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Introduction

The extent to which computing has become a part of normal life and everyday business has prompted a change in the way business approaches how they manage the finances, the processes and the systems within an organisation.

As computing becomes more widespread within an organisation and takes a more prominent critical within the vital functions of that company, it is important to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is given to this computing.

IT capabilities have come a long way during the past few years and are now seen as vital elements of any organisation. As such, they are allocated larger budgets but must also be able to handle a greater amount of responsibility.

But once you have spent a substantial amount of money on developing your IT network and seen the circumstances of your organisation change, how do you ensure that the IT you are using can keep up with demand?

This is the function by IT management software and procedures.

Every organisation and every environment will have different needs and will present different problems. To satisfy these requirements there are a number of different technologies and approaches that can be used to help control the IT network of your organisation.

Software Asset Management

Software Asset Management (SAM) is built to do exactly what it says on the tin – monitoring and maintaining 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 critical part of the modern corporate environment, particularly for businesses 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 tool for support staff deploying software across a large company network, but can be a critical tool to help improve performance at multiple levels of a business. The goals of SAM include monitoring costs of the IT infrastructure within a company, 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. As IT usage in an organisation grows, so do the potential benefits of SAM.

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 commercial case for employing a SAM solution is not always obvious until a complete of the software infrastructure of a company has been carried out.

Financial benefits are still the most driving business factor when choosing to employ SAM technology within a business. Every business needs to make profit after all and revenue is a very measurable metric.

An increasingly large amount of a company’s IT bank roll 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 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 organisation either. As a management operation it will often include many of the branches within a organisation, including Finance Human Resources, to ensure that it runs as cost-effectively as possible. It is a process that does not need to follow standard.

Anybody who was going to query Softcat what kind of package stands out would get the simple answer IT security.

Why follow a SAM Strategy?

Having seen the many benefits of utilising a software asset management 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 benefits, so any plan you will undertake 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 just cost advantages that can be achieved through the management of licensing and maintenance agreements across a companies IT system. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that users have the latest editions of software permitted under current licenses held, and communication inside the corporation is helped when support staff know exactly what is in use on every computer under their control.

Cost Savings

As discussed previously, perhaps the most persuading reason to utilise software asset management within your company is the potential cost savings that can be made. The profitability of your company is always going to be the bottom line so any strategy that can help to increase this profitability by descreasing expenses is one that should be considered. Money can be saved in a number of ways.

The most immediate way that software asset management can help to lower costs is by targeting any applications running on your corporate network that is no longer necessary. 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. SAM can be used to remove this unnecessary overhead.

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 system. Paying for unneeded software licenses and support and maintenance agreements means that more money can be spent on the vital 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 amount of software that is currently used in the business environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Having any amount of unmonitored software on your IT system is ill advised, because when left unchecked it can become very unpredictable. This is becoming an increasingly frustrating factor for network managers.

Rogue software applications can be introduced into an uncontrolled IT system 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 network is clear. When anything goes wrong with the hardware or software platform behind your vital processes, how do you manage the situation? Running a complicated software system without the appropriate support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can seriously limit your responsiveness to unpredictable events. The cost of recovery will forever outweigh the cost of prevention when it comes to data systems.

If you are able to do business with the most appropriate IT solutions distributor the business will be well placed to achieve the maximum benefit from SAM.

Implementing Software Asset Management in your Organisation

As previously discussed, there are many potential benefits to utilising a good SAM strategy within your organisation, both financial and otherwise. It is therefore important to determine which elements of SAM you should deploy first since some benefits will be achieved more speedily than others.

This discovery process can be viewed as three fundamental phases that have to be undertaken to truly develop an informative picture of the usage of IT assets within your organisation. These are:

Inventory

Inventory is the most basic function of the discovery cycle. It is important that an accurate audit of IT assets within your organisation is created to help your IT department to maintain baselines for your IT system.
Fortunately, this process can now be made automatic and even the grandest of networks can be investigated and analysed in a reasonably short period. Inventory must be able to identify your software assets regardless of their geographical location or computing characteristics.

Capture

The second step in the discovery cycle is the capture of the software license entitlements that concern 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. Without this step the inventory would be nearly useless.

The element of human error can be mitigated by using automated tools that are specifically created to create a library of license entitlements. Packages that are currently available are very efficient at capturing accurate data. These tools will also maintain databases containing up to date information from IT vendors.

Identification & Validation

The next step is to match up the software inventory to the repository of licensing information that were created in the previous two stages. Errors may have occurred anywhere from the original paperwork for software to the latest audits undertaken on your IT network. These errors can now be rectified.

One crucial factor in the validation stage is the ability to combine the license entitlements within your system to your company’s proof of entitlement. This will be essential if any disputes 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 created an incredibly rich image of how your IT network is serving software packages to its users. It will be much easier to identify particular trouble areas on your system, or sections of software usage that are no longer of any particular benefit to your operations.

You can now begin a period of reconciliation on your network. You should compare the software programs that are actually installed on your system against the licensing and support entitlements that you are paying for and bridge 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 rules that may be associated with the licensing agreements you have in place. It is therefore essential to automate the reconciliation process, utilising one or more programs to apply intelligent rules to the process.

As demand for SAM technology grows, the opportunity any well known Centennial reseller sees to expand their client base should be taken.

Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management

Many of the fundamental 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 details a number of concepts and best practices that should be adopted for successful control of IT functions. The ITIL can be found online.

This library is a changing publication and is often updated with new ideas and techniques that reflect the ever changing IT backdrop of modern business. A good SAM strategy should be fluid enough to comply with the guidelines laid out in the ITIL whilst matching the changing needs of the business within which it is actively utilised. This is an essential requirement of successful SAM

The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has created a standard that applies specifically to SAM practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an incredibly comprehensive collection of guidelines that are built to ensure that SAM is used in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”. Standards of this kind play an important role in realising standardisation across an industry.

The ISO standard should certainly be adhered to when planning a software asset management strategy for your own company, 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 designing a software asset management strategy, whatever you decide to implement must help your organisation rather than hinder it.

Creating a complete and comprehensive software asset management strategy for your own company might actually never come to fruition. Your strategy must be flexible enough to change and grow as your organisation does, and it must allow for updates 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 monitoring of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT department was a bonus that would occasionally forward the business. Computer networks are now critical to the modern organisation.

As with other parts of any business, a number of separate plans should be considered and used in order to ensure the efficient running of day to day tasks. SAM should not be the only tactic used to manage computing resources within your company, but rather one of a multitude of complimentary policies used to control the system as a unit.

So if you think that your company is really 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 critical market edge over your competitors, then it would be worth investigating how SAM could be employed within your business. There may be no time to lose.