Introduction
The extent to which computing has become a part of normal life and everyday business has prompted a change in the way management approaches how they manage the finances, the processes and the assets within an organisation.
As computing becomes more widespread within an organisation and takes a more prominent critical within the critical processes of that business, it is necessary to make sure that an appropriate level of attention is applied to this computing. Technological systems that may have once been overlooked are now important factors in the decision making process.
Technology have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as vital parts of any business. As such, they receive larger budgets but must also be able to manage a larger amount of responsibility. There is an eternal race between corporate demands and IT capabilities.
But once you have spent a large amount of money on developing an IT infrastructure and seen the circumstances of your company change, how do you make sure that the IT you are using can keep up with demand? Moreover, how can you achieve this without spending a prohibitive amount of money?
This is the function by IT management software and systems.
Every company and every situation will have different requirements and will create different challenges. To satisfy these needs there are a range of different solutions and approaches that can be used to help manage the IT network of your business.One of these solutions is discussed below.
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 organisation. It is a business process rather than a distinct discipline and is becoming a more essential part of the modern business environment, particularly for corporations operating in the field of IT. 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 corporate network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at many levels of a organisation. The goals 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 software asset management is often seen as an unnecessary evil due to the intangible nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the commercial case for using a SAM solution is not always obvious until a full of the software infrastructure of a company has been carried out. Once existing problems have been highlighted however, the use of SAM becomes self evident.
Economic benefits remain the most driving business factor when choosing to operate SAM technology within a company. Every corporation needs to make profit after all and revenue is a very measurable figure. The financial benefits of SAM do certainly exist however.
An increasingly large proportion of a company’s IT budget is spent on software licensing so there is a vital need to invest to correctly handle this spending. As businesses grow and diversify, their software requirements can change greatly and equipment and programs can quickly become outdated. 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 restricted to simply the technology of your company either. As a management cycle it will often involve many of the departments within a company, 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.
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Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having seen the many benefits of employing a software asset management solution, how do you know that it would be appropriate for your company? Each business is different and has its own separate set of challenges and advantages, so any strategy you will undertake needs to be catered to these specific traits.
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 vastly by ensuring that users have the newest editions of software permitted under current licenses held, and communication inside the business 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 business.
Financial Savings
As discussed before, perhaps the most convincing reason to implement SAM within your business is the potential financial savings that can be achieved. The profitability of your business 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 evaluated.
The most direct way that software asset management can help to lower costs is by identifying any software running on your corporate IT system that is no longer necessary. 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. SAM can help to remove this unnecessary overhead.
By clearing these items of software that are no longer a benefit to the running of your organisation you are streamlining a large portion of your IT infrastructure. Paying for unneeded software licenses and maintenance agreements means that more finance can be spent on the vital sections of your IT system. Focusing your attention on these critical components will improve the overall performance of your IT department.
Mitigate Risk
A surprising amount 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 network is ill advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable.
Rogue 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 control policies in place, users may also be able to install their own software onto the system. Running a corporate IT system in this wild way will almost certainly lead to trouble.
The danger of running unlicensed software on your network is clear. When anything goes wrong with the hardware or software platform supporting your vital processes, how do you handle the situation? Operating a complex software system without the proper support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can seriously inhibit your responsiveness to unforeseen events.
Implementing Software Asset Management in your Organisation
As previously discussed, there are numerous potential advantages to using a good software asset management strategy within your business, both monetary and otherwise. It is vitally important to consider which elements of software asset management you should implement first since some benefits will be achieved more quickly than others.
The discovery process can be viewed as three basic stages that have to be undertaken to really build an accurate picture of the usage of software assets within your company. These are:
Inventory
Inventory is the most fundamental function of the discovery cycle. It is vital that an accurate audit of software assets within your business is created to help your IT managers to maintain baselines regarding your IT system. This inventory process must be performed before carrying on with discovery.
Fortunately, this process can now be made automatic and even the largest of networks can be investigated and analysed in a relatively short period. Inventory must be able to identify your IT assets regardless of their physical location or technological characteristics. Modern inventory processes are capable of this.
Capture
The next step in the discovery process is the capture of the license entitlements that manage the software assets discovered in the inventory. The capture process should collect entitlements regarding all of the software that is installed on your system, even if the software is not currently used. Without this information the inventory would be almost useless.
The risk of human error can be avoided by using automatic tools that are specifically designed to build a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently available are incredibly efficient at gathering accurate data. These tools will also maintain databases containing up to date information from IT vendors.
Identification & Validation
The next process is to match up the software audit to the repository of licensing data that were built in the previous two stages. Errors may have been made anywhere from the original paperwork for software to the most recent audits performed on your IT network. These errors can now be rectified.
One critical factor in the validation stage is the ability to link the license entitlements on your system to your company’s proof of entitlement. This will be vital if any disputes with software resellers arise as a consequence of the discovery process.
After these three steps have been undertaken you will have created an incredibly detailed picture of how your IT system is delivering software packages to its users. It will be much simpler to identify particular trouble spots on your network, or sections of software use that are no longer of any particular benefit to your activites.
You can now start a period of reconciliation upon your system. You can compare the software packages that are actually employed on your network against the licensing and support contracts that you are paying for and close any divides between the two. This is when the financial benefits of SAM start to take effect.
The software distribution within your system may include many hundreds or perhaps thousands of individual instances, and there are any number of restrictions that may be associated with the licensing contracts you have in place. It is therefore a necessity to automate the reconciliation process, using one or more programs to apply intelligent 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 practices of a successful software asset management 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.
This library is a changing entity and is often updated with new ideas and techniques that cater to the ever changing IT environment of modern business. A good software asset management strategy should be fluid enough to comply with the guidelines set out in the ITIL whilst meeting the changing requirements of the company within which it is actively utilised. This is an essential requirement of effective software asset management
The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has published a standard that applies specifically to SAM practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an incredibly comprehensive collection of guidelines that are built 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 designing a software asset management strategy for your own company, although the level of detail included within can quickly become a daunting challenge. It is vital to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when creating a SAM strategy, whatever you decide to implement needs to aid your organisation rather than stifle it. Industry standards cannot simply be copied when it comes to applying them to your company.
Designing a full and comprehensive SAM strategy for your own business might actually never come to fruition. Your plan must be flexible enough to adapt and grow as your business does, and it should allow for modifications to your daily tasks, no matter how trivial or underlying they might be.
Conclusion
It is clear to see that as the scope and importance of IT systems within your organisation grow, so does the need for correct and effective monitoring of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT department was a luxury that would sometimes forward the business. IT systems are now critical to the modern business.
As with other parts of any business, a number of separate plans should be considered and used in order to ensure the smooth running of daily activities. SAM should not be the only tactic used to manage technological assets within your organisation, but rather one of a number of complimentary policies used to control the system as a unit. SAM can go a long way toward aiding your company but should be supported by other strategies.
So if you think that your company is currently suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and control over its IT infrastructure, or that the potential benefits outlined 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 company.