Introduction
The degree to which computing has become a part of normal life and everyday business has seen a change in the way business approaches how they manage the money, the processes and the systems within an organisation. IT is becoming an important factor in business.
As computing becomes more widespread within an organisation and takes a more prominent role within the critical processes of that organisation, it is important to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is applied to this technology. Technological assets that may have once been overlooked are now important factors in the decision making process.
IT capabilities have come a long way during the past few years and are now seen as critical parts of any organisation. As such, they receive grander budgets but must also be able to manage a greater amount of responsibility.
But after you have spent a substantial amount of money on developing an IT network and seen the requirements of your business change, how do you ensure 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 role carried out by IT management software and systems.
Every business and every environment will have different requirements and will present different challenges. To meet these needs there are a range of different technologies and approaches that can be implemented to help control the IT infrastructure of your business.One of these approaches is discussed below.
Software Asset Management
SAM ( Software Asset Management) is built to do exactly what it says on the tin – monitoring and maintaining the deployment and usage of software suites within your company. It is a business process rather than a distinct skill and is becoming a more critical part of the modern business 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 a program for technicians deploying software across a large company network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at multiple levels of a organisation. The objectives of SAM include managing of the IT infrastructure within a company, 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. As IT usage in an organisation 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 business case for going with a SAM solution is not always obvious until a full of the software infrastructure of a company has been undertaken. Once existing problems have been highlighted however, the use of software asset management becomes self evident.
Financial benefits are still the most motivating business factor when choosing to use software asset management software within an organisation. Every company needs to make money 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 company’s IT bank roll is spent on software licensing so there is a critical need to invest to correctly monitor this spending. As companies grow and diversify, their software needs can change radically and hardware and programs can quickly become outdated. 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 business either. As a management process 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 standard.
Anybody who was going to query Softcat exactly what product stands out would get the simple answer software asset management SAM.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having seen the many benefits of utilising a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be appropriate for your company? Every company is different and has its own unique set of challenges and advantages, so any plan you will use needs to be tailored to these specific characteristics.
There are more than simply monetary advantages that can be gained through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across an organisations IT system. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that users have the newest versions of software available under current licenses held, and communication inside the business is aided when support staff know exactly what is installed on every workstation under their control.
Financial Savings
As discussed previously, perhaps the most convincing reason to implement 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 plan that can help to improve this profitability by descreasing costs is one that should be considered.
The most direct way that SAM can help to reduce costs is by targeting any software running on your corporate network that is no longer needed. 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 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 network. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and support and maintenance agreements means that more money can be spent on the critical parts of your IT system.
Mitigate Risk
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 uncontrolled software on your IT network is ill advised, because when left unchecked it can become very unpredictable. This is becoming an increasingly annoying factor for IT managers.
Rogue software programs can be introduced into an unmonitored IT environment in a number of ways. Software may have been bundled when your IT hardware was first bought although the original 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 unmanaged way will almost certainly lead to trouble.
The risk of running unlicensed software on your network is clear. When something 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 critically inhibit your responsiveness to unforeseen events.
Even in a stagnating and unpredictable market Centennial distributors still find that SAM is a technology in demand from companies.
Implementing Software Asset Management in your Organisation
As previously discussed, there are many potential advantages to employing a good software asset management strategy within your business, both financial and otherwise. It is vitally important to consider which elements of software asset management you should deploy first since certain benefits will be realised more quickly than others. Some may take a period of years to be fully felt.
This discovery process can be viewed as three primary stages that have to be performed to really develop an informative picture of the usage of software assets within your business. These are:
Inventory
Inventory is the most fundamental function of the discovery cycle. It is important that an accurate inventory of software assets within your business is created to aid your IT department to maintain baselines for your IT network. This inventory process must be performed before carrying on with discovery.
Thankfully, this process can now be made automatic and even the grandest of infrastructures can be searched and analysed in a relatively short period of time. Inventory should 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 manage the software assets identified in the inventory. The capture stage should collect entitlements for all of the software that exists on your network, even if the software is not currently used.
The factor of human error can be avoided by using automated tools that are specifically created to create a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently employed are very efficient at gathering accurate information. These tools will also maintain databases containing up to date information from IT vendors.
Identification & Validation
The next step is to match up your software inventory to the repository of licensing information that were built in the last two stages. Errors may have occurred anywhere from the original paperwork for software to the most recent audits performed 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 network to your company’s proof of entitlement. This will be essential if any disputes with software resellers arise as a consequence of the discovery process.
Once these steps have been undertaken you will have built an incredibly rich picture of how your IT system is delivering software packages to its users. It will be a lot easier to identify any trouble areas on your system, or sections of software usage that are no longer of any particular benefit to your operations.
You can now start a period of reconciliation upon your system. You should 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.
The software distribution in 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 agreements you have in place. It is therefore a necessity to automate the reconciliation period, using one or more programs to apply smart rules to the process. These rules can be catered to the specific needs of your company
If you are able to find a particular Centennial reseller knowledgeable about your particular company you will reap the benefits, one such specialist is Softcat, click here to view their website.
Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management
Many of the fundamental practices of a modern software asset management 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 adopted for successful management of IT operations.
This library is a dynamic entity and is often updated with new concepts and techniques that reflect the ever 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 matching the changing needs of the company within which it is actively utilised.
The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has published a standard that applies directly to SAM practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an exceptionally comprehensive set of guidelines that are designed to ensure that SAM is utilised in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”. Standards of this kind play an essential part in achieving standardisation across an industry.
The ISO standard should really be adhered to when planning 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 recommendations you follow when planning a SAM strategy, whatever you decide to implement needs to help your business rather than hinder it. Industry standards cannot simply be copied when it comes to applying them within your business.
Designing a complete and comprehensive SAM strategy for your own organisation might actually never come to fruition. Your strategy must be flexible enough to adapt and grow as your organisation does, and it must allow for updates to your daily activities, no matter how small or underlying they might be. This really is the key to a successful 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 branch was a luxury that would occasionally forward the business. IT systems are now vital to the modern business. Crucial systems need to be maintained to an appropriate level.
As with other parts of any organisation, a number of separate plans should be considered and utilised in order to ensure the efficient running of daily activities. software asset management should not be the only tool used to manage technological resources within your company, but rather one of a multitude of complimentary techniques used to manage the system as a whole. SAM can go a long way toward helping your business but should be supported by other strategies.
So if you feel that your company is really suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and control over its IT infrastructure, or that the possible benefits described in this article could provide a crucial market edge over your competitors, then it would be worth investigating how SAM could be used within your organisation.
