internetexplorertoolbars.com

Introduction

The extent to which computing has become a part of everyday life and everyday business has prompted a change in the way management approaches how they manage the finances, the tasks and the systems within a business.

As computing becomes more widespread within a business and takes a more prominent role within the vital functions of that organisation, it is important to make sure that an appropriate level of attention is applied to this computing.

Technology have come a long way during the past few years and are now seen as essential elements of any business. As such, they receive larger budgets but must also be able to handle a larger amount of work.

But after you have spent a substantial amount of your budget on developing your IT system and seen the circumstances of your organisation change, how do you ensure that the IT 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 undertaken by IT management software and procedures.

Every organisation and every environment will have different specifications and will offer different challenges. To meet these needs there are a number of different solutions and approaches that can be implemented to help control the IT infrastructure of your organisation.

Software Asset Management

SAM ( Software Asset Management) is designed to do exactly what it says on the tin – monitoring and maintaining the deployment and usage of software packages within your company. It is a business process rather than a distinct area of expertise and is becoming a more critical part of the modern corporate environment, particularly for companies operating in the field of IT.

SAM is not simply an aid for support staff deploying software across a large company network, but can be a critical tool to help improve performance at multiple levels of a business. The goals of SAM include controlling of the IT infrastructure within a company, 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 an organisation grows, so do the potential benefits of SAM.

The practice of SAM is often thought of as an unnecessary evil due to the abstract nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the commercial case for employing a SAM solution is not always obvious until a complete of the software infrastructure of a company has been undertaken.

Financial benefits remain the most driving business factor when deciding to use SAM software within an organisation. Every corporation needs to make profit after all and profitability is a very measurable metric.

An increasingly large proportion of a business’ IT budget is spent on software licensing so there is a real need to invest to correctly handle this spending. As businesses expand and spread, their software needs can change radically and equipment and programs can quickly become out of date. There is no requirement to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where software asset management really delivers an advantage.

software asset management is not restricted 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 ensure that it runs as cost-effectively as possible. It is a process that does not need to follow established corporate models.

Anybody who was going to ask Softcat what package stands out would get the simple answer software asset management.

Why follow a SAM Strategy?

Having heard the multiple advantages of employing a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be appropriate for your organisation? Every business is different and has its own separate set of challenges and benefits, so any strategy you will use needs to be tailored to these specific traits.

There are more than just monetary benefits that can be made through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across a businesses IT system. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that staff have the latest editions of software available under current licenses held, and communication within the business is helped when support staff know exactly what is deployed on every computer under their control. The benefits of software asset management are not confined to the technological hardware of your business.

Cost Savings

As discussed previously, perhaps the most persuading reason to implement software asset management within your business is the potential cost savings that can be made. The profitability of your company is always going to be the bottom line so any plan that can help to improve this profitability by reducing 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 reduce costs is by targeting any software running on your corporate network that is no longer necessary. The software might not be being used any longer, it may be very outdated to be of use or it may be duplicated on your system. SAM can help to remove this unnecessary overhead.

By clearing these items of software that are no longer a help to the running of your business you are streamlining a large chunk of your IT system. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and support and maintenance agreements means that more finance can be spent on the essential parts of your IT infrastructure. Focusing your finances on these critical components will improve the overall performance of your IT department.

Mitigate Risk Factors

A surprising amount of software that is currently used in the corporate environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Running any amount of unmonitored software on your IT network is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become very unpredictable.

Unlicensed software applications can be introduced into an uncontrolled IT system 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 access policies in place, users may also be able to load 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 supporting your vital processes, how do you manage the situation? Operating a complicated software system without the proper support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can seriously limit your responsiveness to unforeseen events.

Even in a stagnating and unpredictable market softcat continue to find that SAM is a technology in demand from other companies. To see their website click here.

Implementing Software Asset Management in your Organisation

As previously mentioned, there are numerous potential advantages to employing a good SAM strategy within your business, both monetary and otherwise. It is therefore important to consider which parts of software asset management you should deploy first since some benefits will be realised more speedily than others.

This discovery process can be viewed as three basic phases that have to be undertaken to truly build an informative picture of the usage of IT assets within your organisation.

Inventory

Inventory is the most fundamental function of the discovery process. It is crucial that an accurate audit of software assets within your organisation is created to aid your IT department to maintain baselines for your IT network.
Fortunately, this process can now be automated and even the largest of infrastructures can be searched and analysed in a reasonably short period of time. Inventory should be able to identify your IT assets regardless of their geographical location or technological characteristics. Modern inventory processes are capable of this.

Capture

The second step in the discovery process is the capture of the 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 used.

The element of human error can be avoided by using automatic tools that are specifically designed to create a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently available are very efficient at gathering accurate information.

Identification & Validation

The third step is to match up your software inventory to the repository of licensing data that were built in the previous 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 step is the ability to associate the license entitlements on your system to your company’s proof of entitlement. This will be vital if any disputes with software vendors arise as a consequence of the discovery process.

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

You can now commence a period of reconciliation on your system. You can compare the software programs that are actually installed on your system against the licensing and support contracts that you are paying for and bridge any divides between the two.

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

The computing industry is in dire need for more IT security vendors who will provide the right IT management products.

Compliancy and Flexibility with SAM

Many of the basic principles of a modern software asset management 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 management of IT operations. The ITIL can be found online.

This library is a dynamic publication and is often updated with new ideas and techniques that reflect the ever changing IT environment of modern business. A good software asset management strategy should be fluid enough to comply with the guidelines set out in the ITIL whilst matching the changing requirements of the business within which it is actively utilised.

The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has created a standard that applies specifically to software asset management practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an incredibly comprehensive collection of suggestions that are built to ensure that software asset management is utilised in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”. Standards of this kind play an important role in realising standardisation across an industry.

The ISO standard should really be adhered to when planning a SAM strategy for your own organisation, although the level of detail included within can quickly become a daunting challenge. It is vital to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when designing a SAM strategy, whatever plan you decide to implement needs to help your business rather than hinder it.

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

Conclusion

It is easy to see that as the extent and importance of IT systems within your company grow, so does the need for correct and efficient management of these systems. Gone are the days when an IT department was a luxury that would occasionally forward the business. IT networks are now critical to the modern company. Critical systems need to be monitored to an appropriate standard.

As with other parts of any company, a number of separate plans should be evaluated and used in order to ensure the efficient running of daily tasks. software asset management should not be the only tool used to manage technological resources within your company, but rather one of a number of complimentary techniques used to control the system as a unit. software asset management can go a long way toward aiding your business but should be supported by other techniques.

So if you feel that your company is really suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and control over its IT infrastructure, or that the possible benefits described in this article could manufacture a crucial market edge over your competitors, then it would be worth investigating how SAM could be employed within your organisation.