Eric Robinson, Director of IT, Color Spot Nurseries
Category
  • Technology Optimization & Innovation
The Project

Eric Robinson battled deeply-held misconceptions, perceived risks, and ingrained behaviors to adopt a new approach to enterprise software annual support that drove innovation from a previously stagnant “keep the lights on” budget line item.  By switching support for his core SAP applications from SAP to third-party support, Eric was able to cut his expensive vendor maintenance costs by 50 percent and avoid forced resource-intensive upgrades that would be performed for the sake of continuing support .  Savings were used to fund important business and innovative initiatives that ultimately affected the company’s bottom line.  Unlike traditional software support third-party support covered customizations made by Color Spot.   The switch enabled Color Spot the freedom to customize its software at will and allow the company to dictate business processes rather than adhere to software restrictions.

The Technology

Rimini Street Software Support for SAP, Rimini Street

Metrics Matter

Before my project, Color Spot spent 20 percent of its total IT budget on SAP software maintenance. One year after switching to third party support, the cost of software maintenance was reduced to 9 percent.

Disruptive Factor

Color Spot’s implementation disrupts the traditional, enterprise software support model that charges users for the right to access updates and bug fixes, regulatory updates and other materials from the software vendor. We were determined to not simply accept vendor-imposed status quo, but find a better return for our maintenance fees and improve the level of service we received from our software vendor.  The status quo is powerfully hard to change, especially when set in place by decades of risk avoidance behavior.

Shining Moment

About a year after the switch our CEO asked me how I was able to shrink my I.T. budget so significantly from the previous year while our number of supported users was increasing.  I mentioned that we had switched to third party SAP support saving over 10% of my total budget.  He and the other corporate officers were unaware that we had converted as it was business as usual for operations.   At that point it became clear to me that the project was successful.    

 

 

ABOUT Color Spot Nurseries Inc.

Color Spot Nurseries Inc. gives a green thumbs up to more than 2,000 retail & commercial customers throughout the United States. We specialize in the distribution of high quality bedding plants, vegetables, herbs, shrubs, premium blooming plants, ground cover, ornamentals & more.

The Color Spot family is committed to excellence. We pride ourselves on the success of our customers & the satisfaction of our ultimate consumers. Our commitment to quality runs deep throughout every thread of our root system.

We truly “grow for our customers,” operating 12 production facilities throughout the United States.