Key Points
- Purchasing bundled IT software often forces businesses to pay for extra tools they do not use, which cuts into profit margins or raises costs for clients.
- These paid-for but unused licenses and forced software packages are known as “shelfware,” which represents a major source of wasted IT spending.
- Avoid software providers that demand high minimum license purchases, as forcing you to buy more than you currently need indicates a one-sided business partnership.
- Look for cloud-based platforms that use standard open web connections (APIs) to seamlessly link your preferred tools without the need for pre-packaged bundles.
- Prioritize flexible software vendors that allow you to purchase only the exact number of licenses you need to run your business effectively.
Buying IT applications as a suite has become a common business practice, illustrated by Microsoft Office, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access in one packaged offering. Microsoft’s Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan adds Exchange Online, OneDrive for Business, Microsoft Teams, and more to the list
Buying bundles is good if you use all of the products, or at least if you’re not stuck paying extra for the products you don’t use. But business-to-business software bundles are the exception to the rule.
RMM shelfware is remote monitoring and management software, or an add-on bundled with it, that an MSP pays for but never puts into active use.
Oftentimes, an MSP may like using one or two solutions in the bundle, but will find the rest of the package unusable. The sad reality, however, is that every time the MSP purchases another customer license, it’s charged for the entire suite — whether it uses all the products or not, which forces the MSP to either pass the higher pricing on to its customers or absorb the expense and accept a lower profit margin.
The problem of wasted software investments has only compounded in recent years. According to Flexera’s 2024 State of ITAM Report, more than 50% of software licenses go completely unused within organizations. Furthermore, research from Gartner estimates that up to 30% of licenses are unused or underused (which are licenses that are paid for in a bundle but never actively used).
Many managed services providers (MSPs) have experienced similar underutilization problems with their remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools. Unlike the Microsoft Office example mentioned earlier, however, where the individual software products are created and bundled by the same vendor, most RMM software vendors bundle their products with third-party antivirus (AV), backup and disaster recovery (BDR), quoting, and professional services automation (PSA) software.
Some RMM vendors take bundling to another level by requiring a minimum buy-in for the privilege of using their products. Let’s say you would prefer to start with five or six licenses while you’re just getting started in managed services. The minimum buy-in could be 25 licenses, which is five times more than you need right now. In both scenarios, the unused RMM licenses and unused third-party software become what’s known as “shelfware,” which is something you pay for, but don’t use.
Fortunately, not all RMM vendors follow the practices described earlier; some take an approach that puts MSPs’ interests first and gives them the flexibility to sell bundled solutions on their terms.
Cloud-based RMM solutions require less of an investment in dedicated infrastructure and address many over-bundling concerns compared to on-premises solutions. When evaluating offerings, it’s a good idea to look for an RMM solution that supports the Web API (application program interface) or REST (representational state transfer) API standard. These can be thought of as the language of the Internet and are supported by Internet browsers.
These open APIs also provide functionality that rivals that of proprietary integrations and allow RMM software vendors to offer additional integration capabilities faster as new features are added to their platforms.
Make sure your prospective RMM provider doesn’t require you to purchase more licenses than you actually need. If a vendor has a sales model that benefits them at your expense, it’s a good sign that other aspects of the partnership, such as training and support, will be one-sided as well.
Choosing an RMM, like NinjaOne, can help you avoid this trap. It offers month-to-month contracts in certain cases, so you only pay for the endpoints you manage, rather than a bundled minimum you don’t need. Try NinjaOne for free today.
