How to control your Software Licenses
Introduction
The degree to which technology has become a part of normal life and day-to-day business has forced a change in the way business approaches how they manage the finances, the processes and the assets within an organisation.
As technology becomes more widely used within a business and takes a more prominent vital within the vital functions of that company, it is necessary to make sure that an appropriate level of attention is applied to this computing.
Technology have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as essential elements of any organisation. As such, they are allocated greater budgets but must also be able to deal with a greater amount of responsibility.
But after you have spent a substantial amount of money on developing your IT system and seen the circumstances of your business change, how do you ensure that the IT you are using can keep up with demand?
This is the role carried out by IT management software and systems.
Every company and every situation will have different needs and will offer different challenges. To satisfy these needs there are a range of different solutions and approaches that can be used to help manage the IT infrastructure of your company.One of these options is discussed below.
Software Asset Management
Software Asset Management (SAM) is designed to do exactly what it says on the tin – monitoring and controlling the deployment and usage of software suites within your organisation. It is a business process rather than a distinct skill and is becoming a more essential part of the modern corporate environment, particularly for companies 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 support staff installing software across a large company network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at many levels of a organisation. The aims 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.
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 financial case for using a SAM solution is not always obvious until a complete of the software infrastructure of a company has been carried out. Once existing problems have been identified however, the use of software asset management becomes self evident.
Monetary benefits remain the most motivating business factor when choosing to use software asset management technology within an organisation. Every business needs to make profit after all and profitability is a very measurable figure.
An increasingly large percentage of a business’ IT budget is spent on software licensing so there is a vital need to invest to correctly manage this spending. As companies expand and diversify, their software requirements 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 software asset management really delivers an advantage.
SAM is not restricted to simply the technology of your organisation either. As a management cycle it will often involve many of the departments within a business, including Finance Human Resources, to ensure that it runs as efficiently as possible. It is a process that does not need to follow established corporate levels.
Some of the most experienced SAM technicians work for Centennial specialists where their skills are put to good use.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having seen the multiple advantages of deploying a software asset management solution, how do you know that it would be correct for your business? Each business is different and has its own separate set of challenges and advantages, so any plan you will use needs to be tailored to these specific traits. The benefits of software asset management do cover the fundamental aspects of software management.
There are more than simply cost advantages that can be gained through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across a companies IT system. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that staff have the latest versions of software available under current licenses held, and communication inside the company is aided 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 implement SAM 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 system that can help to increase this profitability by reducing costs is one that should be considered.
The most direct way that SAM can help to lower costs is by identifying any applications running on your corporate IT system 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 clearing 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 system. Paying for unneeded software licenses and maintenance agreements means that more finance can be spent on the essential parts of your IT infrastructure.
Mitigate Risk Factors
A surprising percentage of software that is actively used in the business environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Running any amount of unmonitored software on your IT system is ill advised, because when left unchecked it can become very unpredictable.
Unlicensed software applications can be introduced into an unmonitored IT environment 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 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 network is clear. When anything goes wrong with the hardware or software platform behind your vital processes, how do you recover the situation? Operating a complex software system without the proper support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can critically inhibit your responsiveness to unpredictable events.
Some of the most profitable Centennial distributors throughout modern times have viewed software asset management as key part of their portfolio.
Implementing Software Asset Management in your Organisation
As previously mentioned, there are many potential benefits to employing 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 deploy first since certain benefits will be achieved more quickly than others. Some may take a period of years to be fully felt.
This discovery process can be seen as three fundamental areas that have to be performed to really build an informative picture of the deployment of IT assets within your company.
Inventory
Inventory is the most basic function of the discovery process. It is crucial that an accurate inventory 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.
Fortunately, this process can now be automated and even the largest of infrastructures can be searched and analysed in a relatively short period of time. Inventory must be able to identify your IT assets regardless of their physical location or technological characteristics.
Capture
The next step in the discovery process is the capture of the software license entitlements that cover the software programs identified in the inventory. The capture stage should gather entitlements for all of the software that exists on your network, even when the software is not currently in use. Without this information the inventory would be almost useless.
The factor of human error can be avoided by using automatic tools that are specifically designed to build a library of license entitlements. Packages that are currently employed are incredibly efficient at gathering accurate data.
Identification & Validation
The next step is to match up the software inventory to the repository of licensing information that were created 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 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 arguments with software vendors 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 built an incredibly detailed image of how your IT network is delivering software programs to its users. It will be much easier to identify particular trouble areas on your system, or sections of software use that are no longer of any practical benefit to your operations. This detailed image can be used for future reference as well.
You can now start a period of reconciliation on your network. You should compare the software packages that are actually used on your system against the licensing and support contracts that you are paying for and bridge any gaps between the two.
The software spread in your network may include many hundreds or perhaps thousands of individual installations, 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 process, utilising one or more tools to apply intelligent rules to the process. These rules can be catered to the specific needs of your organisation.
As demand for software asset management technology grows, the chance a well known Centennial reseller has to grow their client base should be taken.
Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management
Many of the basic practices of a modern SAM strategy are based upon the concepts laid out in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This library defines a number of ideas and best practices that should be followed for successful control of IT operations. The ITIL can be found online.
This library is a changing entity and is often updated with new concepts and policies that cater to 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 business 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 exceptionally comprehensive collection of guidelines that are built to ensure that SAM is utilised in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”. Standards of this kind play an important part in realising standardisation across an industry.
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 challenge. It is vital to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when designing a software asset management strategy, whatever plan you decide to implement needs to aid your business rather than hinder it. Industry standards cannot simply be copied when it comes to applying them within your organisation.
Creating a complete and comprehensive SAM strategy for your own company might actually never come to fruition. Your plan must be flexible enough to change and grow as your business does, and it should allow for updates to your daily tasks, no matter how small or fundamental they might be. This really is the key to a worthwhile software asset management strategy.
Conclusion
It is easy to see that as the extent and importance of IT systems within your organisation grow, so does the need for good and effective monitoring of these systems. Gone are the days when an IT department was a luxury that would sometimes forward the business. IT systems are now vital to the modern company. Crucial systems need to be maintained to an appropriate level.
As with other parts of any business, a number of different strategies should be considered and utilised in order to ensure the efficient running of day to day activities. SAM should not be the only tactic used to manage technological resources within your company, but rather one of a number of complimentary techniques used to manage the system as a whole. SAM can go a long way toward helping your business but should be helped by other techniques.
So if you feel that your organisation is currently suffering from a lack of structured monitoring and control over its IT network, or that the possible benefits described in this article could manufacture a critical market advantage over your competitors, then it would be worth researching how SAM could be used within your business.
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