In a crowded market of IT service management solutions, it can be easy to find a solution that meets your feature and functional requirements. Conversely, it can be difficult to calculate and understand the hard and soft costs of a potential solution. Getting clear answers from potential vendors to the following questions is critical in controlling your total cost of ownership.

Will every single member of your IT organization require a license, regardless of how often they use the system?

A named licensing model is inflexible and expensive and costs can add up quick if usage increases or your organization grows.

1. Flexible Licensing Models

Will you be notified should the number of logins surpasses your license count?

While this doesn’t feel like a Software-as-a-Service issue, many SaaS based solutions regularly run customer usage reports, and rather than provide notification, the vendor will simply present an order form to add these additional licenses. As more users access the tool, these usage reports and additional true-up order forms present unbudgeted costs.

3. License Compliance

Can you choose your deployment model?

If your IT organization wanted to host the ITSM solution on-premises, would it be easy or inexpensive to select that model?

If you started in a hosted model, would you be able to switch over the course of your relationship with the vendor?

5. Choice Deployment Models

Does the solution you intend on selecting known for facilitating easy version upgrades?

One of the virtues of having JavaScript developers to configure and customize the platform is the flexibility to meet unique requirements, but this can present challenges when it is time to upgrade versions, specifically with regards to the time spent on regression testing.

7. Version Upgrades

What do other customers say about the solution you intend on selecting?

Do they share feedback on the challenges with licensing models, contract negotiation, quality of implementation or quality of technical support?

9. Customer Feedback

Will business users require a license to access the self-service portal and the knowledge base?

According to Gartner, on average, end-users contact the IT service desk once a month, and if there is any cost associated with a user browsing a knowledge base, requesting a service, resetting a password, or submitting a timecard, your organization may not gain cost efficiencies in establishing a self-service program.

2. End-User Licensing

Will named licenses be required for capabilities outside of IT, in areas such as Human Resources, Facilities Management, or Security Operations?

Furthermore, does the solution you intend on selecting require additional development licensing to build your own custom applications on its platform?

Lastly, do additional capabilities related to orchestration or cloud provisioning require additional licensing?

4. Beyond IT Fees

Does the solution you intend on selecting have a steep learning curve?

Even if the solution uses Java or JavaScript technologies and you have the resources to provide the required administration, would the best use of your JavaScript developer’s time be on configuring, customizing and maintaining your ITSM solution?

Will the changes that process owners and business analysts requests be prioritized appropriately, or will they need to wait for long periods of time?

6. Time to Value

What do third-party analyst firms like Gartner say about the solution you intend on selecting?

Do they report on common customer experiences, specific to concerns on the solution requiring more time and resources that expected when the product was selected?

Do they report on customers have challenges to achieve favorable deals and renewals?

8. Industry Reputation

9 Considerations Before You License a New ITSM Solution

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