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How to control your Software Licenses

Introduction

The extent to which computing has become a part of normal life and everyday commerce has prompted a change in the way management approaches how they manage the money, the tasks and the assets within an organisation.

As computing becomes more widely used within an organisation and takes a more prominent role within the vital functions of that business, it is necessary to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is given to this technology. Technological systems that may have previously been overlooked are now key 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 business. As such, they receive greater budgets but must also be able to deal with a greater amount of responsibility.

But after you have spent a substantial amount of your budget on developing an IT system and seen the needs of your company change, how do you make sure that the systems you are using can keep up with demand? Moreover, how can you achieve this without spending a prohibitive amount of money?

This is the role carried out by IT management software and systems.

Every company and every environment will have different needs and will create unique challenges. To meet these requirements there are a range of different solutions and approaches that can be implemented to help manage the IT infrastructure of your business.

Software Asset Management

SAM ( Software Asset Management) is designed 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 area of expertise and is becoming a more essential part of the modern corporate environment, particularly for businesses 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 a tool for technicians deploying software across a large corporate network, but can be a critical tool to help improve performance at multiple levels of a company. The goals of SAM include managing of the IT infrastructure within a business, negating legal threats 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 business case for using a SAM solution is not always obvious until a complete of the software infrastructure of a company has been undertaken.

Economic benefits are still the most motivating business factor when deciding to use SAM software within a company. Every business needs to make profit after all and revenue is a very measurable metric. The financial benefits of software asset management do certainly exist however.

An increasingly large proportion of a organisation’s IT budget is spent on software licensing so there is a critical need to invest to correctly monitor this spending. As businesses grow and diversify, their software requirements can change greatly and equipment and programs can swiftly become outdated. There is no need to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where SAM really delivers an edge.

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 ensure that it runs as efficiently as possible.

The many benefits of SAM make sure Centennial resellers keep a healthy product portfolio they can supply to clients.

Why follow a SAM Strategy?

Having seen the multiple benefits of employing a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be correct for your company? Every business is different and has its own unique set of challenges and benefits, so any strategy you will undertake needs to be tailored to these specific traits. The benefits of software asset management do cover the basic aspects of IT management.

There are more than simply monetary advantages that can be made through the management of licensing and maintenance agreements across a businesses IT network. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that staff have the latest editions of software available under current licenses held, and communication inside the corporation is aided when support staff know exactly what is in use on every computer under their control. The benefits of software asset management are not confined to the technological hardware of your business.

Financial Savings

As discussed before, perhaps the most convincing reason to utilise software asset management within your company is the potential cost 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 evaluated. Money can be saved in a multitude of ways.

The most direct way that software asset management can help to reduce costs is by identifying any applications running on your corporate network that is no longer needed. 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. SAM can help to remove this unnecessary overhead.

By removing these items of software that are no longer a help to the operation of your company you are streamlining a large chunk of your IT system. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and maintenance contracts means that more finance can be spent on the critical sections 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 unmonitored software on your IT network is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable.

Unlicensed software programs can be introduced into an unmonitored IT environment in a number of ways. Software may have been included when your IT hardware was originally purchased 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 network.

The risk of running unlicensed software on your system is clear. When something goes wrong with the hardware or software platform behind your vital processes, how do you manage the situation? Running 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.

The financial case for working with a part-time Centennial vendor during your IT review process has never been stronger.

Implementing SAM in your Organisation

As previously discussed, there are numerous potential advantages to employing a good software asset management strategy within your organisation, both monetary and otherwise. It is vitally important to consider which elements of software asset management you should deploy first since some benefits will be achieved more speedily than others. Some may take a period of years to be fully felt.

The discovery process can be seen as three fundamental stages that have to be undertaken to really develop an informative picture of the deployment 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 inventory of IT assets within your organisation is created to aid your IT department to maintain baselines for your IT network.
Thankfully, this process can now be made automatic and even the largest of infrastructures can be investigated and analysed in a reasonably 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 next step in the discovery cycle is the capture of the software license entitlements that cover the software programs discovered in the inventory. The capture stage should collect entitlements regarding all of the software that exists on your system, even if the software is not currently used. Without this step the inventory may be almost useless.

The element of human error can be avoided by using automated tools that are specifically designed to create a library of license entitlements. Packages that are currently available are very efficient at gathering accurate data.

Identification & Validation

The third step is to match up your software audit to the repository of licensing data that were built in the last two stages. Errors may have been made anywhere from the original paperwork for software to the most recent audits undertaken on your IT network.

One crucial factor in the validation step is the ability to link the license entitlements within your network to your organisation’s proof of entitlement. This will be vital if any disputes with software resellers arise as a consequence of the discovery process. You want to be as informed as possible in these circumstances.

Once these three steps have been performed you will have created an incredibly detailed image of how your IT network is serving software packages to its users. It will be much easier to identify any trouble spots on your system, or areas of software use that are no longer of any particular benefit to your operations.

You can now begin a period of reconciliation on your system. You can compare the software programs that are actually employed on your network against the licensing and support entitlements that you are paying for and close any gaps between the two. This is when the financial benefits of SAM start to take effect.

The software spread within your system may include many hundreds or even thousands of individual instances, and there are any number of restrictions that may be involved with the licensing contracts you have in place. It is therefore a necessity 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 company

The use software asset management within your organisation is a very specific process which should be strategised by a capable Centennial reseller as they will have more information.

Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management

Many of the fundamental practices of a modern software asset management strategy are based upon the concepts set out in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This library defines a number of principles 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 concepts and techniques that reflect the ever changing IT environment of modern business. A good software asset management strategy should be fluid enough to follow the guidelines set out in the ITIL whilst meeting the changing needs of the company within which it is actively used. This is an essential requirement of successful SAM

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 suggestions that are designed to ensure that software asset management is utilised in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”.

The ISO standard should certainly be adhered to when planning a software asset management strategy for your own company, although the level of detail covered within can easily become a daunting prospect. It is important to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when creating a SAM strategy, whatever plan you decide to implement needs to aid your organisation rather than hinder it.

Creating a complete and comprehensive software asset management strategy for your own company may actually never come to fruition. Your strategy must be flexible to adapt and mature as your organisation does, and it must 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 need for good and efficient monitoring of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT branch was a luxury that would occasionally forward the business. Computer networks are now critical to the modern business. Crucial systems need to be controlled to an appropriate level.

As with other parts of any business, a number of different strategies should be considered and used in order to ensure the smooth running of daily tasks. SAM should not be the only tactic used to manage computing assets within your company, but rather one of a number of complimentary techniques used to manage the system as a unit. software asset management can go a long way toward aiding your company but should be helped by other techniques.

So if you feel that your business is really suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and management over its IT infrastructure, or that the potential benefits described in this article could provide a critical market advantage over your competitors, then it would be worth investigating how SAM could be used within your company. There may be no time to spare.