CIO Bulletin

Livingstone Group – Leading global provider of Cloud Asset Management & Optimization services

Livingstone Group is trusted by some of the world’s largest companies and public sector organizations to control and optimize their investments in software and cloud services. Its independent expertise and technology-enabled managed services deliver successful outcomes across the entire investment lifecycle, accurately forecasting demand, mitigating compliance risks, negotiating contracts, and managing and optimizing consumption. The company does this through the application of market leading services, delivered by exceptional technology and brilliant, experienced people. Headquartered in Reading, UK, Livingstone Group’s growing team of 150 experts operates on a global scale, managing client service contracts in more than 138 countries.

Leveraging robust cloud asset management & optimization services

Software Asset Management: SAM is more vital, relevant and beneficial today than ever before. An approach once synonymous with ensuring large physical software deployments were compliant with licensing agreements, SAM has evolved to now also tackle one of the biggest challenges facing nearly every organization today – how to stop cloud or ‘as-a-Service’ costs spiraling out of control. Unchecked consumption of cloud services – especially when coupled with sub-optimal contracts – exposes organizations to a wide array of commercial risks, many of which are of board-level concern.

At Livingstone Group, they offer a range of strategic, technology-led SAM services designed to not only help organizations manage their licensing requirements, but also to reduce the costs and risks associated with their software and cloud deployments. At Livingstone Group, Software Asset Management (SAM) and IT Asset Management (ITAM) are in their DNA. They have been providing market leading services to their clients since their foundation and, today, are one of a small number of truly independent providers which focus entirely on providing Software and Cloud Asset Management and Optimization services. In other words, they will never try to sell you software licenses. It is this independence that sets them apart. It means they are always 100 percent focused on delivering the very best commercial and contractual outcomes for their clients.

Software & Cloud Optimization: Managing cloud ecosystem costs are now seen as one of the main challenges facing organizations. In a recent study over 83% of respondents sight this as a primary concern. Unsurprisingly, they find clients overpaying by as much as 24% on their cloud estates, which, in many cases, can represent millions of dollars a year in wasted spend. To develop a future forecast they must first ensure cloud spend is lean. To optimize a client’s cloud deployments, they first carry out a complete assessment of the current cloud ecosystem using their Hub Platform, this helps identify utilization rates of cloud features in the client’s cloud environment. Modernization of workloads is also considered which is effectively identifying whether newer instance types offer the same or higher performance for a lower investment.

Livingstone Group ensures their clients can secure the best value from their investment software & cloud contracts. Their unique methodology, experience & independence allows us to offer their client’s impartial advise, develop & implement solutions that improve & optimize their software license position from a contractual & commercial perspective. Their optimization services drive measurable & tangible results for clients, whilst meeting their short & long-term technology requirements. The consultants are recognized as some of the most experienced & skilled in the world, having provided services to Fortune 500 global clients & government organizations. Cloud cost management is quickly becoming the single largest commercial risk for IT, procurement and budget holders. Their Cloud Optimization services allows clients to take control of costs across their cloud ecosystem, so they can align their cloud strategy with FinOps effectively, forecast, optimize when required and only pay for what they consume.

Mega Vendors: Livingstone Group provides the clients with a governance framework unique to their organization that will become the cornerstone of effective IT management. However, if an organization is to drive improved value from its mega vendor investments and control software and cloud related costs, it must first have access to both trustworthy data and have effective processes and policies in place. Most organizations will complete a contract renewal or audit for each mega vendor perhaps once every 3 years so, having subject matter experts on the team for each vendor as FTEs simply doesn't make good business sense. Outsourcing to independent experts for these activities will give access to the expertise when it is required. Each of Livingstone Group's mega vendor practices is lead and supported by a team of experts who have worked both for the vendors directly, negotiation and building contracts and with many of the world’s largest and most complex organizations, using their specialist expertise to advise on contract renewals, negotiations, audits, compliance, and much more. The company ensures their clients can secure the best investment value from their software & cloud strategic mega vendors, whilst remaining agile, secure and most importantly compliant. Their unique methodology, experience & independence allow them to offer the client’s impartial advice, develop & implement solutions that improve & optimize their software license position from a contractual & commercial perspective.

Chris Allan | Chief Executive Officer

Chris joined the Livingstone Group as CEO in January 2021. He has extensive experience in leading technology and service organizations, and a strong track record of delivering value for customers and shareholders often in challenging environments. Chris has previously worked in Private Equity and start-up environments in companies including Accenture, Quantum Retail, SmartFocus and Retek.