ACA Accelerate - Driving Unnecessary Costs Out of the IT Department

I have blogged about this in the past, but it makes sense to do another post on driving costs related to redundant or underused software out of a company.

With company's making the move to Windows 7, there is a perfect opportunity to look at the software that is being used, or more accurately not used, and then creating a definitive software library (DSL).

A properly executed process for determining at DSL can help drive hard cost savings in a company. The process that Avanade uses is called ACA Accelerate, which will help drive upwards of $500 in software license savings. Another offshoot is that fact that you do not need to support nearly as much software, so you should also see up to $500 is labor savings per desktop.

Below is a slide presentation that talks to ACA Accelerate.

Aca Accelerate Reducing Software Costs By Up to $500/Desktop

A typical engagement with Avanade is less that 2 months and based on the costs, the return on investment can be significant with a 20 X plus multiplier on the cost. With cost savings like this, you might even be able to cover the costs of a Windows 7 migration and have enough left over to take your team out for pizza (numerous times).

If you would like to find out more on how Avanade can help you creating a DSL, please contact us at 403-476-1473 or via email.

How to Reduce IT Project Spends By Up To 50%

The attached slides show how an IT department can reduce the cost of an IT Project by up to 50% without impacting the overall quality of the project.

Reducing IT Project Spend by up to 50%

View more presentations from Chris Hamilton.

If you would like to see how you can reduce the costs associated with your IT projects by up to 50%, then please feel free to contact Avanade in Calgary at 403-476-1473 or click here to send an email.

Top 6 Reasons to use Total Solution Financing From Microsoft to Pay for an AX Implementation

If you are looking at implementing the Microsoft AX software package, you should really look at utilizing Total Solution Financing from Microsoft Finance. Below is a list of 6 reasons why you would want to consider financing.


Top 5 reasons to finance your AX implementation:

1. You can finance the AX Software
2. Your company can finance the Service to implement the AX software
3. Also include financing the Hardware to implement AX
4. Finance any 3rd party software required to implement AX
5. You can also finance any Microsoft related software that will be used in the implementation
6. Finally - Terms from 24 months to 60 months

3 other reasons to finance your AX implementation:

Gain a competitive edge. Many companies are reconsidering their technology investments because of uncertainty in the business world. But now is precisely the time to be proactive and invest in your company's future—because stalling technology investments in the short term can cripple the long-term growth of your company.

Improve your cash flow. Total Solution Financing from Microsoft Financing transforms large "cash up-front" technology investments into affordable monthly payments. You get the benefits now but pay over three to five years. That means you can keep cash reserves and invest in other critical assets or preserve capital for emergencies.

Make things easier on yourself. Total Solution Financing from Microsoft Financing makes the process of financing your technology investment easy. For example, you'll talk financing with people who understand your business. Avanade understands the details of your implementation project and the concept of software and services as intangible assets.

If you are considering an AX implementation and would like to find out more on how to finance the implementation, please contact Avanade in Calgary at 403-476-1473 or email us.

4 readily available processes that reduce your IT Project spend by up to 50% or greater

Are you aware that there are four readily available and often overlooked processes that IT organizations can follow that can potentially reduce an IT spend by up to 50% or greater.

These processes are available in a discussion document that I have put together for review.

Each of the processes individually will provide at least a 5% cost savings, but any of these in conjunction with each other gain synergies.


The processes are as follows:

Process One: Underutilized government program that can add up to 30% savings on IT projects.

Process Two: Rarely accessed procurement service that can reduce hardware and software spend by up to 20%.

Process Three: A community effect that reduce the cost of projects at least 10% and potentially allow for the savings to self fund the entire project.

Process Four: Access to cost cutting measures on labor that can save up to 70% on labor costs.

If you would like to understand how these processes can be accessed and how you can reduce your overall IT project spend, please contact Chris Hamilton at Avanade in Calgary at 403-476-1473 or via email at chris.hamilton@avanade.com.

How to save up to 35% on your IT projects

IT projects for corporations are typically expensive undertakings often costing multi-millions of dollars.

There is a way to potentially reduce the overall costs of your IT projects done in Canada by up to 35% through the Scientific Research and Experimental Development program run by the Canadian Revenue Agency.

The basics of the program are as follow:

Who qualifies?

“Generally, a Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC) can earn an investment tax credit (ITC) of 35% up to the first $2 million of qualified expenditures for SR&ED carried out in Canada, and 20% on any excess amount. Other Canadian corporations, proprietorships, partnerships, and trusts can earn an ITC of 20% of qualified expenditures for SR&ED carried out in Canada”. CRA

What kind of Project qualifies?

Work that qualifies for SR&ED tax credits includes (from the CRA SRED website):
experimental development to achieve technological advancement to create new materials, devices, products, or processes, or improve existing ones;

applied research to advance scientific knowledge with a specific practical application in view;

basic research to advance scientific knowledge without a specific practical application in view; and

support work in engineering, design, operations research, mathematical analysis, computer programming, data collection, testing, or psychological research, but only if the work is commensurate with, and directly supports, the eligible experimental development, or applied or basic research.


IT Project Example:

The following example compares both a private company and a public company with a $5M IT project that has $3M in qualified expenditures for SRED Credits.

Private Company

IT Project is $5M
Qualified Expenditures: $3M
SRED Credits: $900K (35% of the first $2M and 20% of the next $1M)
Potential Project Cost with SRED credits: $4.1M
Savings: $900K
Percent Savings: 18%

Public Company:

IT Project is $5M
Qualified Expenditures: $3M
SRED Credits: $$600K (20% of $3M)
Potential Project Cost with SRED credits: $4.4M
Savings: $600K
Percent Savings: 12%

As can be seen, SRED credits have a tremendous impact on the overall costs of IT projects. Basically, in this day and age, if you are not exploring ways to reduce your overall project costs, you are doing your company a disservice.

Rules change all the time and you should consult the Canadian Revenue Agency’s website to see what they are:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/txcrdt/sred-rsde/bts-eng.html

Avanade in Calgary can assist you in any of your IT projects and help you offset the costs by assisting you with navigating the SRED program.

If you would like to find out more on how to potentially reduce your IT projects, please feel free to contact Chris Hamilton at chris.hamilton@avanade.com or at 403-476-1473.