Introduction
The extent to which technology has become a part of normal life and everyday business has prompted a change in the way management approaches how they manage the finances, the processes and the assets within an organisation. Computing fast becoming an increasing factor in business.
As computing becomes more widely used within a business and takes a more prominent critical within the vital processes of that organisation, it is necessary to make sure that an appropriate level of attention is given to this technology. Technological assets that may have once been ignored 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 vital elements of any business. As such, they receive larger budgets but must also be able to deal with a greater amount of work. There is an eternal race between corporate needs and computing capabilities.
But once you have spent a large amount of money on developing an IT infrastructure and seen the circumstances of your company change, how do you make sure 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 organisation and every situation will have different needs and will create unique challenges. To meet these requirements there are a number of different solutions 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 maintaining the deployment and usage of software suites 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 corporate environment, particularly for businesses 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 technicians rolling out software across a large company 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 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 seen as an unnecessary evil due to the intangible nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the commercial case for going with a SAM solution is not always obvious until a broad audit 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.
Economic benefits remain the most driving commercial factor when deciding to use SAM software within an organisation. Every corporation needs to make money after all and expenditure is a very measurable metric. The financial benefits of SAM do certainly exist however.
An increasingly large proportion of a company’s IT budget is spent on software licensing so there is a critical need to invest to correctly handle this spending. As companies grow and spread, their software needs can change greatly and hardware and software can quickly become out of date. There is no need to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where SAM really delivers an advantage.
SAM is not limited to simply the IT department of your company 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 cost-effectively as possible. It is a process that does not need to follow standard.
IT service professionals working for a company called Centennial provide a range of IT management solutions including software asset management tools.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having heard the multiple benefits of utilising a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be appropriate for your organisation? Each company is different and has its own separate set of problems and advantages, so any strategy you will use needs to be tailored to these specific characteristics. The benefits of software asset management do cover the fundamental aspects of IT management.
There are more than just monetary benefits that can be achieved through the management of licensing and maintenance agreements across a companies IT system. Productivity can be hugely boosted by ensuring that employees have the newest versions of software permitted under current licenses held, and communication inside the corporation is aided when support staff know exactly what is installed on every workstation 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 achieved. 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 costs is one that should be evaluated. Money can be saved in a multitude of ways.
The most direct way that SAM can help to lower costs is by targeting any software running on your corporate network that is no longer necessary. The software might not be being used anymore, it may be too 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 benefit to the running of your organisation you are streamlining a large chunk of your IT network. Paying for unneeded software licenses and maintenance contracts means that more money 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 actively used in the corporate environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Having any amount of unmonitored software on your IT system is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable. This is becoming an increasingly frustrating factor for IT managers.
Rogue software programs can be introduced into an uncontrolled IT system in a number of ways. Software may have been bundled when your IT hardware was originally purchased although the initial software licenses may have expired. Without the correct security policies in place, users may also be able to load their own software onto the network. Operating a corporate IT system in this wild way will almost certainly lead to trouble.
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? Operating a complicated software system without the appropriate support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can critically limit your responsiveness to unpredictable events.
The financial case for working alongside a full-time Centennial vendor during your IT review process has never been stronger.
Implementing Software Asset Management in your Organisation
As previously discussed, there are numerous potential benefits to employing a good software asset management strategy within your organisation, both monetary and otherwise. It is vitally important to consider which parts of SAM you should implement first since certain benefits will be achieved more speedily than others.
This discovery process can be viewed as three primary phases that have to be undertaken to really build an accurate picture of the usage of IT assets within your business. These are:
Inventory
Inventory is the most basic stage of the discovery process. It is vital that an accurate audit of IT assets within your organisation is created to help your IT managers to maintain baselines for your IT system.
Thankfully, this process can now be made automatic and even the grandest of infrastructures can be searched 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 next step in the discovery process involves the capture of the license entitlements that concern the software assets identified in the inventory. The capture stage should gather entitlements for all of the software that is installed on your network, even if the software is not currently used.
The risk of human error can be mitigated by using automatic tools that are specifically created to create a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently available are incredibly efficient at gathering accurate information. These tools will also maintain databases containing up to date information from IT vendors.
Identification & Validation
The next step 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 latest audits performed on your IT system.
One crucial factor in the validation stage is the ability to associate the license entitlements on your system to your organisation’s proof of entitlement. This will be vital 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.
After these steps have been performed 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 simpler to identify particular trouble areas on your network, or areas of software use that are no longer of any particular benefit to your activites. This detailed image can be used for future strategies as well.
You can now commence a period of reconciliation on your network. You should compare the software packages that are actually employed on your network 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 in your network may include many hundreds or perhaps thousands of individual installations, and there are any number of restrictions that may be involved with the licensing agreements you have in place. It is therefore a necessity to automate the reconciliation period, using one or more programs to apply smart rules to the process.
The use SAM within your organisation is a very specific process which should be planned by a capable Centennial reseller who should have more information.
Compliancy and Flexibility with SAM
Many of the basic principles 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 ideas and best practices that should be adopted for successful management of IT operations.
This library is a dynamic publication and is often updated with new concepts and techniques that reflect the constantly changing IT backdrop of modern business. A good SAM 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 effective software asset management
The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has published a standard that applies directly to SAM practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an exceptionally comprehensive set of suggestions that are designed to ensure that SAM is utilised 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 followed when planning a software asset management 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 recommendations you follow when creating a SAM strategy, whatever plan you decide to implement must aid your organisation rather than hinder it. Industry standards cannot simply be copied when it comes to applying them to your organisation.
Designing a complete and comprehensive SAM strategy for your own business may actually never come to fruition. Your strategy must be flexible to adapt and mature as your organisation does, and it must allow for updates to your daily tasks, no matter how small or fundamental they might be.
Conclusion
It is clear to see that as the scope and importance of IT systems within your company grow, so does the requirement for good and efficient monitoring of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT branch was a bonus that would occasionally progress the business. Computer systems are now vital to the modern organisation.
As with other parts of any business, a number of different plans should be considered and utilised in order to ensure the efficient running of day to day tasks. SAM should not be the only tactic used to manage computing assets within your organisation, but rather one of a number of complimentary policies used to manage the system as a unit. software asset management can go a long way toward aiding your company but should be supported by other techniques.
So if you feel that your business is currently suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and control over its IT network, or that the potential advantages described in this article could provide a crucial market advantage over your competitors, then it would be well worth researching how software asset management could be employed within your organisation.