March 27, 2019

Construction Company Layne Christensen Turns to Third-Party Software Support to Reduce Budget Stress of Oracle Support

As with the overall economy, the construction industry goes through cycles of expansion and contraction. According to the global investment company Euler Hermes, after ten years of growth (2008-2018), we have reached the peak in the global construction growth cycle, and 2018 will start a turning point[i] (1). They expect a global cooldown and warn that construction companies are less prepared for a downturn than in 2008.

Are some companies better prepared for business cycle swings?

Given the interconnected global economy and the size of investments they must make, it’s not possible for construction companies to be entirely recession proof. But by reducing some of their largest expenditures, many businesses are restructuring for a nimble budget more resilient to uncontrollable factors that negatively impact revenue.

Layne Christensen Company, a global water management, construction, and drilling company, is very familiar with these fiscal challenges. Layne Christensen works to insulate its budget from downturns, primarily by identifying and removing wasteful expenditures.

Still, Sherry Hunyadi, Layne’s Vice President of IT, was put in a tight spot when asked to reduce her year-over-year IT overhead by 15%. For Hunyadi, the pressure to reduce budget was amplified by painful, escalating expenditures like annual Oracle support that seemed unavoidable. And how could she spend less but still make progress with competing business demands like digital transformation and cybersecurity protection measures?

After failed attempts to negotiate cost reductions with Oracle, Hunyadi decided to research available alternatives. Gartner analysts informed her that 1000s of Oracle customers like Layne had already successfully migrated from Oracle support to a third-party support solution. These organizations reported higher-quality overall support and immediate hard cost savings on maintenance fees greater than 60%.

Building the case for third-party software support

Reassured, and even more determined to control and manage her IT budget, Hunyadi vetted and selected Spinnaker Support for third-party JD Edwards support and managed services. In the transition period between the vendors, Layne experienced two incidents that convinced them of the superior quality of Spinnaker Support. “Our current JD Edwards support provided by Spinnaker Support is far superior, and we love our dedicated team that we can always rely on,” stated Hunyadi.

For all the details, read the entire Layne Christensen case study. https://www.spinnakersupport.com/download/Layne-Christensen-Case-Study.pdf

[i] “Could the next global crisis come from the construction sector?” – https://www.eulerhermes.com/en_global/media-news/news/Could-the-next-global-crisis-come-from-the-construction-sector.html