Introduction
The degree to which technology 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 a business.
As computing becomes more widespread within an organisation and takes a more prominent critical within the critical functions of that organisation, it is important to make sure that an appropriate level of attention is applied to this computing. Technological assets that may have once been ignored are now important elements in the decision making process.
IT departments have come a long way during the past few years and are now seen as critical parts of any company. As such, they receive larger budgets but must also be able to handle a greater amount of work.
But after you have spent a large amount of money on developing an IT infrastructure and seen the needs of your business 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 large amount of money?
This is the function by IT management software and procedures.
Every organisation and every environment will have different specifications and will create different challenges. To meet these requirements there are a number of different technologies and approaches that can be used to help control the IT network of your business.One of these options is discussed below.
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 suites within your business. It is a business process rather than a distinct area of expertise and is becoming a more essential part of the modern business environment, particularly for companies operating in the field of Information Technology. 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 installing software across a large corporate network, but can be a critical tool to help improve performance at multiple levels of a business. The objectives of SAM include managing of the IT infrastructure within a business, 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 thought of as an unnecessary evil due to the abstract nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the business 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 identified however, the use of SAM becomes self evident.
Financial benefits remain the most driving business factor when deciding to employ software asset management software within an organisation. Every corporation needs to make money after all and revenue is a very measurable metric.
An increasingly large amount of a business’ 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 requirements can change greatly and equipment and software can quickly 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.
software asset management is not restricted to simply the IT department of your company either. As a management cycle it will often involve many of the branches within a business, including Finance Human Resources, to make sure that it runs as cost-effectively as possible.
IT service professionals working for a company called Centennial supply a range of IT management solutions including software asset management tools.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having seen the multiple advantages of employing a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be correct for your organisation? Every company is different and has its own unique set of challenges and advantages, so any plan you will undertake needs to be tailored to these specific traits. The benefits of software asset management do cover the basic aspects of software management.
There are more than simply financial advantages that can be made through the management of licensing and maintenance agreements across a companies IT network. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that users have the latest versions of software permitted under current licenses held, and communication inside the corporation is helped when support staff know exactly what is installed on every computer under their control.
Cost Savings
As discussed previously, perhaps the most convincing reason to utilise software asset management 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 system that can help to increase this profitability by descreasing expenses is one that should be considered.
The most direct way that software asset management can help to lower costs is by targeting any applications 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 operation of your company you are streamlining a large portion of your IT network. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and maintenance agreements means that more finance can be spent on the essential sections of your IT system. Focusing your finances on these critical components will improve the overall performance of your IT department.
Mitigate Risk
A surprising proportion of software that is actively 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 ill advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable.
Rogue software applications can be introduced into an uncontrolled 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 security policies in place, users may also be able to install their own software onto the system. Running a corporate IT system in this wild way will almost certainly lead to trouble.
The risk of running unlicensed software on your system is clear. When anything goes wrong with the hardware or software platform supporting your vital processes, how do you recover the situation? Running a complex software system without the appropriate support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can critically inhibit your responsiveness to unforeseen events. The cost of recovery will always outweigh the cost of mitigation when it comes to IT systems.
Many businesses have reported increases in efficiency since Centennial consultants worked alongside their current IT support team.
Implementing SAM in your Organisation
As previously mentioned, there are numerous potential advantages to utilising a good software asset management strategy within your company, both monetary and otherwise. It is vitally important to determine which parts of SAM you should implement first since some benefits will be achieved more speedily than others.
This discovery process can be viewed as three primary stages that have to be undertaken to truly develop an informative picture of the usage of software assets within your company. These are:
Inventory
Inventory is the most basic stage of the discovery cycle. It is crucial that an accurate audit of software assets within your organisation 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 largest of networks can be investigated and analysed in a reasonably short period of time. Inventory should be able to identify your IT assets regardless of their physical location or computing characteristics. Modern inventory processes are capable of this.
Capture
The next step in the discovery process is the capture of the license entitlements that cover the software assets identified in the inventory. The capture stage should gather entitlements regarding all of the software that exists on your network, even if the software is not currently in use. Without this information the inventory would be nearly useless.
The element of human error can be mitigated by using automated tools that are specifically designed to build a library of license entitlements. Packages that are currently available are very efficient at capturing accurate information.
Identification & Validation
The next process is to match up your software inventory to the repository of licensing information that were created 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.
One critical factor in the validation step is the ability to combine the license entitlements on your system to your company’s proof of entitlement. This will be vital if any arguments with software vendors arise as a consequence of the discovery process.
Once these steps have been undertaken you will have created an incredibly rich image of how your IT system is delivering software programs to its users. It will be a lot easier to identify any trouble spots on your system, or areas of software use 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 network. You can 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 divides between the two. This is when the financial benefits of SAM start to take effect.
The software spread in your system may include many hundreds or even thousands of individual installations, and there are any number of restrictions that may be involved with the licensing contracts you have in place. It is therefore essential to automate the reconciliation period, utilising one or more programs to apply intelligent rules to the process.
The use SAM within your organisation is a very specific cycle which should be planned by a good Centennial reseller as they will have extra information.
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 control of IT operations. The ITIL can be found online.
This library is a dynamic 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 fluid enough to comply with the guidelines laid out in the ITIL whilst matching the changing needs of the company within which it is actively used. This is an essential requirement of effective software asset management
The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has created a standard that applies directly to software asset management practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an incredibly comprehensive collection of suggestions 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 followed when planning a software asset management strategy for your own company, although the level of detail covered within can quickly become a daunting challenge. It is vital to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when creating a SAM strategy, whatever plan you decide to employ must aid your organisation rather than hinder it. Industry standards cannot simply be copied when it comes to applying them within your business.
Creating a complete and comprehensive SAM strategy for your own organisation might actually never come to fruition. Your plan must be flexible enough to change and grow as your organisation does, and it should allow for modifications to your daily activities, no matter how small or underlying they might be. This really is the key to a worthwhile SAM strategy.
Conclusion
It is clear to see that as the extent and importance of computer systems within your company grow, so does the requirement for good and effective monitoring of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT department was a luxury that would occasionally progress the business. IT networks are now critical to the modern organisation. Crucial systems need to be monitored to an appropriate standard.
As with other branches of any company, a number of separate plans should be considered and used in order to ensure the smooth running of daily activities. software asset management should not be the only tactic used to manage technological assets within your company, but rather one of a number of complimentary policies used to manage the system as a unit.
So if you feel that your organisation is really suffering from a lack of structured monitoring and management 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 worth researching how SAM could be employed within your business.