Germany: Case Studies

1 INSIGHT CASE STUDY DE.INSIGHT.COM SAM Project Provides Railway Manufacturer with Legal Security and Better IT Management "The biggest advantage of the SAM project is the legal security. We have regained control." - Michael Thamm, CEO, Bochumer Verein For the last ten years, railway component manufacturer Bochumer Verein, based in Bochum, Germany, had outsourced the administration of its IT department to another company. Upon resuming control of the department, Bochumer Verein needed a way to verify that its software licenses were in good legal standing. The company had only fragmentary paper records and no processes to track ongoing license fluctuations. The company turned to Insight Enterprises for help. The Insight Software Asset Management consultation helped Bochumer Verein to assure the legality of its software licenses, achieve total license visibility, improve IT management, and lower costs. Situation Founded in 1842, Bochumer Verein is a component manufacturer for the rail industry in Germany and other countries around the world. The company manufactures process parts for the train industry, including wheel sets and axles, and manufacturing rings for the construction industry. Bochumer Verein is part of the Georgsmarienhütte Group of companies, all of which have as a common goal to continually find new applications for steel, cast iron, and aluminum. Based in Bochum, Germany, Bochumer Verein employs nearly 600 people and has yearly revenue of €120 million (U.S.$161 million). In 2004, the company resumed management of its IT processes after having outsourced this function to another company for ten years. During the time that the IT responsibilities were outsourced, the company had little visibility into its software assets. The only information Bochumer Verein had about what software was installed on its computers and the legal status of its licenses were some fragmentary records on paper. "We pretty much took things over practically from scratch. We had figures only: this is how many licenses we have, and this is how many we use. But there was no system to verify this, no method to track our licenses," says Michael Thamm, CEO of Bochumer Verein. The company's main server product is Microsoft ® Exchange Server 2003, and its main client software is Microsoft Office 2003 and 2000. "We only deploy Microsoft products—on the servers, as the operating system, and also on the clients," says Thamm. Customer Profile Railway component manufacturer Bochumer Verein was founded in 1842 and is based in Bochum, Germany. The company, which is part of the Georgsmarienhütte Group of companies, has 600 employees. Business Situation Bochumer Verein resumed management of its IT department after 10 years of outsourcing it. Because of poor software license tracking practices, the company was not sure that its software licenses were up to date. Solution The company turned to Insight Enterprises for help conducting an in-depth Software Asset Management (SAM) and optimization project. Benefits Legal security » Total license visibility » Better IT management » Lower costs and » increased efficiency

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