Introduction
The extent to which technology has become a part of normal life and day-to-day commerce has prompted a change in the way business approaches how they manage the finances, the processes and the assets within a business.
As computing becomes more widespread within an organisation and takes a more prominent vital within the vital functions of that business, it is necessary to make sure that an appropriate level of attention is given to this computing. Technological systems that may have previously been overlooked are now important factors in the decision making process.
Technology have come a long way during the past few years and are now seen as essential parts of any company. As such, they are allocated greater 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 after you have spent a large amount of money on developing an IT system and seen the needs of your organisation 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 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 requirements there are a range of different solutions and approaches that can be used to help control the IT infrastructure of your organisation.One of these options is discussed below.
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 programs within your organisation. It is a business process rather than a distinct area of expertise and is becoming a more essential part of the modern commercial 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 technicians rolling out software across a large corporate network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at multiple levels of a business. The goals of SAM include controlling of the IT infrastructure within a business, 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 SAM is often thought of as an unnecessary evil due to the abstract nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the financial case for using a SAM solution is not always obvious until a full of the software infrastructure of a company has been carried out.
Financial benefits remain the most motivating business factor when choosing to operate SAM technology within a company. Every business needs to make money after all and profitability is a very measurable metric.
An increasingly large amount of a business’ IT bank roll is spent on software licensing so there is a vital need to invest to correctly manage this spending. As businesses expand and spread, their software needs can change greatly and equipment and software can swiftly 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 edge.
software asset management is not restricted to simply the IT department of your company either. As a management cycle it will often include many of the departments within a company, including Finance Human Resources, to make sure that it runs as efficiently as possible.
The forward thinking technology services business selling Centennial Discovery discovered the need for good SAM services a very long time ago.
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 appropriate for your organisation? Each company is different and has its own unique set of challenges and advantages, so any strategy you will undertake needs to be catered to these specific characteristics.
There are more than simply monetary advantages that can be gained through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across a companies IT system. Productivity can be vastly by ensuring that users have the newest editions of software permitted under current licenses held, and communication within the corporation is aided when support staff know exactly what is deployed on every computer under their control. The benefits of SAM are not confined to the technological hardware of your business.
Financial Savings
As discussed before, perhaps the most persuading reason to implement SAM within your company is the potential financial savings that can be achieved. The profitability of your business is always going to be the bottom line so any strategy that can help to increase this profitability by reducing costs is one that should be evaluated. Money can be saved in a number of ways.
The most immediate way that software asset management can help to lower costs is by identifying any software running on your corporate IT system 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. SAM can help to remove this unnecessary overhead.
By removing these items of software that are no longer a benefit to the operation of your company you are streamlining a large portion of your IT network. Paying for unneeded software licenses and support and maintenance contracts means that more finance can be spent on the vital parts of your IT system. Focusing your attention on these critical components will improve the overall performance of your IT department.
Mitigate Risk Factors
A surprising percentage of software that is currently used in the corporate environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Running any amount of uncontrolled software on your IT system is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable.
Rogue 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 first 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 system.
The danger of running unlicensed software on your system is clear. When something goes wrong with the hardware or software platform behind your critical processes, how do you handle the situation? Running a complicated software system without the proper support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can critically limit your responsiveness to unforeseen events.
Even in a stagnating and unknown economy softcat continue to find that software asset management is a technology in demand from other businesses. To see their website click here.
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 SAM 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 seen as three basic stages that have to be undertaken 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 cycle. It is important that an accurate inventory of software assets within your business is created to aid your IT managers to maintain baselines regarding your IT system.
Fortunately, this process can now be made automatic and even the largest of networks 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 computing characteristics.
Capture
The next step in the discovery process involves the capture of the software license entitlements that cover the software programs identified in the inventory. The capture process should gather entitlements regarding all of the software that exists on your network, even when the software is not currently used.
The risk of human error can be avoided by using automated tools that are specifically designed to build a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently employed are incredibly efficient at capturing accurate data.
Identification & Validation
The third 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 been made anywhere from the original invoices for software to the most recent audits performed on your IT system.
One crucial factor in the validation stage is the ability to combine the license entitlements on your system 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.
Once these three steps have been performed you will have created an incredibly rich image of how your IT network is serving software packages to its users. It will be a lot easier to identify particular trouble areas on your network, or areas of software usage that are no longer of any practical benefit to your operations. This detailed picture 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 employed on your system against the licensing and support contracts that you are paying for and close any divides between the two. This is when the financial benefits of SAM start to take effect.
The software spread within your network may include many hundreds or perhaps thousands of individual installations, and there may be 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 programs to apply intelligent rules to the process. These rules can be catered to the specific needs of your organisation.
There is a growing respect in the IT industry for Centennial vendors because they can provide vital services for a modern business.
Compliancy and Flexibility with SAM
Many of the basic practices of a successful software asset management strategy are based upon the principles set 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 dynamic publication and is often updated with new concepts and techniques that cater to 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 matching the changing requirements of the company within which it is actively utilised. 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 exceptionally comprehensive collection of suggestions that are built to ensure that software asset management is utilised in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”. Standards of this kind play an essential role in achieving standardisation across an industry.
The ISO standard should certainly be followed when planning a software asset management strategy for your own business, although the level of detail included within can easily become a daunting prospect. It is important to remember that no matter what guidelines you follow when creating a software asset management strategy, whatever you decide to implement needs to aid your business rather than stifle it.
Designing a complete and comprehensive SAM strategy for your own company may actually never come to fruition. Your strategy must be flexible to adapt and grow 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 extent and importance of computer systems within your company grow, so does the requirement for correct and efficient management of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT branch was a bonus that would occasionally progress the business. IT networks are now vital to the modern business. Crucial systems need to be maintained to an appropriate level.
As with other branches of any business, a number of separate plans should be evaluated and utilised in order to ensure the smooth running of daily tasks. software asset management should not be the only tactic used to manage computing assets within your organisation, but rather one of a multitude of complimentary techniques used to control the system as a whole. software asset management can go a long way toward helping your company but should be supported by other techniques.
So if you feel that your company is currently suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and control over its IT infrastructure, or that the potential benefits outlined in this article could manufacture a crucial market edge over your competitors, then it would be worth investigating how SAM could be employed within your company.