Introduction
The degree to which computing has become a part of normal life and everyday business has seen a change in the way management approaches how they manage the money, the tasks and the assets within an organisation.
As technology becomes more widespread within a business and takes a more prominent vital within the vital processes of that company, it is important to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is given to this computing. Technological systems that may have once been ignored are now important elements in the decision making process.
IT capabilities have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as vital elements of any business. As such, they receive greater budgets but must also be able to manage a larger amount of work.
But once you have spent a substantial amount of money on developing an 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?
This is the role carried out by IT management software and systems.
Every organisation and every environment will have different specifications and will offer unique problems. To satisfy these requirements there are a number of different technologies and approaches that can be implemented to help manage the IT infrastructure of your company.
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 business. It is a business process rather than a distinct skill and is becoming a more essential part of the modern commercial environment, particularly for businesses operating in the field of Information Technology.
SAM is not simply a tool for support staff deploying 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 threats 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 SAM is often thought of as an unnecessary evil due to the intangible nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the business case for using a SAM solution is not always obvious until a broad audit of the software infrastructure of a company has been undertaken.
Financial benefits remain the most driving commercial factor when deciding to operate software asset management technology within a company. Every business needs to make money after all and profitability is a very measurable figure.
An increasingly large proportion of a organisation’s IT bank roll is spent on software licensing so there is a real need to invest to correctly monitor this spending. As organisations expand and diversify, their software requirements can change greatly and equipment and software can quickly become outdated. There is no need to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where software asset management really delivers an edge.
SAM is not restricted to simply the IT department of your organisation either. As a management operation it will often include many of the branches within a company, including Finance Human Resources, to ensure that it runs as cost-effectively as possible.
IT service staff working for a company called Centennial provide a range of IT management solutions including SAM tools.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having heard the multiple benefits of deploying a software asset management solution, how do you know that it would be appropriate for your organisation? Every company is different and has its own separate set of problems and advantages, so any strategy you will undertake needs to be tailored to these specific characteristics. The benefits of software asset management do cover the fundamental aspects of software management.
There are more than just financial advantages that can be made through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across an organisations IT system. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that staff have the newest editions of software available under current licenses held, and communication inside the company is helped when support staff know exactly what is deployed on every workstation under their control.
Financial 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 lowering costs is one that should be considered.
The most immediate way that SAM can help to lower costs is by identifying any software running on your corporate network that is no longer necessary. The software might not be being used anymore, 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 organisation you are streamlining a large portion of your IT network. Paying for unneeded software licenses and support and maintenance contracts means that more money can be spent on the critical parts of your IT system.
Mitigate Risk Factors
A surprising proportion 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 network is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become very unpredictable.
Unlicensed software programs can be introduced into an unmonitored IT system in a number of ways. Software may have been bundled when your IT hardware was first 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 danger of running unlicensed software on your system is clear. When something goes wrong with the hardware or software platform behind your vital processes, how do you manage the situation? Operating 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 unpredictable events.
Of the many products and services available from a national Centennial distributor SAM is just one solution that can be used.
Implementing SAM in your Organisation
As previously mentioned, there are numerous potential benefits to employing a good software asset management strategy within your company, both financial and otherwise. It is vitally important to consider which elements of SAM you should implement first since some benefits will be realised more quickly than others.
The discovery process can be seen as three fundamental stages that have to be undertaken to really build an informative picture of the deployment of IT assets within your organisation.
Inventory
Inventory is the most basic function of the discovery cycle. It is vital that an accurate audit of IT assets within your organisation is created to aid your IT managers to maintain baselines for your IT system. This inventory process must be performed before carrying on with discovery.
Thankfully, this process can now be automated and even the largest of networks can be investigated and analysed in a relatively short period. 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 involves the capture of the software license entitlements that cover the software programs discovered in the inventory. The capture process should collect entitlements for all of the software that exists on your system, even if the software is not currently in use. Without this step the inventory may be almost useless.
The element of human error can be avoided by using automated tools that are specifically created to create a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently available are incredibly efficient at gathering accurate information.
Identification & Validation
The third 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 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 associate the license entitlements within your system to your organisation’s proof of entitlement. This will be vital 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 much easier to identify any trouble spots on your network, or sections of software usage that are no longer of any practical benefit to your operations. This detailed map can be used for future reference as well.
You can now commence a period of reconciliation upon your network. You can compare the software packages that are actually employed on your system against the licensing and support entitlements that you are paying for and close any gaps between the two.
The software distribution within your system may include many hundreds or even thousands of individual installations, and there may be any number of rules that may be associated with the licensing agreements you have in place. It is therefore a necessity to automate the reconciliation stage, utilising one or more programs to apply smart rules to the process. These rules can be catered to the specific needs of your company
To find out more about the software asset management process you could use Centennial reseller information via the Internet.
Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management
Many of the basic principles of a successful SAM strategy are based upon the concepts laid out in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This library details a number of principles and best practices that should be adopted for successful control of IT functions.
This library is a dynamic publication and is often updated with new ideas and techniques that reflect the constantly changing IT environment of modern business. A good SAM strategy should be fluid enough to follow the guidelines laid out in the ITIL whilst meeting the changing requirements of the business within which it is actively utilised.
The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has published a standard that applies directly to software asset management practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an incredibly comprehensive set of suggestions that are built to ensure that software asset management is utilised in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”.
The ISO standard should certainly be followed when designing a software asset management strategy for your own organisation, although the level of detail included within can easily become a daunting challenge. It is important to remember that no matter what guidelines you follow when creating a SAM strategy, whatever you decide to implement needs to help your business rather than stifle it.
Creating a complete and comprehensive software asset management 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 should allow for updates to your daily tasks, no matter how trivial or fundamental they might be. This really is the key to a successful software asset management plan.
Conclusion
It is clear to see that as the extent and importance of IT systems within your company grow, so does the need for correct and effective management of these systems. Gone are the days when an IT branch was a bonus that would sometimes progress the business. IT networks are now critical to the modern business.
As with other branches of any business, a number of different strategies should be evaluated and used in order to ensure the efficient running of daily tasks. SAM should not be the only tactic used to manage computing assets 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 structured monitoring and control over its IT infrastructure, or that the possible benefits described in this article could provide a critical market edge over your competitors, then it would be well worth researching how SAM could be used within your company. There might be no time to spare.