How to control your Software Licenses
Introduction
The extent to which computing has become a part of everyday life and day-to-day commerce has prompted a change in the way business approaches how they manage the finances, the tasks and the systems within an organisation. IT is fast becoming an increasing factor in business.
As computing becomes more widespread within a company and takes a more prominent vital within the critical processes of that company, it is important to make sure that an appropriate level of attention is given to this computing. Technological systems that may have previously been ignored are now key in the decision making process.
Technology have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as critical parts of any business. As such, they receive larger budgets but must also be able to manage a greater amount of work.
But once you have spent a large amount of your budget on developing your IT infrastructure and seen the needs of your organisation change, how do you ensure that the systems 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 procedures.
Every business and every environment will have different needs and will present unique issues. To satisfy these needs there are a range of different technologies and approaches that can be used to help manage the IT infrastructure of your company.One of these options is discussed below.
Software Asset Management
SAM ( Software Asset Management) is built to do exactly what it says on the tin - monitoring and managing the deployment and usage of software suites within your company. It is a business process rather than a distinct discipline and is becoming a more critical part of the modern corporate environment, particularly for companies operating in the field of Information Technology. Despite the many benefits of SAM, there are still a great many companies that are not utilising it to its full potential.
SAM is not simply an aid for technicians deploying software across a large company network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at multiple levels of a organisation. The objectives of SAM include controlling of the IT infrastructure within a company, negating legal risks associated with incorrect software license usage and preserving high levels of productivity by making sure software is up to date and fit for its purpose. As IT usage in a company grows, so do the potential benefits of SAM.
The practice of SAM is often thought of as an unnecessary evil due to the intangible nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the business case for using a SAM solution is not always obvious until a full of the software infrastructure of a company has been undertaken. Once existing problems have been highlighted however, the use of software asset management becomes self evident.
Economic benefits are still the most driving business factor when deciding to employ software asset management technology within a company. Every company 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 percentage of a business’ IT bank roll is spent on software licensing so there is a vital need to invest to correctly monitor this spending. As companies expand and diversify, their software needs can change radically and hardware and software can swiftly become outdated. There is no requirement to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where SAM really delivers an edge.
software asset management is not restricted to simply the technology of your organisation either. As a management process it will often include many of the branches within a business, including Finance Human Resources, to make sure that it runs as cost-effectively as possible.
SAM can easily be achieved within your organisation through a operable Centennial Discovery solution that is tailored to your requirements.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having heard the many advantages of employing a software asset management solution, how do you know that it would be right for your organisation? Every company is different and has its own unique set of challenges and advantages, so any plan you will undertake needs to be tailored to these specific characteristics.
There are more than simply monetary advantages that can be made through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across a companies IT system. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that employees have the latest editions of software permitted under current licenses held, and communication within the company is helped when support staff know exactly what is in use on every computer under their control. The benefits of SAM are not confined to the technological hardware of your organisation.
Cost Savings
As discussed previously, perhaps the most convincing reason to implement software asset management within your business is the potential financial savings that can be achieved. The profitability of your company is always going to be the bottom line so any strategy that can help to increase this profitability by lowering expenses is one that should be considered.
The most direct 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 very outdated to be of use or it may be duplicated on your system. SAM can help to remove this unnecessary overhead.
By removing these items of software that are no longer a help to the running of your business you are streamlining a large portion of your IT infrastructure. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and maintenance agreements means that more money can be spent on the vital sections of your IT infrastructure.
Mitigate Risk Factors
A surprising percentage of software that is currently used in the business environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Running any amount of unmonitored software on your IT network is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become very unpredictable. This is becoming an increasingly annoying factor for network managers.
Unlicensed software programs can be introduced into an unmonitored IT system in a number of ways. Software may have been bundled when your IT hardware was first bought although the initial 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 behind your critical processes, how do you manage the situation? Operating a complicated software system without the appropriate support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can seriously inhibit your responsiveness to unpredictable events.
