Introduction
The degree to which technology has become a part of everyday life and everyday business has forced a change in the way business approaches how they manage the money, the tasks and the systems within a business.
As computing becomes more widespread within an organisation and takes a more prominent role within the critical processes of that organisation, it is necessary to make sure that an appropriate level of attention is given to this computing. Technological systems that may have previously been overlooked are now important elements in the decision making process.
IT capabilities have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as essential parts of any company. As such, they receive grander budgets but must also be able to deal with a larger amount of responsibility. There is an eternal race between corporate needs and IT capabilities.
But once you have spent a substantial amount of money on developing your IT system and seen the requirements of your organisation change, how do you make sure that the technology you are using can keep up with demand? Moreover, how can you achieve this without spending a large amount of money?
This is the role undertaken by IT management software and systems.
Every business and every situation will have different specifications and will create different problems. To satisfy these requirements there are a number of different solutions and approaches that can be implemented to help control the IT assets of your company.One of these options is discussed below.
Software Asset Management
Software Asset Management (SAM) is built to do exactly what it says on the tin – monitoring and maintaining the deployment and usage of software packages within your business. It is a business process rather than a distinct discipline and is becoming a more critical part of the modern business environment, particularly for companies operating in the field of IT.
SAM is not simply an aid for technicians installing software across a large corporate network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at all levels of a company. The aims of SAM include controlling of the IT infrastructure within a organisation, negating legal risks associated with incorrect software license usage and sustaining high levels of productivity by making sure software is up to date and fit for its purpose.
The practice of software asset management is often seen as an unnecessary evil due to the abstract nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the commercial case for employing a SAM solution is not always obvious until a complete of the software infrastructure of a company has been carried out. Once existing problems have been identified however, the use of SAM becomes self evident.
Economic benefits remain the most driving business factor when choosing to employ SAM software within a business. Every business needs to make money after all and expenditure is a very measurable figure. The financial benefits of SAM do certainly exist however.
An increasingly large proportion of a business’ IT bank roll is spent on software licensing so there is a critical need to invest to correctly monitor this spending. As companies grow and spread, their software requirements can change greatly and hardware and software can quickly become out of date. There is no requirement to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where software asset management really delivers an advantage.
SAM is not limited to simply the technology of your business either. As a management process it will often involve many of the branches within a organisation, including Finance Human Resources, to make sure that it runs as cost-effectively as possible. It is a process that does not need to follow standard.
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Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having seen the various advantages of utilising a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be appropriate for your company? Every business is different and has its own separate set of challenges and benefits, so any plan you will use needs to be catered to these specific traits.
There are more than simply cost benefits that can be made through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across an organisations IT system. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that employees have the newest versions of software permitted under current licenses held, and communication within the corporation is aided when support staff know exactly what is deployed on every computer under their control. The benefits of software asset management are not confined to the technological hardware of your business.
Cost Savings
As discussed previously, perhaps the most persuading reason to utilise software asset management within your company is the potential cost savings that can be made. The profitability of your company is always going to be the bottom line so any plan that can help to improve this profitability by descreasing costs is one that should be considered. Money can be saved in a number of ways.
The most immediate way that software asset management can help to reduce costs is by targeting any applications running on your corporate IT system that is no longer necessary. The software might not be being used anymore, it may be too outdated to be of use or it may be duplicated on your system. software asset management can be used to remove this unnecessary overhead.
By clearing these items of software that are no longer a benefit to the operation of your organisation you are streamlining a large chunk of your IT system. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and support and maintenance contracts means that more money can be spent on the critical parts of your IT infrastructure.
Mitigate Risk Factors
A surprising percentage of software that is actively used in the corporate environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Having any amount of unmonitored software on your IT system is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable.
Unlicensed software applications can be introduced into an uncontrolled IT system in a number of ways. Software may have been included when your IT hardware was first bought although the original software licenses may have expired. Without the correct security policies in place, users may also be able to install their own software onto the network.
The danger of running unlicensed software on your system is clear. When something goes wrong with the hardware or software platform supporting your vital processes, how do you handle the situation? Running a complicated software system without the proper support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can critically limit your responsiveness to unforeseen events.
