// Success Story
Akbank relies on USU and Raynet technologies for budget control and license compliance with just a click
Akbank T.A.Ş., one of the largest banks in Turkey, has created complete transparency across its entire IT portfolio as part of a comprehensive Software Asset Management (SAM) project. With the implementation of USU Software Asset Management and Raynet’s RayVentory, it has laid the foundation for saving licensing costs, analyzing usage data and preparing efficiently for major software audits.
The customer
Akbank T.A.Ş. was founded in 1948 in Adana as a private commercial bank and is now one of the largest banks in Turkey. With its headquarters in Istanbul, a Data and Life Center, 19 regional offices and more than 711 branches, Akbank employs more than 12,000 people worldwide. Akbank itself is driving the digital transformation in Turkey and creating secure added value for its customers with Akbank Internet, Akbank Mobile, call centers, 5,300 ATMs and 680,000 POS terminals. Since its IPO in 1990, Akbank has also been trading in international markets and was named the “Most Valuable Banking Brand in Turkey” for the seventh consecutive year in the “Branding Finance – Banking 500, 2018” report.
The challenge
As one of the largest banks in Turkey, Akbank was faced with the challenge of creating complete transparency across its complex IT infrastructure in order to economically optimize its software and license portfolio. With more than 8,500 Windows and Unix servers, Abkank has a portfolio of diverse and cost-intensive licenses for which no usage data was available.
Akbank noticed that there was a great need for detailed license reports. There was also a lack of ability to effectively manage the software licenses of large software providers and to prepare for software audits.
Previously used procedures for inventorying hardware and software and preparing for software audits were very cumbersome and time-consuming. Akbank’s IT department was therefore looking for a solution that would create IT visibility across the entire IT infrastructure, provide an overview of software usage, display consumption data and enable automated reporting.
Project information:
Industry:
Banking & Finance
Employees:
12.000+
Customers:
19 milllion
Products:
USU Software Asset Management
*Status: 07/2024
In cooperation with:
“The license metrics of individual large software vendors can be very complex. Our database software vendor has VPC and PVU metrics that relate to the products that run on Unix systems. These types of license metrics were difficult to maintain manually. It is not possible to manage a company's license inventory by manually reviewing contracts and maintaining the data in Excel spreadsheets, which also have to be created manually. We saw this clearly with license renewal and budgeting,”
Neslihan Kop Özen, Infrastructure Technologies department at Akbank
The solution
Akbank was looking for a Software Asset Management solution that was scalable, customizable, cost-effective and had a simple user interface. The company evaluated various SAM tools and license management products, including the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Software Asset Management Solutions.
After an extensive market survey, the bank opted for USU Software Asset Management and USU Discovery powered by RayVentory. One of the reasons for the decision was USU’s many years of experience with established major customers and its global network of local consulting partners such as MOS Academy, which had already worked successfully for customers of a similar size.
Within a very short time, the USU solution was put into operation together with the IT visibility technology from Raynet. This marked the starting point for Akbank’s IT team to begin collecting and normalizing license data from over 8,500 Windows and Unix servers and the prerequisite for implementing company-wide reporting processes involving all major vendors.
“It was crucial for us to work with a solution that can be flexibly adapted to the needs of the end users. With USU Software Asset Management, we can now carry out regular budget checks and compliance reports with just a few clicks. In addition, our IT team can take advantage of easy integration with other applications within the bank,” says Rabia Duduhacioglu, Infrastructure Technologies Department at Akbank.
When Akbank began reviewing the discovery reports for the database vendor licenses, it found that the SAM solution was not detecting the vendor software on the Unix servers as expected. These software products are critical to Akbank’s employees, so correctly detecting the licenses was of great importance. The cause of the problem was related to the software installation method. As a result, the USU engineers defined a special method for detecting vendor licenses that was tailored to the bank’s environment.
First, the customer’s IT team defined the domain users associated with the project, which were then mapped in the Akbank domains. Secondly, the customer defined the permission sets that the SAM tool could provide for these users. By using this method, Akbank was able to complete the detection of software licenses for the first time ever and now benefits from a wealth of data to detect and report on licenses from other major vendors as well.
Customer added value and the conclusion
With the overall solution from USU Software Asset Management and Raynet, it was possible to fully automate the recording of the software inventory and thus save a considerable amount of time. By using flexible and automated inventory methods, Akbank achieved high data quality and accuracy across its entire IT infrastructure in a very short time.
As a result, the solution helps to optimize licenses through improved product lifecycle management of the major database software providers.
Akbank can monitor changes in license usage in near real time and accurately determine the need for new purchases. Now the IT team can calculate a valid budget based on facts and optimally manage the annual budget based on actual usage. Compliance risks or unexpected surprises during audits are now a thing of the past.
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“Akbank-SAM was a challenging project because the bank uses a variety of complex software products and the bank's IT security policies and practices are very strict. Thanks to USU and Raynet's flexible structure and solutions, we found an answer to every challenge. Together with the customer, we are very satisfied with the results we have achieved as a team. Above all, the customized license compliance reports we produced are a clear milestone in terms of global SAM practices,”
Kerim Yüksel, founder and managing director of the MOS Academy.
About the MOS Academy
Master of Service Academy is the leading provider of SAM tools and services in Turkey, serving top-tier telecom and banking companies in the region thanks to its close partnership and collaboration with USU. In addition to SAM, MOS has a track record of successful implementation projects in the areas of enterprise architecture, IT service management and information security, also helping to simplify complex IT asset management cases.
About USU
USU offers software and service solutions in the field of IT & Customer Service Management. With USU solutions, companies worldwide are responding to the changing needs of customers and employees in a digitalized working world. USU enables smarter services, simpler workflows, better collaboration – and thus the success of customers in their increasingly demanding and dynamic markets.
