was acquired by Oracle in 2007, and Alui was founded in 2008 by previous
directors of Oracle-Hyperion Solutions to provide specialized third-party Oracle
software support. Alui is an independent company and has clients in North
America, the U.K. and Europe.

Alui does not provide global tax, regulatory and compliance (GTRC) services.

Alui provides value-added services as part of its standard support by assisting
with updates and installations when clients perform these tasks in-house. Each
client is assigned a support specialist who has consultancy expertise. Alui also
provides assistance with making application changes as the client’s business
changes. Alui offers “mini” consulting activities, carried out remotely in
four-hour blocks.

Consulting and customized services provided by Alui include remote system
administration, upgrades and reinstallations, provision of documentation and
procedures, and remote and on-site consulting to perform defined projects.



ORIGINA

Corporate Information and Customer Base:
Company Website:  www.origina.com

Headquarters: Dublin, Ireland
Fiscal Year-End: 31 October

Number of Current Customers: 154
Certifications to International Standards: ISO 27001:2013, Cyber Essentials

Overview: Origina, founded in 2012, offers technical software maintenance and
consulting services for all IBM perpetually licensed software products on open
systems and mainframe. Supported IBM Passport Advantage product families include
WebSphere, Db2, Informix, Domino, Netcool, Sterling, MQ, FileNet Content
Manager, Cognos Analytics, Unica, Tivoli Monitoring and Rational. This includes
support for former IBM Passport Advantage products such as those divested to HCL
Technologies, Acoustic and SS&C Technologies Holdings. In June 2022, Origina
announced its extension of its software maintenance offering to include IBM Z
mainframes providing mainframe users the same types of services as its Passport
Advantage customers.

Origina provides global 24/7 coverage and support using a team of 30 Level 1
resources in Dublin and Dallas, Texas. Origina pairs contractually binding
service-level agreements with a service model that draws from a collection of
over 600 Global IBM Experts, who are assigned on a per-product basis for the
support term.

Origina does not provide GTRC services, since these services are not required
for IBM software. Origina’s offering extends the natural life cycle and value of
IBM products through a support and maintenance program that includes value-added
services in its standard support. This includes full support for all versions,
entitlement capture, interoperability certification, proactive, layered security
services, new fixes, product enhancements, meet-the-experts free consultancy
workshops, product upgrades advisory, licensing assistance, and the ability to
resolve defects and apply custom fixes. Origina also provides several additional
services, including IBM Passport Advantage and Z Mainframe license analysis and
consulting, to leverage Origina’s Global IBM Expert team to help with complex,
time-consuming projects.



RIMINI STREET

Corporate Information and Customer Base:
Company Website:  www.riministreet.com

Headquarters: Las Vegas, Nevada
Fiscal Year-End: 31 December

Number of Current Customers: More than 2,900 active customers
Certifications to International Standards: ISO 27001:2013, ISO 9001:2015

Overview: Rimini Street, founded in 2005, offers technical support, integrated
application managed and professional services for IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP
software. It offers technical support for Oracle products including E-Business
Suite, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Database, Fusion Middleware, Agile, Hyperion,
Siebel CRM, Oracle Retail, Oracle ATG Web Commerce, Customer Care and Billing,
Communications and Endeca. It also provides technical support for SAP products
including Business Suite, S/4HANA, BusinessObjects Business Intelligence, HANA
database and the SAP database family, formerly known as Sybase. Rimini Street
offers technical support for IBM Db2 and Microsoft SQL Server and application
management services for SAP and Oracle.

Rimini Street offers GTRC services as part of the standard support agreement at
no additional charge. Its tax, legal and regulatory update process includes
delivery through its proprietary and patent-pending tax engine and provides
these update services for 145 countries. Rimini Street analysts gather, analyze
and scope GTRC changes from over 5,300 government sites, 3,500 information
sources and 26,000 jurisdictions.

Clients are assigned a primary support engineer (PSE) averaging over 20 years of
experience. For each product line, Rimini Street also provides advisory services
delivered by a team of experts for 24/7 global coverage and resilience. This
includes security advisory, license advisory and cloud advisory, integration,
interoperability, proactive support services, and functional and technical
roadmap services. Rimini Street support services are facilitated by its
proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) applications that the company claims
have helped reduce resolution time by 23%.

