Introduction
The extent to which technology has become a part of everyday life and everyday business has seen a change in the way business approaches how they manage the finances, the processes and the assets within an organisation. IT is fast becoming an important factor in business.
As computing becomes more widely used within an organisation and takes a more prominent vital within the critical processes of that organisation, it is important to make sure that an appropriate level of attention is given to this computing. Technological assets that may have previously been overlooked are now important elements in the decision making process.
IT departments have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as essential elements of any business. As such, they receive grander budgets but must also be able to deal with a greater amount of responsibility.
But once you have spent a large amount of money on developing an IT system and seen the needs 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 large amount of money?
This is the function by IT management software and procedures.
Every organisation and every situation will have different needs and will create unique issues. To satisfy these requirements there are a number of different solutions and approaches that can be implemented to help manage the IT assets of your business.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 controlling the deployment and usage of software suites within your business. It is a business process rather than a distinct area of expertise and is becoming a more essential part of the modern business environment, particularly for businesses operating in the field of IT.
SAM is not simply a program for support staff rolling out software across a large corporate network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at all levels of a business. The objectives of SAM include managing of the IT infrastructure within a organisation, 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 viewed 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 full of the software infrastructure of a company has been done.
Monetary benefits remain the most motivating commercial factor when deciding to use SAM technology within an organisation. Every business needs to make money after all and profitability is a very measurable metric. The financial benefits of SAM do certainly exist however.
An increasingly large amount of a business’ IT bank roll is spent on software licensing so there is a real need to invest to correctly manage this spending. As organisations grow and spread, their software requirements can change radically and hardware and software can swiftly become out of date. There is no requirement to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where SAM really delivers an edge.
SAM is not restricted to simply the technology of your organisation either. As a management cycle it will often involve many of the branches within a organisation, including Finance Human Resources, to ensure that it runs as cost-effectively as possible. It is a process that does not need to follow regular.
Anybody who was going to query Softcat exactly what package stands out would get the simple answer software asset management.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having seen the various benefits of deploying a software asset management solution, how do you know that it would be right for your company? Each business is different and has its own separate set of problems and benefits, so any strategy you will use needs to be tailored to these specific traits.
There are more than just cost benefits that can be made through the management of licensing and maintenance agreements across a businesses IT network. Productivity can be hugely improved by ensuring that staff have the latest versions of software available under current licenses held, and communication inside the corporation is aided when support staff know exactly what is installed on every computer under their control.
Financial Savings
As discussed before, perhaps the most persuading reason to utilise SAM within your company is the potential financial savings that can be made. The profitability of your company is always going to be the bottom line so any system that can help to improve this profitability by descreasing expenses is one that should be considered. Money can be saved in a number of ways.
The most immediate way that SAM can help to reduce costs is by identifying any applications running on your corporate network 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.
By removing these items of software that are no longer a help to the operation of your business you are streamlining a large portion of your IT network. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and support and maintenance agreements means that more money can be spent on the critical sections of your IT system. Focusing your finances on these vital components will improve the overall performance of your IT department.
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 system is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable.
Unlicensed software programs can be introduced into an uncontrolled IT environment 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 control policies in place, users may also be able to load their own software onto the network.
The risk of running unlicensed software on your system is clear. When anything goes wrong with the hardware or software platform supporting your critical processes, how do you manage the situation? Running a complex 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 cost of recovery will forever outweigh the cost of mitigation when it comes to data systems.
Of the many products and services available from a national company SAM is just one solution that can be utilised.
Implementing Software Asset Management in your Organisation
As previously discussed, there are numerous potential advantages to utilising a good software asset management strategy within your organisation, both financial 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.
This discovery process can be seen as three basic phases that have to be undertaken to really develop an informative picture of the deployment of IT assets within your organisation. These are:
Inventory
Inventory is the most fundamental function of the discovery process. It is crucial that an accurate inventory of software assets within your business is created to help your IT managers to maintain baselines regarding your IT network. This inventory process must be performed before continuing with discovery.
Thankfully, this process can now be automated and even the grandest of infrastructures can be searched and analysed in a reasonably short period. Inventory must be able to identify your IT assets regardless of their geographical location or computing characteristics. Modern inventory processes are capable of this.
Capture
The next step in the discovery cycle involves the capture of the software license entitlements that concern the software programs discovered in the inventory. The capture process should collect entitlements regarding all of the software that exists on your system, even when the software is not currently used. Without this information the inventory would be almost useless.
The element of human error can be avoided by using automatic tools that are specifically designed to create a library of license entitlements. Packages that are currently employed are incredibly efficient at gathering accurate information.
Identification & Validation
The next step is to match up your software inventory to the repository of licensing data that were built in the previous two stages. Errors may have been made anywhere from the original invoices for software to the latest audits performed on your IT system.
One critical factor in the validation stage is the ability to link the license entitlements within your network to your organisation’s proof of entitlement. This will be essential 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 undertaken you will have created an incredibly detailed picture of how your IT system is serving software programs to its users. It will be much easier to identify any trouble areas on your system, or areas of software usage that are no longer of any particular benefit to your activites. This detailed map can be used for future reference as well.
You can now commence a period of reconciliation upon your system. You can compare the software packages that are actually used on your network against the licensing and support entitlements that you are paying for and close any divides between the two. This is when the financial benefits of software asset management start to take effect.
The software spread within your network may include many hundreds or even 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 essential to automate the reconciliation stage, using one or more programs to apply intelligent rules to the process. These rules can be catered to the specific needs of your company
To see how SAM can directly help your organisation use an available Centennial consultant that can plan a software asset management strategy suited to your needs.
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 principles and best practices that should be followed for successful management of IT functions. The ITIL can be found online.
This library is a changing entity and is often updated with new ideas and techniques that cater to the constantly changing IT backdrop of modern business. A good software asset management strategy should be fluid enough to comply with the guidelines set out in the ITIL whilst matching the changing requirements of the company within which it is actively used. This is an essential requirement of effective SAM
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 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 SAM strategy for your own business, although the level of detail included within can easily become a daunting prospect. It is vital to remember that no matter what guidelines you follow when creating a SAM strategy, whatever plan you decide to employ must help your organisation rather than hinder it.
Creating a complete and comprehensive software asset management strategy for your own organisation 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 modifications to your daily tasks, no matter how small 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 correct and effective management of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT branch was a luxury that would occasionally progress the business. Computer networks are now vital to the modern business. Critical systems need to be maintained to an appropriate level.
As with other parts of any company, a number of different plans should be considered and utilised in order to ensure the efficient running of daily tasks. software asset management should not be the only tactic used to manage computing resources within your organisation, but rather one of a multitude of complimentary policies used to control the system as a whole.
So if you think that your company is currently suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and management over its IT network, or that the potential benefits outlined in this article could provide a critical market edge over your competitors, then it would be well worth investigating how SAM could be employed within your company.