Need help managing software? Here are 5 signs the answer is “yes!”

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When a mountain climber faces an especially intense summit, they trust a porter to help carry critical supplies and guide them toward the safest, most optimal ascent.

For an IT leader facing a mountain of software licenses, the choice may not be as obvious. Many choose to self-manage, either to the point of failure or serious overspending.

So, when is it best to self-manage your software procurement and renewals, and when do you need the equivalent of a software licensing porter to carry the load? In this article, our experts share five signs it might be time to talk to a licensing executive at a software value-added reseller (VAR) like SHI.

And if you’re already working with a VAR, these might be signs it’s time to change.

1. You can’t accurately report on your licenses and subscriptions

What software do you own, who’s using it, and why? On the surface, it sounds like a simple question.

But decades of growth, sprawl, and change make it difficult for many organizations to maintain clear visibility over their software stack. As environments hybridize between on-prem, cloud, and software as a service (SaaS), your view only becomes more obscured.

Indeed, Flexera’s 2025 State of ITAM Report found a decline in complete visibility across the technology stack – down to 43% from 47% year-over-year. Meanwhile, the report ranked the challenge of managing software use rights as the number one concern for software asset management (SAM) teams, up from sixth place just a year prior.

With that lack of visibility, our seemingly simple question becomes an alarming mystery. Scrambling to collate old spreadsheets and disparate OEM dashboards often creates more problems than it solves.

How a software VAR can help: A reliable VAR offers a single tool for viewing all your licenses across multiple OEMs, whether they’re in use, who they’re assigned to, and what your entitlements are. No matter which software platforms you pay for, your VAR should provide the visibility you need.

2. You miss or struggle to manage important renewals and agreement dates

Few things are more frustrating than realizing you’ve auto‑renewed a contract you meant to renegotiate — or worse, discovering too late that a critical agreement has expired. As you adopt more licensing agreements, it can seem like every day brings a new renewal to track – while an old one falls through the cracks.

How a software VAR can help: Your VAR should provide a quick, easy timeline of all your renewals, and proactively alert you to upcoming renewals well in advance of the event date. They should also leverage their vendor status, relationships, and expertise to co-term agreements and renegotiate terms in your favor.

3. You doubt you’re getting the best deal

If you’ve ever signed a new contract or renewal and immediately wondered whether you overpaid, you’re not alone. Licensing tiers can often obfuscate value, while pricing models seem to change with the weather.

Sky-high prices could be a sign you’re overprovisioning licenses, or you agreed to a licensing tier beyond your needs. Or worse, you might have been upsold by someone who doesn’t have your organization’s best interests at heart.

How a software VAR can help: VARs bring experience and knowledge across all major software vendors, enabling them to assess your needs and accurately determine which licensing models are the optimal choice. VARs can also negotiate at scale, often securing pricing that can feel unattainable when you negotiate alone.

And when you find a software VAR you can truly trust, you’ll be able to rest easily knowing they’ll champion you at every turn.

4. You feel frustrated with OEM technical support

When an issue arises, it’s uncommon for it to remain isolated to a single application or platform. Often, disruptions affect a wide range of products across multiple OEMs.

So, what do you do? You contact support, wait in long queues, follow rigid escalation paths, and, if you do get a resolution, it often lacks the context of your broader IT landscape.

Or, you get the dreaded “This is a Vendor X issue. Contact them instead,” response.

All the while, productivity plummets and capabilities falter while you rest your fate in the hands of a dozen OEMs that don’t speak with each other.

How a software VAR can help: Some VARs offer highly competitive third-party support, often with SLAs that are more aggressive than their OEM counterparts. Partnering with a VAR lets you reach out to a single point of contact who can troubleshoot and resolve issues across your entire software stack.

5. You have to deal with too many VARs

Sometimes, your issue isn’t that you deal with too many software OEMs – it’s that you deal with too many VARs.

As you bought and entered various software agreements for your mission-critical apps and platforms, you might have worked with multiple VARs to help manage the process. Now that the dust has settled, you have an eclectic collection of account teams, overlapping renewals, and fragmented reporting – creating the same sprawl as if you had bought direct.

How consolidating your VAR roster can help: Having a single, trustworthy partner gives you a holistic view of your entire environment, making it easier to optimize your license position across your software stack. Once optimized, management becomes a breeze – especially if your VAR provides proactive guidance.

Consolidating VARs is easier than you might think. Major software vendors like Microsoft and Adobe provide processes for transitioning between partners, including a Change of Channel Partner (COCP) and Letter of Authorization (LOA), respectively.

When organizations need help, they depend on SHI

If the signs are telling you danger is ahead, don’t be the lone mountaineer caught without a porter. With over 35 years’ experience championing over 17,000 organizations as their software VAR of choice, we at SHI are dedicated to removing the stress and tedium from software management.

Our SHI^® One Portal helps you track and manage all your software assets from a single location, giving you real-time visibility into your software stack. And with Expert Support, we empower you to consolidate multiple support contracts from major software vendors under one agreement. That means rapid resolution, high availability, and lower costs.

What customers say about working with SHI

As of March 2026, SHI has an Overall Rating of 4.7 out of 5 in the Software Reseller market, based on 68 reviews on Gartner Peer Insights™. That’s the highest customer rating of all time in the market among vendors with at least 5 reviews.

Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what a few of our happy customers had to say:

From a large healthcare and biotech organization: “SHI isn’t just a great reseller, but also a strategic partner for finding the right solutions to meet our technology and business needs. They also help us get the best pricing available.”

From a local education institution: “SHI has been wonderful in getting us the best pricing for whatever software we’re looking to purchase. Most importantly, they keep it legal by using an approved state purchasing vehicle.”

From a large organization in the transportation industry: “Truly exceptional end-to-end support throughout the entire procurement workflow. Incredible presales support and expertise, great assistance in evaluating multiple vendors, and quality deployment and post-deployment services.”

NEXT STEPS

See for yourself why 96% of existing customers recommend our software reselling services on Gartner Peer Insights™ (as of March 2026 out of 68 ratings). Contact our licensing specialists to discover what partnering with SHI could mean for you!

 

 

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