Professional and customized services and solutions provided, for an additional
charge, include application and database managed services for SAP and Oracle,
combined with vendor replacement third-party support for unified software
services offering. For SAP and Oracle, this includes operational support, system
administration, system health monitoring and development support. Other
offerings include advanced global security assessments and zero-day defense
solutions, integration services and solutions, database health checks, proactive
application monitoring tools and services, and interoperability services and
solutions, including a patented browser interoperability solution.



SPINNAKER SUPPORT

Corporate Information and Customer Base:
Company Website:  www.spinnakersupport.com

Headquarters: Greenwood Village, Colorado
Fiscal Year-End: 31 December

Number of Current Customers: 1,000+
Certifications to International Standards: ISO 27001:2013, ISO 9001:2015

Overview: Spinnaker Support, founded in 2008, offers technical support services
for Oracle and SAP. For Oracle, it delivers third-party support for Database,
Fusion Middleware, E-Business Suite, JD Edwards, Siebel CRM, Agile PLM, ATG Web
Commerce, Endeca, Hyperion, Retail and select Oracle-PeopleSoft modules.
Spinnaker Support offers third-party support for SAP Business Suite and SAP
Application, SAP Databases and technology, SAP BI components, and Sybase
database. It also offers managed services and consulting services for Oracle and
SAP and third-party support and managed services for Microsoft SQL Server.

Spinnaker Support provides GTRC services (except for Oracle-PeopleSoft payroll)
at no additional charge. It offers a standardized, repeatable process for update
services and delivers the changes tailored for the individual customer.

Spinnaker Support provides a full complement of value-added services in its
standard support. This includes break/fix for standard and custom code and
interoperability, security and vulnerability protection, license compliance
assurance and audit defense, general inquiry for supported products, and
technology advisory services, including interoperability planning,
virtualization and cloud migration.

Consulting and customized services provided by Spinnaker Support include SAP
Basis and BI managed services, and application and technical services for the
Oracle and SAP applications. Services include application development support,
system reconfiguration, staff augmentation, database managed services, JD
Edwards EnterpriseOne Configurable Network Computing (CNC) managed services,
performance monitoring and tuning. Spinnaker Support also offers lift-and-shift
cloud consulting services, including for relocating Oracle and SAP to Amazon Web
Services (AWS). It then supports those applications in the cloud.



SUPPORT REVOLUTION

Corporate Information and Customer Base:
Company Website:  www.supportrevolution.com

Headquarters: Berkshire, U.K.
Fiscal Year-End: 31 May

Number of Current Customers: 231
Certifications to International Standards: ISO 27001:2013, ISO 9001:2015, Cyber
Essentials

Overview: Support Revolution, founded in 1998, offers software support services
for Oracle and SAP products. Oracle products supported include Database (all
versions), E-Business Suite, Exadata, Hyperion, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft,
Primavera, Siebel CRM, Fusion, Fusion Middleware, Business Intelligence. SAP
products supported include Business Suite, S/4HANA, HANA database, Adaptive
Server Enterprise (ASE; formerly SAP Sybase) and BusinessObjects Business
Intelligence. Support Revolution offers consulting and customized services for
Oracle and SAP, including application managed services and hosting in Amazon Web
Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and other clouds.

Support Revolution provides GTRC services within the standard service offering
at no additional charge.

Support Revolution was formerly an Oracle and SAP partner. It offers a
service-level agreement that includes response and resolution targets and
provides service credits when there are missed SLAs. It provides value-added
services as part of its standard support by moving customers from existing
on-premises or hosted service providers to AWS, Azure or other clouds. Once
Support Revolution completes the process, it delivers the system to the client
as part of a comprehensive outsourced managed service (SaaS). Support Revolution
also offers a full range of implementation services and change management
services, as well as advanced security services, for an additional charge. The
security services are based on Trend Micro Deep Security.

Support Revolution engages closely with existing strategic system integration
(SI) partners to streamline integration and fast-track the delivery of its
services.



US CLOUD

Corporate Information and Customer Base:
Company Website:  www.uscloud.com

Headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri
Fiscal Year-End: 31 December

Number of Current Customers: 597
Certifications to International Standards: ISO 27001:2022

Overview: US Cloud was founded in 2017 and is a privately held company. It was a
spinoff of the managed services group of Fpweb.net, which was founded in 1996.
It is focused on replacing Microsoft support offerings at a lower cost to its
clients. US Cloud offers an alternative to Microsoft’s Premier Support for
Enterprise and Unified Support offerings and reports doing so at a 30% to 60%
savings.

