How to control your IT Infrastructure
Introduction
The extent to which computing has become a part of normal life and day-to-day business has forced a change in the way management approaches how they manage the finances, the tasks and the assets within an organisation.
As technology becomes more widely used within a business and takes a more prominent critical within the vital processes of that business, it is important to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is given to this computing. Technological assets that may have once been ignored are now important factors in the decision making process.
IT capabilities have come a long way during the past few years and are now seen as essential elements of any company. As such, they receive grander budgets but must also be able to handle a larger amount of work. There is an eternal race between business demands and computing capabilities.
But after you have spent a substantial amount of money on developing your IT network and seen the requirements of your organisation change, how do you make sure 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 carried out by IT management software and systems.
Every organisation and every environment will have different needs and will create unique challenges. To satisfy these needs there are a number of different solutions and approaches that can be used to help manage the IT network of your company.One of these approaches is discussed below.
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 business environment, particularly for businesses operating in the field of Information Technology.
SAM is not simply a program for support staff installing software across a large corporate network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at multiple levels of a company. The goals of SAM include controlling of the IT infrastructure within a company, negating legal threats associated with incorrect software license usage and preserving 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 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 complete of the software infrastructure of a company has been done.
Economic benefits are still the most driving business factor when choosing to operate SAM technology within a business. Every corporation needs to make profit after all and revenue is a very measurable figure. The financial benefits of SAM do certainly exist however.
An increasingly large percentage 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 expand and diversify, their software needs can change greatly and equipment and programs can quickly 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.
SAM is not limited to simply the IT department of your business either. As a management cycle it will often involve many of the departments within a business, including Finance Human Resources, to make sure that it runs as cost-effectively as possible. It is a process that does not need to follow established corporate levels.
SAM can easily be achieved within your business through a feasible Centennial Discovery solution that is tailored to your specific needs.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having seen the various benefits of employing a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be appropriate for your organisation? Every company is different and has its own separate set of challenges and advantages, so any strategy you will use needs to be catered to these specific characteristics. The benefits of SAM do cover the fundamental aspects of software management.
There are more than just monetary advantages that can be made through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across a companies IT network. Productivity can be vastly by ensuring that staff have the newest editions of software available under current licenses held, and communication inside the corporation is helped when support staff know exactly what is installed on every computer under their control.
Financial Savings
As discussed previously, perhaps the most persuading reason to utilise software asset management within your company is the potential financial 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 evaluated. Money can be saved in a number of ways.
The most immediate way that SAM can help to reduce costs is by targeting any software running on your corporate IT system 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.
By removing these items of software that are no longer a help to the running of your company you are streamlining a large chunk of your IT system. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and support and maintenance contracts means that more money can be spent on the vital parts of your IT infrastructure.
Mitigate Risk
A surprising amount 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.
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 purchased 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 system.
The risk of running unlicensed software on your network is clear. When anything goes wrong with the hardware or software platform behind your critical processes, how do you manage the situation? Running 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 unpredictable events.
Some of the most successful Centennial distributors during modern times have viewed software asset management as key part of their portfolio.
Implementing Software Asset Management in your Organisation
As previously discussed, there are many potential advantages to employing a good SAM strategy within your organisation, both financial and otherwise. It is vitally important to determine which parts of SAM you should deploy first since some benefits will be achieved more speedily than others. Some may take a period of years to be fully felt.
This discovery process can be viewed as three fundamental stages that have to be undertaken to truly develop an accurate picture of the deployment of software assets within your company. These are:
Inventory
Inventory is the most fundamental stage of the discovery cycle. It is vital that an accurate inventory of IT assets within your business is created to aid your IT managers to maintain baselines regarding your IT network.
Fortunately, this process can now be automated and even the grandest of infrastructures can be investigated and analysed in a reasonably short period. Inventory should be able to identify your IT assets regardless of their geographical location or computing characteristics.
Capture
The next step in the discovery process is the capture of the license entitlements that concern the software assets identified in the inventory. The capture stage should gather entitlements regarding all of the software that is installed on your system, even if the software is not currently used. Without this step the inventory would be nearly useless.
The element of human error can be mitigated by using automated tools that are specifically designed to build a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently employed are very efficient at capturing accurate information.
Identification & Validation
The next step is to match up the software inventory 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 step is the ability to combine the license entitlements on your network to your company’s proof of entitlement. This will be essential 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.
After these steps have been undertaken you will have built an incredibly detailed image of how your IT network is serving software packages to its users. It will be a lot simpler to identify any trouble areas on your system, or sections of software use that are no longer of any particular benefit to your activites. This detailed picture can be used for future strategies as well.
You can now start a period of reconciliation upon your network. 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 divides between the two. This is when the financial benefits of software asset management start to take effect.
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 involved with the licensing contracts you have in place. It is therefore essential to automate the reconciliation period, using one or more tools to apply intelligent rules to the process.
More information about implementing SAM in your organisation can be found through a Centennial reseller or researching on the web.
Compliancy and Flexibility with SAM
Many of the basic practices of a successful software asset management strategy are based upon the principles set out in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This library details a number of ideas and best practices that should be followed for successful management of IT functions.
This library is a changing entity and is often updated with new concepts and techniques that cater to the constantly changing IT environment of modern business. A good software asset management strategy should be fluid enough to comply with the guidelines laid out in the ITIL whilst meeting the changing needs of the company 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 collection of suggestions that are built to ensure that software asset management is used in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”.
The ISO standard should really be followed when designing a software asset management strategy for your own business, although the level of detail covered within can easily become a daunting challenge. It is important to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when creating a software asset management strategy, whatever plan you decide to employ needs to aid your organisation rather than stifle it. Industry standards cannot simply be copied when it comes to applying them within your business.
Creating a full and comprehensive SAM strategy for your own business may actually never come to fruition. Your plan must be flexible to adapt and mature as your business does, and it should allow for updates to your daily activities, no matter how small 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 monitoring of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT branch was a luxury that would sometimes progress the business. Computer networks are now critical to the modern company. Crucial systems need to be monitored to an appropriate level.
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 day to day activities. SAM should not be the only tactic used to manage technological resources within your organisation, but rather one of a multitude of complimentary techniques used to control the system as a whole. SAM can go a long way toward helping your business but should be supported by other strategies.
So if you feel that your organisation is currently suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and management over its IT network, or that the potential benefits described in this article could manufacture 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 spare.