Introduction

The extent to which computing has become a part of everyday life and day-to-day business has seen a change in the way business approaches how they manage the finances, the processes and the systems within an organisation. Technology becoming an important factor in business.

As computing becomes more widely used within an organisation and takes a more prominent role within the critical processes of that business, it is necessary to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is given to this computing.

IT capabilities have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as essential parts of any organisation. As such, they are allocated grander budgets but must also be able to handle a larger amount of work.

But once you have spent a large amount of your budget on developing an IT system and seen the needs of your organisation change, how do you ensure that the systems you are using can keep up with demand?

This is the function by IT management software and systems.

Every organisation and every environment will have different specifications and will present unique challenges. To satisfy these requirements there are a number of different solutions and approaches that can be used to help manage the IT infrastructure of your organisation.One of these options is discussed below.

Software Asset Management

Software Asset Management (SAM) is designed to do exactly what it says on the tin - monitoring and controlling the deployment and usage of software programs within your company. It is a business process rather than a distinct discipline and is becoming a more essential part of the modern corporate environment, particularly for corporations operating in the field of Information Technology.

SAM is not simply a program for technicians rolling out software across a large company network, but can be a critical tool to help improve performance at many levels of a organisation. The goals of SAM include monitoring costs of the IT infrastructure within a organisation, 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 seen as an unnecessary evil due to the intangible nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the financial case for employing a SAM solution is not always obvious until a complete of the software infrastructure of a company has been undertaken.

Economic benefits are still the most motivating commercial factor when deciding to operate SAM software within an organisation. Every business needs to make money after all and profitability is a very measurable metric. The financial benefits of software asset management do certainly exist however.

An increasingly large amount of a organisation’s IT budget is spent on software licensing so there is a vital need to invest to correctly monitor this spending. As companies grow and diversify, their software needs can change greatly and hardware and programs can swiftly become outdated. There is no need to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where SAM really delivers an edge.

software asset management is not limited to simply the technology of your organisation either. As a management operation it will often include many of the departments within a organisation, including Finance Human Resources, to make sure that it runs as efficiently as possible.

When choosing an appropriate provider of a software asset management solution for your network Centennial Discovery should be a solution that is considered amongst others.

Why follow a SAM Strategy?

Having seen the multiple benefits of utilising a software asset management solution, how do you know that it would be appropriate for your organisation? Every business is different and has its own unique set of challenges and advantages, so any plan you will use needs to be tailored to these specific characteristics.

There are more than just financial advantages that can be gained through the management of licensing and maintenance agreements across a companies IT network. Productivity can be vastly by ensuring that employees have the newest editions of software permitted under current licenses held, and communication within the business 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 plan that can help to increase this profitability by lowering expenses is one that should be considered.

The most direct way that software asset management can help to lower costs is by identifying any applications running on your corporate IT system 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. software asset management can help to remove this unnecessary overhead.

By clearing these items of software that are no longer a benefit to the running of your organisation you are streamlining a large portion of your IT system. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and support and maintenance agreements means that more finance can be spent on the vital parts of your IT system. Focusing your finances 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 business environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Having any amount of uncontrolled software on your IT system is ill advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable. This is becoming an increasingly frustrating factor for network managers.

Unlicensed software programs can be introduced into an unmonitored IT environment in a number of ways. Software may have been included when your IT hardware was originally bought although the original software licenses may have expired. Without the correct access policies in place, users may also be able to load their own software onto the network. Operating a corporate IT system in this unmanaged way will almost certainly lead to trouble.

The risk of running unlicensed software on your network is clear. When something goes wrong with the hardware or software platform supporting your vital 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 seriously inhibit your responsiveness to unforeseen events.

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Implementing SAM in your Organisation

As previously discussed, there are many potential benefits to employing a good software asset management strategy within your company, both monetary and otherwise. It is vitally important to consider which elements of SAM you should deploy first since certain benefits will be realised more speedily than others. Some may take a period of years to be fully felt.

This discovery process can be seen as three primary phases that have to be performed to really develop an accurate picture of the usage of IT assets within your company. These are:

Inventory

Inventory is the most fundamental function of the discovery cycle. It is important that an accurate inventory of software 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 infrastructures can be searched and analysed in a relatively short period of time. Inventory should be able to identify your IT assets regardless of their physical location or computing characteristics.

Capture

The next step in the discovery process involves the capture of the software license entitlements that concern the software assets identified in the inventory. The capture stage should collect entitlements for all of the software that exists on your system, even if the software is not currently in use.

The factor of human error can be mitigated by using automatic tools that are specifically designed to build a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently available are incredibly efficient at gathering accurate information.

Identification & Validation

The next step is to match up the software audit to the repository of licensing data that were created 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 network. These errors can now be rectified.

One crucial factor in the validation stage is the ability to combine the license entitlements within your network to your organisation’s proof of entitlement. This will be vital if any arguments with software vendors arise as a consequence of the discovery cycle. You want to be as informed as possible in these circumstances.

Once these steps have been undertaken you will have built an incredibly rich image of how your IT network is serving software packages to its users. It will be a lot easier to identify particular trouble areas on your network, or areas of software use that are no longer of any practical benefit to your operations.

You can now start a period of reconciliation upon your network. You should compare the software programs that are actually employed on your system against the licensing and support entitlements that you are paying for and bridge any divides between the two.

The software spread within your system may include many hundreds or even thousands of individual instances, and there may be any number of restrictions that may be associated with the licensing agreements you have in place. It is therefore a necessity to automate the reconciliation period, utilising one or more programs to apply intelligent rules to the process.

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Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management

Many of the fundamental principles of a modern software asset management strategy are based upon the concepts set out in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This library defines a number of ideas and best practices that should be adopted for successful control of IT operations.

This library is a changing entity and is often updated with new ideas and policies that cater to the constantly changing IT environment of modern business. A good software asset management strategy should be flexible enough to follow the guidelines set out in the ITIL whilst meeting 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 published a standard that applies specifically to software asset management practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an exceptionally comprehensive collection of guidelines that are built to ensure that SAM is utilised in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”. Standards of this kind play an important part in realising standardisation across an industry.

The ISO standard should really be adhered to when planning a SAM strategy for your own business, although the level of detail covered within can easily become a daunting prospect. It is important to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when planning a SAM strategy, whatever you decide to implement must aid your organisation rather than stifle it. Industry standards cannot simply be copied when it comes to applying them within your business.

Designing a full and comprehensive SAM strategy for your own company might actually never come to fruition. Your plan must be flexible to adapt and mature as your business does, and it must allow for updates to your daily tasks, no matter how trivial or underlying they might be. This really is the key to a worthwhile SAM strategy.

Conclusion

It is easy to see that as the extent and importance of computer systems within your organisation grow, so does the need for correct and effective management of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT department was a bonus that would occasionally forward the business. Computer systems are now critical to the modern business. Critical systems need to be controlled to an appropriate level.

As with other parts of any company, a number of separate strategies should be evaluated and used in order to ensure the efficient running of daily tasks. SAM should not be the only tool used to manage computing resources within your organisation, 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 currently suffering from a lack of structured monitoring and management over its IT network, or that the possible advantages outlined in this article could provide a critical market advantage over your competitors, then it would be worth researching how software asset management could be employed within your business.

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