Retailer Expands Third-Party Support Footprint, Saves More, Invests in Hybrid IT

Challenges

As a non-profit organization, LifeWay Christian Resources continuously works to control operational costs. Maintenance fees for applications considered critical for the ongoing operations of the company, such as PeopleSoft, represented a significant portion of the company’s IT spend, and were a good opportunity for achieving cost savings; however, the company depended on Oracle support and maintenance contracts in order to receive tax and regulatory updates. As Lifeway experienced a degradation in the level of support services from Oracle, the business value received from Oracle compared unfavorably to the maintenance cost, which continued to increase annually.

Rimini Street Solution

Lifeway achieved its desired cost reduction with an immediate 50 percent savings in support and maintenance fees. Plus, the company began receiving state-specific tax, legal and regulatory updates, without incurring any additional costs. For support, the Rimini Street Primary Support Engineer model has improved issue resolution. According to David Jamieson, financial applications manager for LifeWay, “Having somebody you can go to directly, even when the issue could be with a customization or an interconnected system, gives us a lot of confidence that we can focus on our day jobs without worrying about keeping our systems running.”

Client Results

• Redeployed cost savings to hybrid IT: Support cost savings from switching to third-party support have enabled LifeWay to invest in new SaaS applications to better support its business.
• Avoided future unnecessary upgrades: By archiving its fully licensed versions of software, LifeWay can run its existing Oracle software for years to come and upgrade when it makes business sense.
• Improved operational efficiency: LifeWay’s team enjoys personal, comprehensive support freeing up time for other projects.
• Received state-specific tax, legal and regulatory updates: With Rimini Street, LifeWay now only receives the relevant tax, legal and regulatory update patches without any additional charge.