Christchurch · Dunedin · Nationwide
Software Licensing Management for NZ Businesses
Exodesk helps New Zealand businesses understand the software licences they hold, what those licences allow and when their costs can change. We review the products in scope, compare entitlements with the way your team works, and plan approved changes around renewal dates and contract commitments.
The aim is to reduce avoidable spend and identify licensing gaps while keeping the features and protection your business needs. We separate changes that can happen now from those that must wait for renewal.
Supporting New Zealand businesses since 1989
The short answer
What is software licensing?
Software licensing sets the conditions under which your business can use software, including who may use it, where it can run and any limits that apply. Licence management keeps the record of your rights, usage and commitments current.
Licences describe two separate things. Per-user and per-device describe what is counted, while subscription and perpetual describe how long the right lasts, so a per-user licence can be an annual subscription billed monthly. A perpetual licence gives continued use of the licensed version under its terms, not ownership of the software or indefinite updates and support.
Software licensing applies to free and open-source products too. Open-source licences carry their own conditions, and the Open Source Definition allows business use. For plan comparisons, our Microsoft 365 guide sets out the options.
Exodesk has supported New Zealand businesses since 1989. Today, our Christchurch and Dunedin teams support businesses nationwide.
What we cover
What our software licensing service covers
We agree which products, accounts and agreements are included. The software licensing work can cover a licence register, checks of assigned and purchased quantities, renewal planning and coordination of approved changes with the relevant vendor or reseller.
Register
Licence register
Products, quantities purchased, current assignments, deployment details and the agreements behind them, kept in one record.
Renewals
Renewals and commitments
Commitment end dates, billing frequency and notice deadlines tracked, so changes are planned before a renewal rather than after it.
Changes
Approved changes
Reductions, reassignments or additional licences proposed with their effective dates and cost, then coordinated once you approve them.
A one-off review establishes the current position. Ongoing management adds an agreed review schedule and updates when staff, systems or contracts change, and the scope sets out the responsibilities and charges for each.
Exodesk resells licences from several vendors, and we say so when a recommendation involves a product we could supply. We also work with licences bought from another reseller or direct from the vendor. Where a deployment raises a product-specific question, we identify what needs confirming before recommending a change. Wider technology decisions sit with our IT consulting service.
How it works
How we review and manage licences
Each software licensing review moves through four stages, and nothing changes until your business approves it.
Establish the records
Gather purchase and subscription records, the products and quantities held, current assignments, deployment details and renewal terms.
Check the requirements
Compare those rights with actual use, staff roles, shared or hosted systems and required security features. Apparent unused capacity is investigated before anything changes.
Plan the changes
Identify possible reductions, reassignments or additional licences. Each proposal shows the earliest effective date, the relevant conditions and the expected cost before the business approves it.
Keep the position current
Record completed changes, future renewal actions and the responsible owner. Joiners, leavers and system changes trigger updates between scheduled reviews.
Renewals
Renewals, commitments and when costs can change
Monthly billing does not necessarily mean a monthly contract. The renewal date, committed quantity and cancellation terms determine when the bill can reduce.
Removing an assigned licence changes who can use the software; reducing the purchased quantity changes the bill. Access for someone who has left may need removing straight away, while the financial change waits for the point the agreement allows. We keep those two actions distinct, and preserve any business data the departing person held before an account is retired.
Terms differ by vendor and product. For Microsoft new commerce licence-based subscriptions bought through a reseller, for example, cancelling the whole subscription and reducing seat quantities are separate actions. The new commerce cancellation policy allows cancellation within seven days of purchase, and Microsoft’s subscription management guidance limits seat reductions to seven days from when those seats were added, at purchase, mid-term or on renewal, with later reductions waiting for the next renewal. Reducing recently added seats does not reopen cancellation of the whole subscription. We check the applicable deadline and record the earliest effective reduction date before you approve a change. The register records the commitment end date, billing frequency and notice deadline for each product.
Usage and protection
Checking usage without removing needed protection
Low visible use is a starting point for investigation, not proof that a plan or product is unnecessary. A plan can provide security, device management or governance capabilities that staff do not open directly.
