21st Guru

Introduction

The extent to which technology has become a part of everyday life and everyday commerce has forced a change in the way management approaches how they manage the money, the tasks and the systems within a business.

As computing becomes more widely used within a company and takes a more prominent critical within the vital functions of that business, it is important to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is applied to this computing. Technological systems that may have previously been ignored are now key in the decision making process.

IT capabilities have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as essential parts of any business. As such, they are allocated larger budgets but must also be able to manage a larger 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 your IT infrastructure and seen the circumstances 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 procedures.

Every organisation and every situation will have different needs and will present unique problems. To satisfy these needs there are a number of different technologies and approaches that can be used to help manage the IT infrastructure of your company.One of these approaches is discussed below.

Software Asset Management

Software Asset Management (SAM) is designed to do exactly what it says on the tin – monitoring and managing 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 business environment, particularly for companies operating in the field of IT.

SAM is not simply a program for technicians deploying software across a large corporate network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at many levels of a organisation. The aims of SAM include controlling 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. As IT usage in a company grows, so do the potential benefits of SAM.

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 financial case for employing a SAM solution is not always obvious until a broad audit of the software infrastructure of a company has been done.

Financial benefits are still the most driving commercial factor when choosing to operate software asset management technology within a company. Every corporation needs to make profit after all and profitability is a very measurable metric.

An increasingly large percentage of a company’s IT budget is spent on software licensing so there is a real need to invest to correctly monitor this spending. As organisations grow and diversify, their software requirements can change greatly and hardware 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.

SAM is not restricted to simply the technology of your organisation either. As a management operation it will often involve many of the branches 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 standard.

Anybody who was going to question Centennial resellers which product stands out would get the simple answer software asset managment.

Why follow a SAM Strategy?

Having seen the many advantages of utilising a software asset management solution, how do you know that it would be correct for your business? Each business is different and has its own unique set of challenges and benefits, so any strategy you will undertake needs to be tailored to these specific traits.

There are more than just monetary 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 staff have the latest versions of software permitted under current licenses held, and communication inside the corporation is aided when support staff know exactly what is in use on every workstation under their control. The benefits of SAM are not confined to the technological hardware of your business.

Cost Savings

As discussed before, perhaps the most persuading reason to utilise SAM within your business is the potential financial savings that can be made. The profitability of your business is always going to be the bottom line so any strategy that can help to increase this profitability by lowering expenses is one that should be considered.

The most immediate way that SAM can help to lower costs is by identifying any applications 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.

By clearing these items of software that are no longer a help to the operation of your business you are streamlining a large portion of your IT network. Paying for unneeded software licenses and support and maintenance contracts means that more finance can be spent on the vital parts of your IT infrastructure. Focusing your attention on these critical components will improve the overall performance of your IT department.

Mitigate Risk

A surprising amount of software that is currently 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 not advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable. This is becoming an increasingly annoying factor for network managers.

Unlicensed software applications can be introduced into an unmonitored IT system in a number of ways. Software may have been bundled when your IT hardware was originally bought 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 unmanaged way will almost certainly lead to trouble.

The danger 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 correct support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can critically limit your responsiveness to unforeseen events.

To plan and carry out a successful software asset management campaign, keeping Centennial distributors top of your list of priorities will be a key factor.

Implementing SAM in your Organisation

As previously mentioned, there are many potential benefits to using a good software asset management strategy within your business, both monetary and otherwise. It is vitally important to consider which parts of software asset management you should implement first since some benefits will be achieved more speedily than others.

The discovery process can be viewed as three primary areas that have to be undertaken to really develop an accurate picture of the usage of software assets within your business.

Inventory

Inventory is the most fundamental function of the discovery process. It is important that an accurate audit of IT assets within your business is created to aid your IT managers to maintain baselines regarding your IT system. This inventory process must be performed before continuing with discovery.
Thankfully, this process can now be made automatic and even the largest of infrastructures 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.

Capture

The next step in the discovery process is the capture of the software license entitlements that concern the software assets discovered 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 may be almost useless.

The element of human error can be avoided by using automatic tools that are specifically created to build a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently available are incredibly efficient at capturing 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 occurred anywhere from the original invoices for software to the latest audits undertaken on your IT system. These errors can now be rectified.

One crucial factor in the validation step is the ability to associate the license entitlements within your network to your company’s proof of entitlement. This will be vital if any arguments with software resellers arise as a consequence of the discovery process.

Once these steps have been undertaken you will have created an incredibly detailed picture of how your IT system is serving software packages to its users. It will be much easier to identify any trouble areas on your network, or sections of software usage that are no longer of any particular benefit to your operations.

You can now begin a period of reconciliation upon your system. You should compare the software programs that are actually installed on your system against the licensing and support contracts that you are paying for and close any gaps between the two. This is when the financial benefits of software asset management start to take effect.

The software distribution in your network may include many hundreds or even thousands of individual installations, and there may be any number of restrictions that may be associated with the licensing agreements you have in place. It is therefore essential to automate the reconciliation process, using one or more programs to apply smart rules to the process.

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Compliancy and Flexibility with SAM

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

This library is a dynamic entity and is often updated with new ideas and techniques that reflect the constantly changing IT backdrop of modern business. A good software asset management strategy should be flexible enough to follow the guidelines laid out in the ITIL whilst matching the changing requirements of the company 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 exceptionally comprehensive set of guidelines that are designed to ensure that SAM is used in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”.

The ISO standard should really be adhered to when planning a software asset management strategy for your own company, although the level of detail covered within can quickly become a daunting prospect. It is vital to remember that no matter what guidelines you follow when planning a software asset management strategy, whatever you decide to implement needs to aid your organisation rather than hinder it.

Creating a complete and comprehensive software asset management 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 updates to your daily tasks, no matter how small or fundamental they might be. This really is the key to a worthwhile software asset management plan.

Conclusion

It is clear to see that as the scope and importance of IT systems within your organisation grow, so does the requirement for correct and efficient management of these systems. Gone are the days when an IT branch was a bonus that would occasionally forward the business. IT networks are now vital to the modern company.

As with other parts of any organisation, a number of separate strategies should be evaluated and utilised 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 think that your organisation is currently suffering from a lack of structured monitoring and management over its IT network, or that the potential advantages outlined in this article could provide a crucial market advantage over your competitors, then it would be well worth researching how SAM could be used within your company.