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IT Infrastructure Control
March 26, 2010
Introduction
The extent to which computing 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 assets within an organisation.
As computing becomes more widespread within a business and takes a more prominent vital within the vital processes of that organisation, it is important to make sure that an appropriate level of attention is applied to this computing.
IT capabilities 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 manage a larger amount of work.
But after you have spent a large amount of money 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 procedures.
Every organisation and every situation will have different specifications and will offer different problems. To meet these needs there are a number of different technologies and approaches that can be used to help manage the IT assets of your business.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 packages within your organisation. It is a business process rather than a distinct skill and is becoming a more critical 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 all levels of a organisation. The aims 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 software asset management is often viewed as an unnecessary evil due to the intangible nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the commercial case for using a SAM solution is not always obvious until a complete of the software infrastructure of a company has been done.
Economic benefits are still the most driving business factor when deciding to use SAM technology within a business. Every company needs to make profit after all and revenue is a very measurable figure.
An increasingly large percentage of a business’ IT bank roll is spent on software licensing so there is a critical need to invest to correctly handle this spending. As businesses expand and diversify, their software needs can change greatly and equipment 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 advantage.
SAM is not limited to simply the IT department of your organisation either. As a management process 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.
Anybody who was going to ask Centennial resellers that which package stands out would get the simple answer software asset managment.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having seen the many benefits of deploying a software asset management solution, how do you know that it would be right for your organisation? Every business 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 traits. The benefits of software asset management do cover the fundamental aspects of software management.
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 hugely improved by ensuring that staff have the latest editions of software available under current licenses held, and communication inside the company is aided 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 organisation.
Cost Savings
As discussed previously, perhaps the most persuading reason to implement 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 plan that can help to increase this profitability by reducing costs is one that should be considered. Money can be saved in a multitude of ways.
The most direct way that SAM can help to reduce costs is by identifying any software running on your corporate network that is no longer needed. 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 be used to remove this unnecessary overhead.
By clearing these items of software that are no longer a benefit to the operation of your company you are streamlining a large portion of your IT system. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and maintenance agreements means that more money can be spent on the essential parts of your IT system. Focusing your attention on these vital 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 applications can be introduced into an unmonitored IT system in a number of ways. Software may have been bundled when your IT hardware was first purchased although the original software licenses may have expired. Without the correct security policies in place, users may also be able to load their own software onto the system. Running a corporate IT system in this wild way will almost certainly lead to trouble.
The danger 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 manage the situation? Operating a complicated software system without the correct support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can seriously limit your responsiveness to unforeseen events.
The financial case for working with a part-time Centennial vendor throughout your IT audit process has never been clearer.
Implementing SAM in your Organisation
As previously mentioned, there are numerous potential advantages to employing a good software asset management strategy within your organisation, both financial and otherwise. It is therefore important to consider which branches of SAM you should deploy first since certain benefits will be achieved more quickly than others.
The discovery process can be viewed as three basic stages that have to be undertaken to truly build an informative picture of the usage of IT assets within your organisation. These are:
Inventory
Inventory is the most fundamental stage of the discovery cycle. It is important that an accurate audit of IT assets within your business is created to help your IT managers to maintain baselines regarding 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 of time. 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 process is the capture of the software license entitlements that manage the software assets identified in the inventory. The capture stage should gather entitlements regarding all of the software that exists on your network, even when the software is not currently used. Without this information the inventory may be nearly useless.
The element of human error can be mitigated by using automated tools that are specifically created to build a library of license entitlements. Packages 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 information that were created in the previous two stages. Errors may have been made anywhere from the original invoices for software to the most recent audits undertaken on your IT network.
One crucial factor in the validation stage 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 resellers arise as a consequence of the discovery cycle. You want to be as informed as possible in these circumstances.
Once these steps have been performed you will have built an incredibly detailed picture of how your IT network is delivering software packages to its users. It will be much easier to identify particular trouble spots on your system, or areas of software usage that are no longer of any particular benefit to your operations.
You can now start a period of reconciliation on your system. You can compare the software packages that are actually installed on your network against the licensing and support entitlements that you are paying for and bridge any gaps between the two.
The software spread within your network may include many hundreds or perhaps thousands of individual instances, and there may be 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 stage, using one or more tools to apply intelligent rules to the process.
To see how software asset management can directly help your business use an experienced Centennial consultant who can plan a software asset management strategy suited to your needs.
Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management
Many of the basic principles of a modern software asset management strategy are based upon the concepts laid out in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This library details a number of concepts and best practices that should be adopted for successful control of IT functions. The ITIL can be found online.
This library is a changing publication and is often updated with new ideas and techniques that cater to 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 needs of the business within which it is actively utilised.
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 set of suggestions that are designed to ensure that SAM is used in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”. Standards of this kind play an important role in achieving standardisation across an industry.
The ISO standard should certainly be adhered to when designing a software asset management strategy for your own company, although the level of detail covered within can easily become a daunting challenge. It is vital to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when designing a software asset management strategy, whatever you decide to implement needs to help your business rather than stifle it.
Designing a full and comprehensive SAM strategy for your own business may actually never come to fruition. Your plan must be flexible enough to adapt and mature as your organisation does, and it should allow for updates to your daily activities, no matter how trivial or fundamental they might be.
Conclusion
It is clear to see that as the extent and importance of computer systems within your company grow, so does the requirement for good and efficient monitoring of these systems. Gone are the days when an IT department was a bonus that would sometimes progress the business. Computer systems are now critical to the modern company.
As with other branches of any company, a number of different plans should be evaluated and utilised in order to ensure the smooth running of daily activities. software asset management should not be the only tool used to manage technological resources within your organisation, but rather one of a number of complimentary policies used to manage the system as a whole.
So if you think that your organisation is currently suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and control over its IT infrastructure, or that the possible benefits outlined in this article could provide a crucial market advantage over your competitors, then it would be worth researching how SAM could be employed within your company. There might be no time to lose.