Introduction
The degree to which computing has become a part of everyday life and everyday business has forced a change in the way management approaches how they manage the money, the processes and the systems within a business.
As computing becomes more widely used within an organisation and takes a more prominent role within the critical functions of that company, it is important to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is given to this technology. Technological systems that may have previously been ignored are now important factors in the decision making process.
Technology have come a long way during the past few years and are now seen as critical parts of any company. As such, they are allocated greater budgets but must also be able to manage a larger amount of responsibility. There is an eternal race between corporate demands and computing capabilities.
But once you have spent a substantial amount of your budget on developing your IT network and seen the circumstances of your organisation change, how do you ensure that the technology you are using can keep up with demand?
This is the role carried out by IT management software and systems.
Every company and every environment will have different specifications and will offer unique problems. To meet these needs there are a range of different technologies and approaches that can be implemented to help control the IT infrastructure of your organisation.
Software Asset Management
Software Asset Management (SAM) is designed to do exactly what it says on the tin – monitoring and maintaining the deployment and usage of software suites within your company. It is a business process rather than a distinct skill and is becoming a more critical part of the modern business environment, particularly for corporations operating in the field of Information Technology.
SAM is not simply a tool for support staff rolling out software across a large corporate network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at multiple levels of a organisation. The goals of SAM include managing of the IT infrastructure within a business, 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.
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 commercial case for going with a SAM solution is not always obvious until a full of the software infrastructure of a company has been undertaken.
Monetary benefits remain the most driving commercial factor when choosing to use software asset management software within a business. Every corporation needs to make money after all and expenditure is a very measurable figure.
An increasingly large percentage of a organisation’s IT budget is spent on software licensing so there is a critical need to invest to correctly manage this spending. As companies grow and spread, their software needs can change radically and equipment and software can quickly become out of date. There is no need 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 IT department of your company either. As a management operation it will often involve many of the branches within a business, 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 regular.
Software asset management can easily be achieved within your business through a feasible companystrategy that is tailored to your specific needs.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having heard the many benefits of utilising a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be correct for your organisation? Each company is different and has its own separate set of problems and benefits, so any strategy you will undertake needs to be tailored to these specific traits.
There are more than just financial benefits that can be made through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across a businesses IT system. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that users have the latest versions of software available 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.
Financial Savings
As discussed previously, perhaps the most convincing reason to utilise software asset management within your business is the potential financial savings that can be made. The profitability of your company is always going to be the bottom line so any strategy that can help to improve this profitability by reducing expenses is one that should be considered. Money can be saved in a number of ways.
The most direct way that software asset management can help to reduce costs is by identifying any software running on your corporate network that is no longer needed. The software might not be being used any longer, it may be very outdated to be of use or it may be duplicated on your system.
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 maintenance agreements means that more money can be spent on the critical parts of your IT infrastructure.
Mitigate Risk Factors
A surprising proportion of software that is currently used in the corporate environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Having any amount of uncontrolled software on your IT system is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable.
Unlicensed software programs can be introduced into an unmonitored IT system in a number of ways. Software may have been included when your IT hardware was originally 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 system.
The risk of running unlicensed software on your network is clear. When anything goes wrong with the hardware or software platform behind your vital processes, how do you handle the situation? Operating a complex software system without the correct support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can seriously limit your responsiveness to unpredictable events.
Many companies have reported increases in productivity after my company planned alongside their current IT support staff.
Implementing SAM in your Organisation
As previously mentioned, there are many potential benefits to using a good SAM strategy within your company, both financial and otherwise. It is vitally important to determine which elements of SAM you should implement first since certain benefits will be achieved more speedily than others.
The discovery process can be seen as three basic phases that have to be performed to really build an accurate picture of the deployment of software assets within your organisation.
Inventory
Inventory is the most basic function of the discovery cycle. It is important that an accurate audit of software assets within your organisation is created to help your IT department to maintain baselines regarding your IT network. This inventory process must be performed before carrying on with discovery.
Thankfully, this process can now be made automatic and even the grandest of networks can be investigated and analysed in a relatively short period. Inventory must be able to identify your IT assets regardless of their geographical location or computing characteristics.
Capture
The second step in the discovery cycle is the capture of the software license entitlements that concern the software assets identified in the inventory. The capture process should gather entitlements regarding all of the software that exists on your network, even when the software is not currently in use. Without this information the inventory may be nearly useless.
The risk of human error can be avoided by using automatic tools that are specifically created to build a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently available are incredibly efficient at gathering accurate data.
Identification & Validation
The next step is to match up the software audit to the repository of licensing information that were built in the last two stages. Errors may have been made anywhere from the original invoices for software to the latest audits undertaken on your IT network.
One crucial factor in the validation stage is the ability to combine the license entitlements within 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 process. You want to be as informed as possible in these circumstances.
Once these steps have been undertaken you will have created an incredibly rich image of how your IT network is serving software programs to its users. It will be much easier to identify particular trouble spots on your network, or areas of software usage that are no longer of any practical benefit to your activites. This detailed image can be used for future reference as well.
You can now begin a period of reconciliation upon your network. You can compare the software programs that are actually installed on your system against the licensing and support entitlements that you are paying for and bridge any gaps between the two. This is when the financial benefits of software asset management start to take effect.
The software distribution within your system may include many hundreds or even thousands of individual instances, and there may be any number of restrictions that may be associated with the licensing contracts you have in place. It is therefore essential to automate the reconciliation period, using one or more programs to apply smart rules to the process.
The IT industry is in dire need for many IT solutions vendors who can provide the right IT management services.
Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management
Many of the fundamental principles of a successful SAM strategy are based upon the principles set out in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This library details a number of concepts and best practices that should be followed for successful management of IT functions.
This library is a dynamic entity and is often updated with new concepts and techniques that reflect the constantly changing IT backdrop of modern business. A good SAM strategy should be flexible enough to follow the guidelines set out in the ITIL whilst matching the changing needs of the company within which it is actively used.
The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has created a standard that applies directly to software asset management practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an incredibly comprehensive set of suggestions that are built to ensure that software asset management is utilised in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”.
The ISO standard should really be adhered to when designing a software asset management strategy for your own business, although the level of detail covered within can easily become a daunting challenge. It is vital to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when planning a SAM strategy, whatever plan you decide to implement must help your business rather than hinder it.
Designing a complete and comprehensive software asset management strategy for your own company may actually never come to fruition. Your plan must be flexible to change and grow as your organisation does, and it should allow for updates to your daily activities, no matter how trivial or underlying they might be.
Conclusion
It is easy to see that as the scope and importance of computer systems within your organisation grow, so does the need for good and efficient management of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT branch was a luxury that would sometimes progress the business. Computer networks are now critical to the modern business. Critical systems need to be maintained to an appropriate standard.
As with other branches of any company, a number of different strategies should be considered and used in order to ensure the efficient running of day to day activities. SAM should not be the only tool used to manage technological assets within your company, but rather one of a number of complimentary policies used to manage the system as a unit.
So if you feel that your business is currently suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and control over its IT infrastructure, or that the possible benefits described in this article could provide a crucial market advantage over your competitors, then it would be well worth investigating how SAM could be used within your business.
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