Introduction
The degree to which technology has become a part of normal life and day-to-day commerce has seen a change in the way business approaches how they manage the money, the processes and the assets within an organisation.
As technology becomes more widely used within an organisation and takes a more prominent role within the critical 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 once been overlooked are now key in the decision making process.
IT departments have come a long way during the past few years and are now seen as vital parts of any business. As such, they are allocated larger budgets but must also be able to handle a larger amount of responsibility. There is an eternal race between corporate demands and computing capabilities.
But once you have spent a large amount of your budget on developing your IT infrastructure and seen the requirements of your business change, how do you make sure that the systems 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 undertaken by IT management software and systems.
Every company and every situation will have different requirements and will offer different challenges. To satisfy these needs there are a range of different technologies and approaches that can be used to help control the IT infrastructure of your business.
Software Asset Management
SAM ( Software Asset Management) is built to do exactly what it says on the tin – monitoring and controlling the deployment and usage of software programs within your company. 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 businesses operating in the field of IT.
SAM is not simply an aid for technicians installing software across a large corporate network, but can be a critical tool to help improve performance at multiple levels of a company. The goals 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.
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. Once existing problems have been highlighted however, the use of software asset management becomes self evident.
Financial benefits remain the most driving commercial factor when deciding to operate software asset management technology within an organisation. Every company needs to make profit after all and expenditure is a very measurable figure. The financial benefits of SAM do certainly exist however.
An increasingly large amount of a company’s IT bank roll is spent on software licensing so there is a vital need to invest to correctly handle this spending. As businesses expand and diversify, their software requirements can change radically and equipment and software can swiftly become outdated. There is no requirement to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where software asset management really delivers an edge.
SAM is not limited to simply the technology of your company either. As a management cycle it will often involve many of the departments within a organisation, including Finance Human Resources, to ensure that it runs as efficiently as possible.
IT managers and staff with decision making authority should discuss Centennial Discovery at meetings about the implementation of IT resource management.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having seen the various advantages of deploying a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be appropriate for your business? Every company is different and has its own separate set of problems and advantages, so any strategy you will use needs to be catered to these specific traits. The benefits of software asset management do cover the basic aspects of software management.
There are more than simply monetary benefits that can be achieved through the management of licensing and maintenance agreements across an organisations IT system. Productivity can be hugely improved by ensuring that employees have the newest editions of software permitted 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.
Cost Savings
As discussed previously, perhaps the most persuading reason to implement software asset management within your business is the potential cost 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.
The most immediate way that software asset management can help to lower 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 very outdated to be of use or it may be duplicated on your system.
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 infrastructure. Paying for unneeded software licenses and support and maintenance agreements means that more money can be spent on the critical sections of your IT infrastructure. Focusing your attention on these vital components will improve the overall performance of your IT department.
Mitigate Risk
A surprising proportion 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 network is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable.
Rogue software applications can be introduced into an unmonitored IT system 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 security policies in place, users may also be able to install their own software onto the system.
The risk of running unlicensed software on your network is clear. When something goes wrong with the hardware or software platform supporting your critical processes, how do you recover the situation? Operating a complex software system without the correct support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can seriously inhibit your responsiveness to unpredictable events.
There are a number of adaptable Centennial distributors specialising in SAM who can create the ideal solution for your organisation.
Implementing SAM in your Organisation
As previously discussed, there are many potential benefits to using a good software asset management strategy within your organisation, both financial and otherwise. It is vitally important to determine which parts of SAM you should implement first since some benefits will be realised more quickly than others. Some may take a period of years to be fully felt.
The discovery process can be seen as three basic phases 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 fundamental function of the discovery cycle. It is vital that an accurate inventory of IT 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 made automatic and even the grandest of networks can be searched and analysed in a reasonably short period of time. Inventory must be able to identify your software assets regardless of their geographical location or computing characteristics. Modern inventory processes are capable of this.
Capture
The next step in the discovery cycle is the capture of the license entitlements that cover the software assets discovered in the inventory. The capture stage should collect entitlements regarding all of the software that exists on your system, even if the software is not currently used. Without this step the inventory may be almost useless.
The risk of human error can be mitigated by using automated tools that are specifically created to build a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently employed are incredibly efficient at capturing accurate information.
Identification & Validation
The next process is to match up your software inventory to the repository of licensing data that were built in the last two stages. Errors may have been made anywhere from the original paperwork for software to the latest audits performed on your IT system. These errors can now be rectified.
One crucial factor in the validation step is the ability to combine the license entitlements within your network to your company’s proof of entitlement. This will be essential if any arguments with software resellers arise as a consequence of the discovery cycle. You want to be as informed as possible in these circumstances.
Once these three steps have been undertaken you will have built an incredibly rich image of how your IT network is serving software programs to its users. It will be a lot easier to identify any trouble spots on your system, or sections of software usage that are no longer of any particular benefit to your operations. This detailed picture can be used for future reference as well.
You can now begin a period of reconciliation on your system. You should compare the software programs that are actually used on your network against the licensing and support contracts that you are paying for and bridge any gaps between the two.
The software spread within your network may include many hundreds or even thousands of individual instances, and there are any number of rules that may be associated with the licensing contracts you have in place. It is therefore essential to automate the reconciliation period, using one or more programs to apply smart rules to the process.
The computing industry is in vital need of many Centennial vendors who can provide the right IT monitoring services.
Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management
Many of the basic principles of a successful 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 concepts and best practices that should be followed for successful control of IT functions.
This library is a changing publication and is often updated with new ideas and policies that cater to the ever 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 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 exceptionally comprehensive set of guidelines that are designed to ensure that SAM is used in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”. Standards of this kind play an essential role in realising standardisation across an industry.
The ISO standard should really be adhered to when planning a SAM strategy for your own company, although the level of detail covered within can easily become a daunting challenge. It is important to remember that no matter what guidelines you follow when planning 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 to your company.
Designing a full and comprehensive software asset management strategy for your own company might actually never come to fruition. Your plan must be flexible to adapt and mature as your organisation does, and it must allow for updates to your daily activities, no matter how trivial or fundamental they might be. This really is the key to a worthwhile SAM strategy.
Conclusion
It is clear to see that as the scope and importance of computer systems within your organisation grow, so does the need for correct and effective monitoring of these systems. Gone are the days when an IT branch was a bonus that would occasionally forward the business. Computer systems are now critical to the modern business.
As with other parts of any business, a number of separate plans should be considered and used in order to ensure the smooth running of daily tasks. SAM should not be the only tactic used to manage computing resources within your company, but rather one of a number of complimentary techniques used to manage the system as a unit. software asset management can go a long way toward helping your company but should be helped 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 potential advantages outlined in this article could manufacture a crucial market advantage over your competitors, then it would be worth investigating how SAM could be employed within your company. There might be no time to spare.
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