Date:
29 Apr 2025
Author:
PREO AG
Used software
Cost Benefits and Security Aspects Convince More and More Decision-Makers
What defines a place of longing? Sun, summer, sea, hospitality and good food are certainly among them – economic stagnation, excessive bureaucracy, a backlog of infrastructure investment, and sluggish transformation processes, such as digitalisation, probably less so. Much like Germany, the Italian economy has been marked by these issues since the late 2000s. Significant deviations in economic growth occurred only during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022. As of 2023, the country is once again in stagnation mode, with GDP growth rates below one percent.
In contrast to the overall economic weakness, the Italian ICT business market continues to develop positively, with a projected annual growth of 4.1% for 2024 and 4.6% for 2025. The main drivers are the software market and IT services, while the hardware segment continues to shrink.
More Efficiency Despite Positive ICT Outlook
Despite positive forecasts in the ICT sector, a long-standing trend persists: companies and public institutions are continually striving to identify and leverage efficiency potential – for instance, to create financial leeway for essential investments such as digital infrastructure. In this context, more and more IT decision-makers are discovering the financial advantages of buying or selling pre-owned software licences, whose value often becomes apparent only after thorough analysis. Additionally, security and sustainability aspects also argue in favour of using pre-owned software for on-premises operations.
As a pioneer in the European trade of used volume licences – especially from Microsoft, Adobe, VMware and Oracle – PREO is one of the leading providers in the Italian second-hand software market. In this blog post, we showcase two practical examples that highlight why an increasing number of companies and public sector organisations in Italy are opting for used software licences.
Demand for Pre-owned Software Remains High – Also in Italy
The trend of moving work processes to the cloud is widespread beyond the Alps as well. But as in other European countries, existing cloud strategies are increasingly being re-evaluated. Hybrid infrastructures that combine cloud-based and on-premises solutions are becoming more popular – similar to developments in Germany and France. Key drivers include the economic pressures of ongoing stagnation and the need for investment in digitalisation.
Moreover, Italy, like the rest of Europe, is increasingly confronted with the challenges of decarbonisation – for example, through compliance with EU requirements under the CSR Directive for greater sustainability. The use of pre-owned software can make a meaningful contribution to reducing a company's carbon footprint, as it demonstrably supports the circular economy. Based on these developments, PREO has successfully increased its annual turnover from pre-owned software licences in Italy continuously over the past five years.
Italian Market for Pre-owned Software Poised for Further Growth
Giovanni Lapenta, PREO's Key Account Manager for Italy, sees strong growth potential for the secondary software market:
“ICT budgets of public institutions and private companies are increasingly determined by factors such as cost control, efficiency gains, and the need to secure fast returns on investment – just like all other business areas. The persistently complex and uncertain economic climate forces many to rethink their strategies – including in IT. On top of that, exploding cloud costs – particularly for Microsoft products – are stretching budgets to the limit. Public authorities, mid-sized businesses and large enterprises alike can no longer afford, nor are they willing, to pay such premiums. With our legally compliant, audit-proof used licences, we offer a cost-effective alternative for on-premises operations or hybrid scenarios – without any compromise in performance or convenience.”
Cloud Risks as Another Factor for Stable Demand
Especially for organisations in critical infrastructure sectors such as finance or healthcare, as well as public institutions, the preference remains with on-premises data centres. The move to the cloud is often avoided – not only for cost reasons, but also due to security and availability concerns. Italy, like Germany and France, enforces strict legal requirements regarding the use of cloud services. These are designed to prevent excessive dependence on a single cloud provider, reducing both financial and security-related risks.
In addition to savings of up to 70% compared to the latest cloud-based licences, the security aspect is crucial when it comes to pre-owned software. This includes both the legal verification and documentation of licences and their compliant transfer. These factors are top priorities at PREO, as confirmed by the following two practical examples.
Example 1: ELTEK Group Relies on Pre-owned Software for Licence Regularisation
A failed Microsoft audit can pose serious issues – as Italian company ELTEK SPA discovered. After modernising its own data centre and following Microsoft’s licence strategy changes, it became clear that several server licences – for both the data centre and standard operations – were missing. With the support of PREO’s licence experts, requirements were analysed within a week and pre-owned licences (Windows Server Datacenter 2Core and Windows Server Standard 2Core) were acquired. The Microsoft audit was passed successfully, as all licences met the strict compliance standards.
ELTEK Group, with business areas in Appliances, Mobility, and Medical & Sensing, specialises in the research, design, development and production of mechatronic and medical components. The company employs around 1,700 people across sites in Italy, Switzerland, Poland, and China.
PREO Tip: Buy Pre-owned Microsoft Licences Securely and Affordably
Would you also like to benefit from the advantages of pre-owned Microsoft licences for your company or public sector organisation? Whether applications, operating systems or servers – PREO's licensing experts offer personal consultations, calculate potential savings based on your current licence inventory, and provide you with a no-obligation quote.
Example 2: Local Authority Chooses Pre-owned Software over Cloud Solution
In our second example, the Union of Municipalities of Romagna Forlivese (UCRF) needed to acquire software licences for a VMware cluster and plan for future requirements. However, the limited budget had to be respected. The UCRF opted for the legally and audit-compliant purchase of pre-owned licences from PREO – a solution that offered considerable cost advantages along with the required compliance and flexibility.
A key factor: by purchasing pre-owned software for on-premises use, around 50% of the licensing costs were saved compared to buying new. As Dr Riccardo Raffaelli, Head of Information Systems, explains:
“As in any public administration, the economic aspect is of crucial importance – we are responsible for the correct and careful management of public funds. Using pre-owned software to reduce licence costs is a particularly attractive solution for public authorities.”
The Union of Municipalities of Romagna Forlivese (UCRF) was formed in 2014 through the merger of three local associations and today comprises 14 municipalities with over 67,000 inhabitants.
With PREO, You Rely on an Experienced and Reliable B2B Provider
As one of the pioneers in the European trade of pre-owned software, PREO offers companies, organisations and public administrations a wide selection of used licences for on-premises use or integration into hybrid cloud environments.
With PREO, you benefit from:
- Savings of up to 70% on ongoing licence costs compared to new licences.
- 100% legally secure and audit-proof licence acquisition, with full transparency at every step – including complete documentation via the PREO “Easy Compliance” portal.
- Personal consultation on all matters relating to licence transactions and integration of used licences into network or hybrid infrastructures.
- Capacity and expertise for managing software licences in large-scale IT infrastructure projects involving thousands of workstations across countries.
- Greater sustainability in IT through support for the circular economy and reduction of corporate carbon footprints. Speaking of sustainability: PREO is the only pre-owned software vendor listed with a current scorecard by EcoVadis, the world’s largest provider of sustainability ratings.
- Proven experience from numerous reference projects completed for well-known companies across various sectors.