Many businesses have reported increases in productivity since Centennial consultants worked alongside their current IT support staff.
Implementing Software Asset Management in your Organisation
As previously mentioned, there are numerous potential benefits to using a good SAM strategy within your organisation, both monetary and otherwise. It is therefore important to consider which branches of SAM you should implement first since some benefits will be achieved more speedily than others.
The discovery process can be viewed as three primary phases that have to be performed to really build an accurate picture of the usage of software assets within your organisation. These are:
Inventory
Inventory is the most basic stage of the discovery cycle. It is crucial that an accurate inventory of software assets within your business is created to help your IT department to maintain baselines regarding your IT system.
Fortunately, this process can now be automated and even the largest of networks can be searched and analysed in a reasonably short period. Inventory must be able to identify your software assets regardless of their geographical location or computing characteristics.
Capture
The second step in the discovery cycle involves the capture of the license entitlements that concern the software programs discovered in the inventory. The capture process should collect entitlements regarding all of the software that is installed on your network, even if the software is not currently used.
The factor of human error can be mitigated by using automatic tools that are specifically created to create a library of license entitlements. Packages that are currently available are very efficient at capturing accurate data. These tools will also maintain databases containing up to date information from IT vendors.
Identification & Validation
The third process is to match up your software inventory to the repository of licensing data that were built in the previous two stages. Errors may have occurred anywhere from the original invoices for software to the most recent audits undertaken on your IT system. These errors can now be rectified.
One critical factor in the validation step is the ability to combine the license entitlements on your system to your organisation’s proof of entitlement. This will be vital if any arguments with software resellers arise as a consequence of the discovery cycle.
Once these steps have been undertaken you will have built an incredibly rich image of how your IT system is serving software assets to its users. It will be a lot easier to identify particular trouble areas on your network, or areas of software use that are no longer of any practical benefit to your activites.
You can now begin a period of reconciliation on your network. You can compare the software packages that are actually installed on your system against the licensing and support contracts that you are paying for and close any gaps between the two. This is when the financial benefits of software asset management start to take effect.
The software distribution within your network may include many hundreds or perhaps thousands of individual instances, and there are 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, utilising one or more programs to apply smart rules to the process.
As demand for software asset management technology grows, the chance any reputable Centennial reseller sees to grow their client base should be taken.
Compliancy and Flexibility with SAM
Many of the basic principles of a modern SAM strategy are based upon the principles set 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 functions. 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 laid out in the ITIL whilst matching the changing requirements of the company within which it is actively used.
The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has published a standard that applies directly to software asset management practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an incredibly comprehensive collection of guidelines that are designed to ensure that SAM is used in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”.
The ISO standard should really be adhered to when planning a software asset management strategy for your own company, although the level of detail included within can quickly become a daunting prospect. It is important to remember that no matter what guidelines you follow when designing a SAM strategy, whatever plan you decide to implement needs to help your business rather than stifle it. Industry standards cannot simply be copied when it comes to applying them within your company.
Designing a full and comprehensive software asset management strategy for your own business may actually never come to fruition. Your strategy must be flexible enough to change and mature as your business does, and it should allow for updates to your daily activities, no matter how small or underlying they might be.
Conclusion
It is clear to see that as the extent and importance of IT systems within your company grow, so does the need for correct and efficient management of these systems. Gone are the days when an IT branch was a luxury that would occasionally forward the business. IT systems are now vital to the modern organisation. Crucial systems need to be controlled to an appropriate standard.
As with other branches of any organisation, a number of separate plans should be evaluated and used in order to ensure the efficient running of daily tasks. software asset management should not be the only tactic used to manage computing assets within your organisation, but rather one of a multitude of complimentary policies used to control the system as a whole.
So if you feel that your company is currently suffering from a lack of structured monitoring and control over its IT network, or that the possible benefits outlined in this article could manufacture a critical market advantage over your competitors, then it would be well worth investigating how software asset management could be used within your organisation. There may be no time to spare.
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