The Challenge No One Wanted to Tackle
When UMS first engaged with the City of New York over 25 years ago, the landscape was grim. Thousands of software contracts across 80+ agencies, each negotiated independently, with no centralized visibility into what was being spent or whether licenses were actually being used.
Publishers loved it. Complexity is their profit margin.
The Big 4 consulting firms had been brought in before. They produced comprehensive reports — thick, expensive reports — that ultimately sat on shelves. The problem wasn’t diagnosis. It was implementation. Nobody wanted to own the risk of actually going in and changing things.
A Different Approach: Shared Risk, Shared Reward
UMS proposed something the city hadn’t seen before: a shared savings model. Zero upfront cost. UMS would only get paid from the savings it actually delivered — verified, documented, and audit-ready.
This wasn’t a theoretical exercise. It meant UMS had to put its own money where its mouth was. If the savings weren’t real, UMS didn’t eat.
That alignment of incentives changed everything.
What $700M+ in Savings Actually Looks Like
Over 25 years, the engagement has touched nearly every aspect of the city’s software estate:
- License right-sizing — Identifying thousands of licenses assigned to users who didn’t need them (or who had left the city years ago)
- Contract renegotiation — Leveraging deep knowledge of publisher pricing models to negotiate dramatically better terms during renewals
- Audit defense — Protecting agencies from inflated audit claims by publishers using their own licensing rules against them
- Cloud migration optimization — Ensuring the transition to Azure and M365 didn’t create new layers of waste
The savings weren’t a one-time event. They compound. Every renewal cycle is an opportunity, and every new administration brings fresh contracts to optimize.
Why This Partnership Has Outlasted 5 Mayors
The relationship has survived multiple mayors, budget directors, and technology shifts. That longevity comes down to three things:
1. Results speak louder than politics. When you can point to hundreds of millions in documented savings, the conversation changes from “should we continue this?” to “how do we expand this?”
2. Zero political risk. Because UMS operates on shared savings, there’s never a budget line item to defend. The city pays nothing unless it saves money first.
3. Institutional knowledge compounds. After 25 years, UMS knows the city’s software landscape better than most internal teams. That depth of knowledge accelerates every new engagement.
The Blueprint for Other Organizations
The NYC engagement proves a model that any large organization can replicate:
Start with a quick win. UMS typically identifies significant savings within the first 2-3 weeks — often enough to pay for the entire engagement and then some. NYC Housing Authority saw $500K+ in savings identified in just 3 weeks.
Align incentives from day one. The shared savings model eliminates the “consultant risk” that plagues traditional engagements. If UMS doesn’t find savings, the client pays nothing.
Think in renewal cycles, not projects. Software licensing is not a one-time problem. Every 1-3 years, major contracts come up for renewal. The organizations that treat cost optimization as an ongoing discipline save exponentially more than those who audit once and forget.
Don’t underestimate the human layer. Tools alone don’t save money. It takes people who understand publisher playbooks, contract language, and negotiation tactics to turn data into dollars.
What’s Next
The city recently signed a 6-year renewal agreement with UMS — its longest commitment yet. That’s not inertia. That’s a signal that outcome-based consulting, done right, creates partnerships that outlast any single initiative.
For organizations spending $1M+ annually on software, the question isn’t whether there’s waste to find. It’s whether you have the right partner to find it.
Book a 30-minute discovery call and we’ll show you exactly where your savings are hiding.