US Cloud does not offer GTRC services.

US Cloud provides 24/7 support by U.S.-based staff and is International Traffic
in Arms Regulations (ITAR)/Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement
(DFARS)-compliant. US Cloud supports all Microsoft technologies, issues of all
severities, and all global time zones with Levels 2, 3, and 4 engineers
in-house. As part of its US Cloud Premier Support offering, US Cloud provides
access to its proprietary elite MSP network with more than 400
Microsoft-certified engineers in the U.S. It offers complete replacement for
Microsoft Unified or Premier Support for Enterprise for cloud, hybrid and
on-premises products, including Microsoft technologies past their end-of-life
support cutoffs. US Cloud guarantees a 15-minute or less initial response time
for all tickets and has financially backed, contractual performance SLAs. It has
comprehensive Microsoft certifications and competencies and offers rapid managed
escalations to Microsoft when necessary.

US Cloud offers value-added services as part of its standard support by allowing
break/fix hours to be used for proactive support and project work, including
engagement of technology-specific dedicated support engineers. US Cloud’s
proactive services catalog contains options for engineer-led engagements around
system health checks, security assessments, proprietary diagnostic tools for
Azure readiness, migration support, chalk-talks and others.



MARKET RECOMMENDATIONS


FIVE STEPS TO EVALUATE TPSS PROVIDER OFFERINGS AND CAPABILITIES

Those looking to evaluate TPSS offerings and engage with these providers should
take the following steps to identify the viability of third-party support as
well as conduct a risk-benefit assessment:

 * Step 1 — Assess TPSS Feasibility. Use the five scenarios described in the
   Market Analysis section as a guide to determine whether TPSS is a viable
   alternative for your organization.
 * Step 2 — Use RFPs for Detailed Services and Pricing Proposals. Send RFPs to
   the TPSS providers referenced in this Market Guide to request their list of
   services and pricing. The RFP should request the specific support
   requirements that align with your organization’s solution needs for each
   software product in your megavendor software portfolio(s).
 * Step 3 — Conduct a TPSS Risk-Benefit Assessment With IT and Key Stakeholders.
   Evaluate the TPSS services and pricing for a risk-benefit assessment to
   determine whether:
   * TPSS aligns with your short- and long-term technology strategy. Also
     determine the role these four megavendors’ software products play in your
     technology roadmap.
   * The three- to five-year plan for your software can be supported with the
     versions you are entitled to download. Install these before you cancel the
     megavendors’ maintenance and support. Map the upgrade path and needs for
     each product that is a TPSS candidate. Know the version you have installed
     today and the version you will be entitled to use when you cancel vendor
     maintenance and support. Use this data in your risk-benefit analysis.
   * The TPSS provider’s support services are adequate compared to those you are
     entitled to receive as referenced in your software vendor support policies,
     handbooks and contracts. Thoroughly review each software vendor’s
     maintenance and support terms and website policies to ensure you understand
     special entitlements or use of tools that are contingent upon renewing
     annual maintenance such as SAP Solution Manager.3 Assess any risk if you no
     longer have access to or use rights for these entitlements or tools.
   * The TPSS provider’s support services match the typical types of help desk
     and service desk incident tickets that have been submitted over the past 12
     to 24 months in your organization.
   * You are at risk if you plan to cancel a portion of your support quantities
     while you evaluate the TPSS services. A “trial” period to determine the
     TPSS provider’s capabilities is recommended. However, it is important to
     engage your legal counsel to review governing agreement and transaction
     documents to understand the vendor maintenance cancellation terms and
     policies. For example, IBM’s International Passport Advantage Agreement
     stipulates an “all or none” subscription and support requirement, which
     would create noncompliance for a partial quantity cancellation of support.4
   * Engage the TPSS provider to explain and document their policy in the event
     unexpected events or situations occur resulting in the need to return to
     the OEM and reinstate support. This should also be negotiated and included
     as a term in your MSA with the TPSS provider.
   * Your compliance and audit-readiness position is strong, as canceling the
     software vendor maintenance and support can heighten the audit risk and,
     with some vendors, can even trigger a software audit when the long-term
     maintenance and support revenue stream is threatened.
 * Step 4 — Request and Contact References. Request at least three relevant
   references (similar-size enterprise and environment) from the TPSS providers
   that you are considering, and contact them to discuss their experiences and
   satisfaction with the specific TPSS provider(s). Ask the reference what, if
   anything, would they have done differently if they had to evaluate and select
   a TPSS provider again. This will help you to gain additional insights and/or
   context to move forward. Use Gartner’s Peer Connect service to identify other
   Gartner clients that have inquired about TPSS as an alternative to either one
   or all four megavendor software products.
 * Step 5 — Arrange No-Charge Pilot Programs to Evaluate and Test TPSS
   Capabilities. Select three to five key products to arrange a 60- to 90-day
   no-charge pilot program to evaluate and trial the TPSS service as a
   proof-of-concept engagement. Ensure that the acceptance criteria to determine
   a successful POC include the following to help make your TPSS “go/no-go”
   decision:
   * Evaluate technical support expertise and capabilities across different
     products.
   * Measure response time and problem resolution rate.
   * Demonstrate TPSS provider’s capabilities to meet special or unique support
     requirements for a particular product or application.


