Many firms get tempted into purchasing software with an unlimited number of licences. They focus on the comfort of knowing that everybody in the business can use the software if they need or want to, but fail to think about whether this is actually the best option for them. It is highly likely that as a result, they will spend more on the software than they actually need to. A simple step to start optimising software spend is to review exactly who in the business needs access to the software. It’s surprisingly common to find that there are still active licences for employees who don’t even work for the business anymore! Once a business has this visibility, they can speak with their software vendors to see if they can only pay for the licences being utilised. For relationships with new vendors, it is prudent to start by purchasing the number of licences that are required to begin with, and have an agreement for any extra licences required at a set amount of percentage to allow for more accurate forecasting. There may be some exceptions to this in enterprise businesses when a software is likely to be used across the business. If a diligent review shows that a software will be used by the majority of employees in very large organisations, then sometimes purchasing an unlimited number of licences may prove more valuable. Whichever route you choose to go down, make sure it’s based on the data in front of you.