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Implementing SAM in your Organisation
As previously discussed, there are numerous potential advantages to using a good software asset management strategy within your organisation, both monetary and otherwise. It is therefore important to determine which branches of SAM you should deploy first since certain benefits will be realised more speedily than others. Some may take a period of years to be fully felt.
The discovery process can be viewed as three fundamental stages that have to be performed to truly build an accurate picture of the usage of software assets within your business.
Inventory
Inventory is the most basic function of the discovery process. It is important that an accurate audit of IT assets within your business is created to aid your IT managers to maintain baselines for your IT system. This inventory process must be performed before continuing with discovery.
Thankfully, this process can now be made automatic and even the largest of networks can be searched and analysed in a relatively short period of time. Inventory should be able to identify your software assets regardless of their geographical location or technological characteristics. Modern inventory processes are capable of this.
Capture
The second step in the discovery process involves the capture of the license entitlements that concern the software assets discovered in the inventory. The capture stage should gather entitlements for all of the software that exists on your network, even if the software is not currently used. Without this information the inventory may be almost useless.
The element of human error can be mitigated by using automated tools that are specifically created to create a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently employed are very efficient at capturing accurate information.
Identification & Validation
The next process is to match up your software inventory to the repository of licensing information that were built in the last two stages. Errors may have occurred anywhere from the original paperwork for software to the latest audits undertaken on your IT system. These errors can now be rectified.
One crucial factor in the validation stage is the ability to combine the license entitlements on your system to your organisation’s proof of entitlement. This will be essential if any arguments with software resellers arise as a consequence of the discovery cycle.
After these steps have been undertaken you will have created an incredibly rich image of how your IT system is serving software packages to its users. It will be a lot simpler to identify any trouble spots on your network, or areas of software usage that are no longer of any practical benefit to your operations.
You can now start a period of reconciliation upon your system. You should compare the software programs that are actually used on your system against the licensing and support entitlements that you are paying for and close any divides between the two.
The software distribution in your system may include many hundreds or perhaps thousands of individual installations, and there may be any number of rules that may be involved with the licensing agreements you have in place. It is therefore essential to automate the reconciliation period, using one or more tools to apply smart rules to the process. These rules can be catered to the specific needs of your business
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Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management
Many of the basic principles of a modern SAM strategy are based upon the concepts laid out in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This library details a number of ideas and best practices that should be adopted for successful management of IT operations. The ITIL can be found online.
This library is a changing publication and is often updated with new ideas and policies that reflect the constantly changing IT backdrop of modern business. A good SAM strategy should be fluid enough to comply with the guidelines set out in the ITIL whilst meeting the changing needs of the business within which it is actively utilised.
The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has created a standard that applies directly to SAM practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an incredibly comprehensive set of guidelines that are designed to ensure that SAM is utilised in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”.
The ISO standard should certainly be adhered to when planning a SAM strategy for your own organisation, although the level of detail included within can easily become a daunting challenge. It is vital to remember that no matter what guidelines you follow when creating a SAM strategy, whatever plan you decide to employ must aid your business rather than hinder it. Industry standards cannot simply be copied when it comes to applying them within your organisation.
Creating a full and comprehensive software asset management strategy for your own business may actually never come to fruition. Your plan must be flexible to change and grow as your business does, and it should allow for modifications to your daily tasks, no matter how small or underlying they might be.
Conclusion
It is easy to see that as the extent and importance of computer systems within your company grow, so does the requirement for good and efficient management of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT branch was a luxury that would sometimes forward the business. IT networks are now vital to the modern business. Crucial systems need to be controlled to an appropriate level.
As with other branches of any company, a number of different strategies should be considered and utilised in order to ensure the efficient running of daily activities. software asset management should not be the only tool used to manage technological resources within your organisation, but rather one of a multitude of complimentary techniques used to manage the system as a whole.
So if you feel that your business is really suffering from a lack of structured monitoring and management over its IT infrastructure, or that the possible advantages outlined in this article could provide a critical market advantage over your competitors, then it would be worth investigating how software asset management could be used within your organisation.
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