Founded in 1977, USU has pursued a continuous growth course and constantly expanded its business areas. Today, USU employs around 750 people worldwide throughout the Group and supports its customers with smart software and service solutions.
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// Success Story
Akbank relies on USU and Raynet technologies for budget control and license compliance with just a click
Akbank T.A.Ş., one of the largest banks in Turkey, has created complete transparency across its entire IT portfolio as part of a comprehensive software asset management (SAM) project. With the implementation of USU Software Asset Management and Raynet’s RayVentory, it has laid the foundation for saving licensing costs, analyzing usage data and preparing efficiently for major software audits.
The customer
The company is a global player and one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of sportswear. With its headquarters in Germany and a turnover of several billion euros, it employs people on all continents. As a major outfitter for athletes and sponsor of international sporting events, the company is not only known for innovation, sustainability, and commitment to athletic performance, but also inspires people around the world to lead an active, healthy, and happy life and achieve their athletic goals.
The challenge
As one of the largest banks in Turkey, Akbank was faced with the challenge of creating complete transparency across its complex IT infrastructure in order to economically optimize its software and license portfolio. With more than 8,500 Windows and Unix servers, Abkank has a portfolio of diverse and cost-intensive licenses for which no usage data was available.
Akbank noticed that there was a great need for detailed license reports. There was also a lack of ability to effectively manage the software licenses of large software providers and to prepare for software audits.
Previously used procedures for inventorying hardware and software and preparing for software audits were very cumbersome and time-consuming. Akbank’s IT department was therefore looking for a solution that would create IT visibility across the entire IT infrastructure, provide an overview of software usage, display consumption data and enable automated reporting.
“The license metrics of individual large software vendors can be very complex. Our database software vendor has VPC and PVU metrics that relate to the products that run on Unix systems. These types of license metrics were difficult to maintain manually. It is not possible to manage a company's license inventory by manually reviewing contracts and maintaining the data in Excel spreadsheets, which also have to be created manually. We saw this clearly with license renewal and budgeting.”
The solution
Akbank was looking for a software asset management solution that was scalable, customizable, cost-effective and had a simple user interface. The company evaluated various SAM tools and license management products, including the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Software Asset Management Solutions.
After an extensive market survey, the bank opted for USU Software Asset Management and USU Discovery powered by RayVentory. One of the reasons for the decision was USU’s many years of experience with established major customers and its global network of local consulting partners such as MOS Academy, which had already worked successfully for customers of a similar size.
Within a very short time, the USU solution was put into operation together with the IT visibility technology from Raynet. This marked the starting point for Akbank’s IT team to begin collecting and normalizing license data from over 8,500 Windows and Unix servers and the prerequisite for implementing company-wide reporting processes involving all major vendors.
“It was crucial for us to work with a solution that can be flexibly adapted to the needs of the end users. With USU Software Asset Management, we can now carry out regular budget checks and compliance reports with just a few clicks. In addition, our IT team can take advantage of easy integration with other applications within the bank,” says Rabia Duduhacioglu, Infrastructure Technologies Department at Akbank.
When Akbank began reviewing the discovery reports for the database vendor licenses, it found that the SAM solution was not detecting the vendor software on the Unix servers as expected. These software products are critical to Akbank’s employees, so correctly detecting the licenses was of great importance. The cause of the problem was related to the software installation method. As a result, the USU engineers defined a special method for detecting vendor licenses that was tailored to the bank’s environment.
First, the customer’s IT team defined the domain users associated with the project, which were then mapped in the Akbank domains. Secondly, the customer defined the permission sets that the SAM tool could provide for these users. By using this method, Akbank was able to complete the detection of software licenses for the first time ever and now benefits from a wealth of data to detect and report on licenses from other major vendors as well.
Customer added value and the conclusion
With the overall solution from USU Software Asset Management and Raynet, it was possible to fully automate the recording of the software inventory and thus save a considerable amount of time. By using flexible and automated inventory methods, Akbank achieved high data quality and accuracy across its entire IT infrastructure in a very short time.
As a result, the solution helps to optimize licenses through improved product lifecycle management of the major database software providers.
“Akbank-SAM was a challenging project because the bank uses a variety of complex software products and the bank's IT security policies and practices are very strict. Thanks to USU and Raynet's flexible structure and solutions, we found an answer to every challenge. Together with the customer, we are very satisfied with the results we have achieved as a team. Above all, the customized license compliance reports we produced are a clear milestone in terms of global SAM practices.”
Akbank can monitor changes in license usage in near real time and accurately determine the need for new purchases. Now the IT team can calculate a valid budget based on facts and optimally manage the annual budget based on actual usage. Compliance risks or unexpected surprises during audits are now a thing of the past.
About the MOS Academy
Master of Service Academy is the leading provider of SAM tools and services in Turkey, serving top-tier telecom and banking companies in the region thanks to its close partnership and collaboration with USU. In addition to SAM, MOS has a track record of successful implementation projects in the areas of enterprise architecture, IT service management and information security, also helping to simplify complex IT asset management cases.
About USU
USU offers software and service solutions in the field of IT & Customer Service Management. With USU solutions, companies worldwide are responding to the changing needs of customers and employees in a digitalized working world. USU enables smarter services, simpler workflows, better collaboration – and thus the success of customers in their increasingly demanding and dynamic markets.
Founded in 1977, USU has pursued a continuous growth course and constantly expanded its business areas. Today, USU employs around 750 people worldwide throughout the Group and supports its customers with smart software and service solutions.
// Good to know
You might also be interested in
// We are, where you are
Contact our experts
Interested in our solutions, need further information, or have other questions? Reach out to us now.
With almost 25 years of experience and numerous IT projects in the healthcare sector, we can support you with your challenges at any time.