Introduction

The degree to which technology has become a part of everyday life and everyday commerce has seen a change in the way business approaches how they manage the finances, the processes and the assets within a business.

As computing becomes more widely used within a company and takes a more prominent vital within the critical processes of that organisation, it is necessary to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is applied 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 critical elements of any organisation. As such, they are allocated greater budgets but must also be able to handle a larger amount of responsibility. There is an eternal race between business demands and IT capabilities.

But after you have spent a substantial amount of money on developing an IT infrastructure and seen the circumstances of your company change, how do you ensure 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 function by IT management software and procedures.

Every business and every environment will have different needs and will offer different issues. To satisfy these requirements there are a number of different solutions and approaches that can be used to help control the IT infrastructure of your organisation.One of these solutions 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 packages within your company. 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 corporations 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 deploying software across a large company network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at all levels of a company. The objectives of SAM include controlling of the IT infrastructure within a organisation, 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.

The practice of software asset management 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 using 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 SAM becomes self evident.

Monetary benefits remain the most driving business factor when deciding to employ software asset management software within a company. Every company needs to make profit after all and expenditure is a very measurable metric. The financial benefits of software asset management do certainly exist however.

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 handle this spending. As businesses expand and spread, their software needs can change radically and equipment and programs can quickly become out of date. There is no requirement to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where SAM really delivers an advantage.

software asset management is not limited to simply the IT department of your business either. As a management operation it will often include 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 regular.

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Why follow a SAM Strategy?

Having heard the multiple advantages of utilising a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be correct for your organisation? Every company is different and has its own separate set of problems and advantages, so any plan you will use needs to be catered to these specific characteristics. The benefits of software asset management do cover the fundamental aspects of software management.

There are more than just cost benefits that can be made through the management of licensing and maintenance agreements across a companies IT system. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that employees 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 deployed on every computer under their control. The benefits of software asset management are not confined to the technological hardware of your organisation.

Financial Savings

As discussed before, 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 business is always going to be the bottom line so any system that can help to increase this profitability by lowering expenses is one that should be evaluated. Money can be saved in a multitude of ways.

The most direct way that SAM can help to reduce costs is by identifying any applications 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 running of your business you are streamlining a large portion of your IT system. Paying for unnecessary software licenses 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 currently 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. This is becoming an increasingly frustrating factor for IT managers.

Unlicensed 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 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 network.

The danger of running unlicensed software on your network is clear. When something goes wrong with the hardware or software platform behind your critical processes, how do you manage the situation? Running a complex 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.

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Implementing SAM in your Organisation

As previously discussed, there are numerous potential benefits to utilising a good SAM strategy within your organisation, both monetary and otherwise. It is therefore important to consider which branches of software asset management you should deploy first since some benefits will be realised more quickly than others.

The discovery process can be viewed as three basic areas that have to be undertaken to really build an accurate picture of the usage of IT assets within your company.

Inventory

Inventory is the most fundamental function of the discovery cycle. It is important that an accurate inventory of IT assets within your business is created to aid your IT department to maintain baselines regarding your IT network. This inventory process must be performed before continuing with discovery.
Fortunately, this process can now be made automatic and even the largest of infrastructures can be investigated and analysed in a relatively short period. Inventory must be able to identify your software assets regardless of their physical location or computing characteristics.

Capture

The second step in the discovery process is the capture of the software license entitlements that concern the software assets discovered in the inventory. The capture process should collect entitlements regarding all of the software that exists on your network, even if the software is not currently in use. Without this step the inventory would be almost useless.

The element of human error can be avoided by using automatic tools that are specifically created to create a library of license entitlements. Packages that are currently employed are very efficient at gathering accurate information.

Identification & Validation

The next step is to match up your software audit to the repository of licensing data that were built in the last two stages. Errors may have been made anywhere from the original invoices for software to the most recent audits undertaken 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 on your network to your organisation’s proof of entitlement. This will be vital if any disputes with software vendors arise as a consequence of the discovery cycle.

After these steps have been performed you will have created an incredibly detailed picture of how your IT network is delivering software assets to its users. It will be a lot easier to identify particular trouble spots on your system, or areas of software use that are no longer of any practical benefit to your activites.

You can now start a period of reconciliation on your network. You should compare the software packages that are actually used on your network against the licensing and support entitlements that you are paying for and bridge any divides between the two. This is when the financial benefits of software asset management start to take effect.

The software distribution in your system 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 stage, using one or more programs to apply intelligent rules to the process. These rules can be catered to the specific needs of your organisation.

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Compliancy and Flexibility with SAM

Many of the basic practices of a modern SAM strategy are based upon the concepts set out in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This library details a number of principles and best practices that should be followed for successful management of IT functions.

This library is a dynamic publication and is often updated with new ideas and policies that cater to the ever changing IT environment of modern business. A good software asset management strategy should be fluid enough to follow the guidelines set out in the ITIL whilst matching the changing requirements of the business within which it is actively utilised. This is an essential requirement of successful software asset management

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 utilised in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”.

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 quickly become a daunting challenge. It is important to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when planning a software asset management strategy, whatever plan you decide to employ must help your organisation rather than hinder it. Industry standards cannot simply be copied when it comes to applying them within your organisation.

Designing a complete and comprehensive software asset management strategy for your own organisation 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 activities, no matter how trivial or fundamental they might be.

Conclusion

It is easy to see that as the scope and importance of computer systems within your organisation grow, so does the requirement for correct and efficient management of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT department was a luxury that would sometimes progress the business. Computer systems are now vital to the modern business. Critical systems need to be monitored to an appropriate standard.

As with other branches of any business, a number of different plans should be evaluated and utilised in order to ensure the smooth running of day to day tasks. SAM should not be the only tactic used to manage technological assets within your company, but rather one of a multitude of complimentary techniques used to manage the system as a whole. software asset management can go a long way toward aiding your business but should be supported by other strategies.

So if you feel that your company 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 provide a critical market edge over your competitors, then it would be well worth investigating how SAM could be used within your company.