Introduction
The degree to which computing has become a part of normal life and day-to-day business has prompted a change in the way business approaches how they manage the finances, the tasks and the assets within an organisation.
As computing becomes more widely used within a company and takes a more prominent vital within the vital functions of that organisation, it is important to make sure that an appropriate level of attention is applied to this computing. Technological systems that may have previously been ignored are now key in the decision making process.
IT capabilities have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as essential elements of any company. As such, they receive grander budgets but must also be able to manage a greater amount of work. There is an eternal race between corporate needs and computing capabilities.
But once you have spent a large amount of your budget on developing an IT infrastructure and seen the needs of your company change, how do you ensure that the technology 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 requirements and will create different challenges. To meet these needs there are a number of different solutions and approaches that can be used to help control the IT assets of your business.
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 programs within your organisation. It is a business process rather than a distinct skill and is becoming a more critical part of the modern corporate environment, particularly for businesses operating in the field of Information Technology.
SAM is not simply an aid for support staff deploying software across a large company network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at all levels of a business. The objectives of SAM include monitoring costs of the IT infrastructure within a business, negating legal risks associated with incorrect software license usage and maintaining high levels of productivity by making sure software is up to date and fit for its purpose.
The practice of SAM 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 going with a SAM solution is not always obvious until a complete of the software infrastructure of a company has been done. Once existing problems have been identified however, the use of software asset management becomes self evident.
Economic benefits remain the most motivating commercial factor when deciding to use SAM software within a company. Every business needs to make money after all and profitability is a very measurable metric. The financial benefits of software asset management do certainly exist however.
An increasingly large percentage of a company’s IT budget is spent on software licensing so there is a real need to invest to correctly handle this spending. As organisations grow and spread, their software needs can change greatly and hardware 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 SAM really delivers an advantage.
software asset management is not limited to simply the technology of your company either. As a management cycle it will often include many of the branches within a business, including Finance Human Resources, to make sure that it runs as efficiently as possible. It is a process that does not need to follow regular.
Some of the most experienced SAM technicians work at Centennial specialists where their skills are put to good use.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having seen the multiple advantages of employing a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be right for your business? Every business is different and has its own separate set of challenges and benefits, so any strategy you will undertake needs to be catered to these specific characteristics.
There are more than just financial advantages that can be made through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across a businesses IT system. Productivity can be hugely improved by ensuring that staff have the newest editions of software permitted under current licenses held, and communication within the corporation is helped when support staff know exactly what is in use on every workstation under their control.
Financial Savings
As discussed previously, perhaps the most persuading reason to utilise SAM within your company is the potential cost savings that can be achieved. The profitability of your business is always going to be the bottom line so any system that can help to increase this profitability by lowering costs is one that should be considered. Money can be saved in a multitude of ways.
The most immediate way that SAM can help to lower costs is by targeting any software running on your corporate network that is no longer necessary. The software might not be being used any longer, 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 company you are streamlining a large portion of your IT infrastructure. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and support and maintenance contracts means that more finance can be spent on the essential 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 business environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Having any amount of uncontrolled software on your IT network is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable. This is becoming an increasingly annoying factor for IT managers.
Rogue 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 originally bought although the initial software licenses may have expired. Without the correct access 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 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 proper support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can seriously inhibit your responsiveness to unforeseen events.
Some of the most successful Centennial distributors during recent times have viewed SAM as key part of their portfolio.
Implementing Software Asset Management in your Organisation
As previously mentioned, there are numerous potential benefits to employing a good software asset management strategy within your company, both monetary and otherwise. It is vitally important to determine which parts 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 truly develop an accurate picture of the usage of software assets within your business. These are:
Inventory
Inventory is the most fundamental stage of the discovery cycle. It is crucial that an accurate audit of software assets within your business is created to help your IT department to maintain baselines for your IT system. This inventory process must be performed before carrying on with discovery.
Thankfully, this process can now be automated and even the grandest of infrastructures can be investigated and analysed in a relatively short period. Inventory should be able to identify your IT assets regardless of their physical location or computing characteristics. Modern inventory processes are capable of this.
Capture
The next step in the discovery process is the capture of the software license entitlements that cover the software programs discovered in the inventory. The capture process should collect entitlements for all of the software that exists on your network, even when the software is not currently in use.
The factor of human error can be mitigated by using automatic tools that are specifically created to build a library of license entitlements. Packages that are currently employed are very efficient at capturing accurate data.
Identification & Validation
The next step is to match up your software inventory to the repository of licensing data that were created in the last 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 crucial factor in the validation stage is the ability to associate the license entitlements within your system to your organisation’s proof of entitlement. This will be essential if any arguments with software vendors arise as a consequence of the discovery process.
After these three steps have been undertaken you will have created an incredibly rich picture of how your IT system is serving software packages to its users. It will be much simpler to identify particular trouble spots on your network, or areas of software usage 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 programs that are actually employed on your system against the licensing and support contracts that you are paying for and close any gaps between the two.
The software spread within your network may include many hundreds or perhaps thousands of individual installations, and there are any number of restrictions that may be involved with the licensing contracts you have in place. It is therefore essential 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 organisation.
The use software asset management within your business is a very specific process which should be strategised by a good Centennial reseller as they will have extra information.
Compliancy and Flexibility with SAM
Many of the basic principles 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 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 policies that reflect the constantly changing IT environment of modern business. A good SAM strategy should be flexible 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.
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 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 followed when designing a software asset management strategy for your own organisation, although the level of detail covered within can easily become a daunting prospect. It is vital to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when creating a SAM strategy, whatever plan you decide to employ needs to aid your business 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 organisation may actually never come to fruition. Your strategy must be flexible enough to change and mature as your organisation does, and it should allow for modifications to your daily tasks, no matter how trivial or underlying they might be.
Conclusion
It is easy to see that as the scope and importance of IT systems within your organisation grow, so does the need for good and effective management of these systems. Gone are the days when an IT branch was a luxury that would occasionally progress the business. IT networks are now critical to the modern company.
As with other parts of any business, a number of different plans should be evaluated and used in order to ensure the smooth running of daily activities. software asset management should not be the only tactic used to manage technological assets within your organisation, but rather one of a multitude of complimentary techniques used to control the system as a whole.
So if you feel that your company is really suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and management over its IT infrastructure, or that the potential advantages outlined in this article could provide a crucial market edge over your competitors, then it would be well worth researching how software asset management could be used within your business.
