Did you get your IBM Cognos support renewal bill recently and fall off your chair?  Well pick yourself up off the floor because I can help.   You, my friend, are a victim of a not so efficient process … but not to worry.  With a few easy steps and understanding the situation, it can be resolved.

The issue arises primarily for older “Cognos” clients who purchased a large number of licenses initially and negotiated a heck of a deal.  Cognos, prior to IBM, typically charged clients 20% of their purchase price for year 2 of support.  So, if you negotiated steep discounts on the software purchase you would benefit from a lower support bill in future years.  Depending on the contract, the support cost did increase over the years but typically around 5-10%.

When IBM purchased Cognos they began, as I call it, IBMizing Cognos, which means they started to apply the rules they have for other IBM software brands to Cognos.

Some of the changes included standardizing definitions like “Authorized user”, “PVU” and when a  “Non-Production environment” license is required.  IBM standardization also includes charging support renewal rates of 20% of list price so all clients pay the same rate for the support services and software upgrades from IBM Cognos.   The change from 20% of purchase price to 20% of list price can be significant if you negotiated a large discount on the original purchase.  So, when you open your IBM Cognos support renewal bill you most likely will see that the bill is 20% of list price because that’s how the system generates the bill.  I had a client that had an 881% increase in their bill from last year.  You can imagine their shock.

Lodestar Solutions can help!  We can work with you and IBM Cognos support renewal to reduce the bill typically to about 15% increase over last year.  As part of this process, Lodestar Solutions will provide competitive IBM Support Renewal Rate, educate you on IBM Cognos Licensing and functionality and review your license mix to make sure you have the quantity and type of licenses.  Note that all support is still provided by IBM directly and is subject to your IBM Cognos Contract terms.

To save money on IBM Cognos Support Renewals with Lodestar Solutions, call us at 813-415-2910 or email hcole@lodestarsolutions.com.

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