Aerospace and Defense Software Spending: Up
The aerospace and defense sectors are witnessing a consistent rise in software spending, reflecting the sector’s dynamic growth. This trend is substantiated by the increasing global defense IT spending, which is expected to rise from $86 billion in 2023 to over $118.6 billion in 2028.
The advent of groundbreaking technologies like generative AI and digital twins is prompting aerospace and defense companies to increase their investment in these areas, anticipating significant returns. The integration of these advanced technologies is not just a trend but a strategic shift towards more sophisticated, efficient, and competitive operations.
Software License Management: More Essential Than Ever
The role of an all-encompassing software license management solution is becoming increasingly important. Such a solution is instrumental in ensuring that aerospace and defense enterprises not only comply with legal standards but also optimize their software spending.

Aligning Licenses with Usage Needs: Aerospace and defense projects often require specialized software. By tracking and analyzing the usage of these software licenses, companies can ensure they are not overspending on unused or underutilized licenses. This alignment of licenses with actual usage helps in avoiding unnecessary expenditures.
Avoiding Compliance Risks and Penalties: These industries are heavily regulated, and non-compliance with software licensing can lead to severe legal and financial consequences. Optimization ensures that the number of licenses used is in compliance with the terms and conditions of the software, thereby avoiding costly fines and legal disputes.
Negotiating Better Contract Terms: With data from license optimization tools, aerospace and defense companies can have more informed negotiations with software vendors. Understanding their actual software needs and usage patterns allows them to negotiate contracts that better fit their requirements, potentially leading to cost savings and more favorable terms.
Reducing Downtime and Improving Efficiency: By ensuring that the necessary software licenses are always available when needed, optimization reduces the risk of operational downtime caused by licensing issues. This efficiency is crucial in the aerospace and defense sectors where project timelines and efficiency are critical.
Facilitating Strategic IT Planning: License optimization provides valuable insights for future planning. Aerospace and defense companies can use this data to make informed decisions about new software purchases, upgrades, or decommissioning, ensuring that their software portfolio remains aligned with their strategic goals.
Supporting Scalability and Flexibility: In an industry where project scopes can change rapidly, having the ability to scale software licenses up or down as needed is essential.
The Open iT Advantage
Open iT Software License Management solutions offer several benefits to aerospace and defense companies, helping them to maximize the value of their software investments:
Full Visibility and Cost Optimization: Open iT helps companies track and analyze software usage, enabling them to identify underutilized licenses. This information can lead to cost savings by allowing companies to reduce the number of licenses they purchase or renegotiate their software contracts based on actual usage.
Compliance and Audit Readiness: Aerospace and defense sectors often use software that requires strict compliance with licensing agreements due to security and proprietary concerns. Open iT assists in managing compliance, minimizing the risk of penalties and legal issues arising from non-compliance. It ensures readiness for audits by providing detailed usage reports.

Enhanced Security: Given the sensitive nature of aerospace and defense projects, controlling who has access to software is crucial. Open iT’s management solutions can help in setting up robust access controls, ensuring that only authorized personnel use certain software applications, thereby enhancing overall security.
Efficient Resource Allocation: By understanding software usage patterns, companies can allocate resources more effectively. For instance, if a design tool is heavily used during certain project phases, companies can plan accordingly, ensuring that these tools are readily available when needed, thereby avoiding bottlenecks in the workflow.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Open iT provides detailed analytics and reports on software usage. This data-driven approach allows management to make informed decisions about software investments, leading to more efficient use of resources and better alignment with business objectives.
Customization and Integration: Aerospace and defense companies often have specific needs and existing systems. Open iT solutions can be customized and integrated with other IT management systems, providing a seamless experience, and maximizing the utility of their software ecosystem.
Global Support and Scalability: Given the global nature of the aerospace and defense industry, Open iT’s solutions are designed to support a wide range of languages and time zones, and can scale according to the size and needs of the organization, whether it’s a small team or a large multinational corporation.
Emerging Licensing Complexities Ahead
The trajectory of software license spending in the aerospace and defense industries indicates a notable increase. This rise is influenced by the complexity of evolving licensing models and the stringent environment these industries operate in. Characterized by rigorous regulatory requirements, customer expectations, and specific contract and product specifications, these factors collectively introduce intricate challenges in managing software licensing costs.
Open iT empowers aerospace and defense companies with comprehensive visibility into their licensing ecosystem, enabling a deep and detailed understanding of software utilization and allocation. This granular insight helps these organizations identify and act on strategic opportunities for optimization. By leveraging the capabilities of Open iT, aerospace and defense companies can not only enhance their software negotiations, acquisitions, and renewals but also ensure that they are extracting the maximum value from their software investments.
Get an Open iT Representative to contact you today.