Software Standardization, it just makes sense

Source: IDC

http://wwwimages.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/products/acrobat/pdfs/IDC_Adobe_Licensing_White_Paper_FINAL.pdf

This white paper from IDC does an excellent job showing why standardizing software platforms in an organization just makes sense.

As an enterprise architect, CIO, IT director, or anyone responsible for software purchasing in an organization you must get a handle on what software is used within the organization.  This is important to reduce the overall complexity within your environment.

This white paper covers a number of reasons for standardization but I think the most powerful reason is Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).  Cutting costs while not reducing functionality is always a good way to get ahead in any organization.

How can you start this process in any organization?

The easiest way to justify this is cost.  By standardizing on a subset of systems you can significantly reduce licensing costs.  Many vendors offer price breaks when you reach a certain volume.  Another cost reduction is in training, the smaller variety of systems you have the less training you will need to spend to have your developers, engineers and operations team trained in each software product, and possibly just less staff overall.
Finally you should be able to reduce integration costs, having multiple platforms will often require your organization to develop custom software to link these disparate systems.  Cost is just one point, but in most organizations it can be the most important one to focus on when trying to drive towards standardization.