SAM Case Studies

Crown Paints

With a proud history spanning almost 200 years, Crown Paints has a rich pedigree in decorative coatings, with leading brands across the Trade and Retail sectors including Crown, Sadolin, Sandtex, Macpherson and Berger.

With its headquarters in Darwen (Lancashire), Crown Paints has annual revenue in excess of £180 million across UK and Ireland (with a further small export business). Crown Paints employs 1,500 people and operates two factories in Darwen and Hull, with strategic warehouse depots located in Warrington, Dublin and Belfast. The business also has an extensive network of 126 Crown Decorator Centres (CDC's) across the UK and Ireland.

Crown Paints Demerger

Crown Paints were owned by Akzo Nobel, the largest global paints and coatings company. Akzo sold Crown Paints as part of its deal with the European Commission to secure clearance of its acquisition of ICI, which owns Dulux. As part of this sale a full review of Crown Paints Microsoft Licensing was required.

The Certero Approach

Crown Paints engaged Certero to assist with their Microsoft Licensing Review.  Certero took the following approach:

1. Review and document Business Objectives
2. Review and document the short, medium and long term IT strategy
3. A SAM awareness presentation and an overview of the Microsoft SAM programme
4. Perform a System Discovery and Software Inventory using AssetStudio™
5. Obtain license entitlement and purchase information
6. Carry out an infrastructure review to gain an understanding of the IT infrastructure. This is necessary to identify any additional license requirements e.g. External Connector Licenses
7. Use the collated information to establish the license position
8. Provide alternative licensing options
9. Obtain alternative quotes to ensure 'Value for Money' is achieved
10. Provide full documentary evidence used to conduct the audit with copies of all correspondence and outputs for future reference.

Outcome

Certero provided previously unconsidered options which presented Crown Paints with the opportunity for significant savings.

What our customers said

David Dugdale, IT Director said "I was very pleased with the thorough analysis and effort that Certero put into this exercise. Their approach was truly innovative as they were prepared to think outside the box. Their methodical approach and clear communication provided me with the tangible options that I could evaluate and align to our business objectives. This resulted in real bottom line benefits to Crown Paints"

"I would recommend Certero to any organisation wishing to carry out a software compliance exercise as they truly put the customer first. The fact that Certero do not rely on revenue from licensing gave us the confidence that the final solution was the most appropriate for Crown Paints"