EVIDENCE

1 For this research, Gartner conducted briefings with third-party software
support providers and reviewed customer inquiries and interviews conducted with
reference customers. These consistently reveal that the typical selling price
for services that include software break/fix and scheduled regulatory updates is
about 50% of what the software publisher is currently charging the customer for
product maintenance and support services. This selling price may be discounted
on some occasions.

2 2021 Gartner Sourcing, Procurement and Vendor Management Role Survey. Results
from the 2021 Gartner Sourcing, Procurement and Vendor Management Survey
presented are based on a Gartner survey conducted to identify the greatest
challenges sourcing, procurement and vendor management (SPVM) leaders are facing
today when negotiating with and managing technology vendors. This primary
research survey was conducted online in August through September 2021 among 289
respondents in North America (n = 142), Western Europe (n = 88) and Asia/Pacific
(n = 59). Qualifying organizations span various industries, except agriculture,
construction, nonprofit, real estate and services. Organizations were screened
for having annual revenue of greater than or equal to $250 million for fiscal
year 2020. Organizations were required to have formal SPVM resource(s)/teams.
Respondents were required to be from corporate leadership, line-of-business
leadership or SPVM functional area, and be a CIO, CPO/head of procurement,
sourcing director/manager, procurement director/manager, vendor manager,
supplier relationship manager, contract director/manager or procurement category
manager. Respondents were required to have involvement in technology/SPVM
resource(s)/teams. Quotas were applied for countries/regions, organization size
and function. The survey was developed collaboratively by a team of Gartner
analysts and Gartner’s Research Data, Analytics and Tools team. Disclaimer:
Results of this survey do not represent global findings or the market as a
whole, but reflect the sentiments of the respondents and companies surveyed.

3  SAP Enterprise Support, SAP — Refer to Section 2.4.6 of the agreement, which
states: “In the event Licensee terminates SAP Enterprise Support. Licensee’s use
of SAP Solution Manager Enterprise Edition under SAP Enterprise Support shall
cease.”

4  Passport Advantage Agreements, IBM — See Section 3.8, IBM Software
Subscription and Support, which states:
“If Client elects to continue IBM Software Subscription and Support for an IBM
Program at a designated Client Site, Client must maintain IBM Software
Subscription and Support for all uses and installations of the IBM Program at
that Site.
“If Client requests to renew expiring IBM Software Subscription and Support at a
lesser quantity of IBM
Program uses and installations than the expiring quantity, Client must provide a
report that verifies current
IBM Program usage and installation, and may be required to provide other
compliance verification
information.”


NOTE 1. REPRESENTATIVE VENDOR SELECTION

The six vendors in this guide offer independent third-party software support for
IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. An independent third-party software support
provider is one that offers commercialized independent support with no
relationship with the OEM/ISV. The provider is not an authorized channel
partner. The provider has no relationship with the OEM/ISV and, as a result,
cannot access intellectual property, software updates, firmware updates and
security advisories, or obtain OEM/ISV Level 3 or backline support.


 

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