Before a downgrade or removal, we check dependencies, the controls the business needs and the cost of replacing anything that would be lost. Installations alone do not establish the licence count either: one user licence can cover several permitted devices, while shared computers and hosted environments can have their own requirements.
Software licensing checks the rights and commitments behind each product. The wider question of which cloud apps exist, who owns them and what data they hold is covered in our SaaS management guide, and the two share the same records.
Vendor reviews
Preparing for a vendor licence review
A vendor licence review checks your entitlements against the relevant usage. The rights, notice, scope and remedies depend on the agreement for that product.
- Confirm the request. Check that it comes from the vendor and which products and period it covers.
- Read the agreement. Establish what the vendor may ask for and how a shortfall is resolved.
- Reconcile the records. Match purchases and assignments against deployment for the products in scope.
- Resolve differences. Work through discrepancies with the vendor, with specialist or legal advice where it is needed.
Exodesk gathers and reconciles the records for the products in the agreed scope and identifies the questions to raise with the vendor. Specialist licensing or legal advice is arranged separately where a review needs it. A shortfall can lead to additional licence purchases or contractual charges, so the earlier the records are in order, the more options the business has.
Cost
What affects the cost of software licensing management?
Cost depends on the products and agreements in scope, the quality of the existing records and whether you need a one-off review or ongoing management.
- Products and agreements. How many vendors, products and contracts are included.
- Record quality. The work needed to gather and reconcile records before the position is clear.
- Review or management. A one-off review, or an ongoing schedule with updates between reviews.
- Vendor reviews. Records support for a vendor licence review, and any specialist advice it needs.
Software licensing charges and review or management fees are shown separately. Any proposed saving shows when it takes effect and what it costs to achieve, and a review can also find licences that need adding. Licence commitments then feed into IT budget planning for the year ahead.
Questions
Software licensing questions
What is software licensing?
Software licensing sets the conditions under which a business can use software, including who may use it, where it can run and any limits that apply. The conditions apply to paid, free and open-source products. Licence management keeps the record of those rights, usage and commitments current.
Does removing a licence reduce the bill immediately?
Not necessarily. Removing an assignment changes who can use the software, while reducing the purchased quantity changes the bill. The commitment and cancellation terms decide when that reduction is allowed, and monthly payments can still belong to an annual contract.
Can we reuse a licence when someone leaves?
In many cases, subject to the reassignment rules for that product. Remove the access of the departing person, preserve the business data they held and check the terms before allocating the licence to another user. Reuse does not automatically reduce the committed cost.
Should we downgrade a plan nobody uses fully?
Check which capabilities the business relies on first. Security, device management and governance features can be important even when staff do not use them directly. Compare the lower plan and any replacement costs before approving a change.
What can a software licensing review save?
There is no standard saving. A review can identify unused capacity or changes to make at renewal, but it may also find licences that need adding. Any proposal should show the effective dates and the net cost after the work required.
How is software licensing different from SaaS management?
Software licensing checks the rights and commitments behind software use. SaaS management covers the wider cloud-app portfolio, including ownership, approvals, data and access. They share records but answer different questions.
Can Exodesk help with a vendor licence review?
Yes, for the products in the agreed scope. Exodesk gathers and reconciles the records and identifies the questions to raise with the vendor. Specialist licensing or legal advice is arranged separately where a review needs it.
Does Exodesk sell software licences?
Yes. Exodesk resells licences from several vendors and says so when a recommendation involves a product it could supply. We also manage licences bought from another reseller or direct from the vendor.
Next step
Discuss your software licences
Tell us which software you use, who supplies it and whether a renewal or vendor enquiry is approaching. We can then discuss the records and work needed before any changes are agreed.
Get in touch
Talk to us about your licences
Tell us the main products you use, who supplies them and when the next renewals fall, and we will be in touch to arrange a time that suits.
Prefer to talk?
Christchurch
Level 1, 85 Riccarton Road
Christchurch 8011
03 343 3124
Dunedin
Level 3, Bartons Building
2 Stafford Street, Dunedin 9016
03 479 2941