I was curious about the State of Ohio's yearly cost of IBM Licensing of Software would be for each year. So, I asked CoPilot to see what was publicly available. The following is what CoPilot gave me. (Keep in mind that the Contract that VeeBids has obtained runs from September 1st, 2025 to August 31, 2026 and so any revenue obtained would be from the 4th quarter on)
question:
How much would the State of Ohio pay for IBM software each year?
Ohio does not publish a single, consolidated figure for annual IBM software spending, but all available public financial records and procurement patterns point to a realistic range of several million dollars per year, driven by enterprise agreements, renewals, and agency-level purchases. The state’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) confirms large recurring IT expenditures, but vendor-specific totals (like IBM) are not itemized.
Below is a clear, evidence-based breakdown of what can be known — and what can be reliably estimated.
🏛️ What Ohio Actually Publishes
Ohio’s Office of Budget and Management (OBM) releases the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) each year, which details statewide IT spending categories but does not break out vendor-specific totals such as IBM.
The ACFR confirms:
Significant annual IT expenditures across all agencies
Centralized procurement oversight
Use of enterprise contracts for major vendors
But it does not list:
IBM-specific contract totals
License counts
Annual IBM renewal amounts
🧩 How IBM Software Is Purchased in Ohio Ohio uses:
Enterprise agreements for major vendors
Statewide term contracts
Agency-specific purchases for tools like WebSphere, DB2, Maximo, Cognos, MQ, and Cloud Pak suites
This structure means IBM spending is spread across:
Statewide enterprise renewals
Agency-level add-ons
Capacity-based licensing (PVU/RVU)
Support & subscription renewals
None of these are individually published.
📊 Realistic Spending Estimate (Based on State Size & IBM Footprint) Using:
Ohio’s workforce (~75,000 employees)
20+ major agencies
Known IBM product usage patterns in state government
Typical enterprise software pricing
A credible annual spending range for IBM software is:
Estimated Annual IBM Software Spend: $8 million – $25 million per year Breakdown of how that range forms:
Category Typical Annual Range Notes
Enterprise renewals $4M–$12M Multi-year agreements, statewide coverage Agency-specific licenses $2M–$8M Maximo, Cognos, DB2, MQ, Cloud Pak Support & subscription $1M–$4M Required for most IBM products Capacity-based entitlements $1M–$3M PVU/RVU increments for servers These ranges align with what states of similar size spend on IBM enterprise software.
DO I THINK WE ARE IN FOR A GOOD YEAR? WHAT I DO KNOW IS THAT LICENSES GET RENEWED CONTINUALLY !
JMO, but time is running out to get shares at these levels, so hurry!
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