How to control your IT Infrastructure Review
Introduction
The extent to which technology has become a part of normal life and everyday commerce has forced a change in the way management approaches how they manage the money, the processes and the assets within a business. IT is fast becoming an important factor in business.
As computing becomes more widespread within a business and takes a more prominent role within the vital functions of that company, it is important to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is given to this computing.
Technology have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as vital elements of any company. As such, they receive greater budgets but must also be able to handle a greater amount of responsibility. There is an eternal race between business demands and IT capabilities.
But once you have spent a substantial amount of money on developing your IT system and seen the circumstances of your organisation change, how do you make sure that the IT you are using can keep up with demand?
This is the function by IT management software and systems.
Every company and every situation will have different requirements and will offer unique problems. To meet these needs there are a number of different solutions and approaches that can be implemented to help control the IT network of your business.One of these approaches is discussed below.
Software Asset Management
Software Asset Management (SAM) is built to do exactly what it says on the tin - monitoring and managing the deployment and usage of software packages within your company. It is a business process rather than a distinct skill and is becoming a more essential part of the modern corporate environment, particularly for businesses operating in the field of Information Technology.
SAM is not simply a program for technicians installing software across a large company network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at all levels of a organisation. The objectives of SAM include monitoring expenses of the IT infrastructure within a business, negating legal risks 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.
The practice of software asset management 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 using a SAM solution is not always obvious until a broad inspection of the software infrastructure of a company has been done. Once existing problems have been identified however, the use of SAM becomes self evident.
Financial benefits are still the most driving business factor when choosing to use SAM technology within a company. Every business needs to make profit after all and revenue is a very measurable figure.
An increasingly large proportion 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 organisations grow and spread, their software requirements can change radically and hardware and programs can swiftly 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.
software asset management is not limited to simply the IT department of your organisation either. As a management cycle it will often include many of the branches within a organisation, including Finance Human Resources, to make sure that it runs as efficiently as possible. It is a process that does not need to follow regular.
When choosing an accomplished 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 heard the multiple benefits of utilising a software asset management solution, how do you know that it would be appropriate for your organisation? Each company is different and has its own separate set of problems and advantages, so any plan you will undertake needs to be tailored to these specific traits. The benefits of software asset management do cover the basic aspects of IT management.
There are more than just cost advantages that can be achieved through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across a companies IT network. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that users have the latest editions of software permitted under current licenses held, and communication inside the company is helped when support staff know exactly what is in use 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 before, perhaps the most convincing reason to implement SAM within your business is the potential financial 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 number of ways.
The most immediate way that software asset management can help to reduce costs is by identifying any applications running on your corporate IT system 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. software asset management can be used to remove this unnecessary overhead.
By removing these items of software that are no longer a help to the operation of your organisation you are streamlining a large portion of your IT network. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and support and maintenance agreements means that more money can be spent on the critical sections 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 proportion of software that is currently used in the business environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Having any amount of unmonitored software on your IT network is ill advised, because when left unchecked it can become very unpredictable. This is becoming an increasingly annoying factor for network managers.
Unlicensed software programs 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 install their own software onto the system. Operating a corporate IT system in this unmanaged 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 behind your vital processes, how do you handle 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 inhibit your responsiveness to unpredictable events. The cost of recovery will always outweigh the cost of mitigation when it comes to data systems.
Some of the most successful Centennial distributors throughout recent times have viewed software asset management as key part of their portfolio.
Implementing SAM in your Organisation
As previously mentioned, there are numerous potential advantages to using a good SAM strategy within your business, both monetary and otherwise. It is vitally important to consider which branches of software asset management you should implement first since some benefits will be realised more speedily than others.
The discovery process can be viewed as three basic areas that have to be performed to really build an informative picture of the deployment of software assets within your organisation.
Inventory
Inventory is the most fundamental function of the discovery process. It is crucial that an accurate inventory of software 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 made automatic 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 software assets regardless of their physical location or technological characteristics. Modern inventory processes are capable of this.
Capture
The second step in the discovery cycle involves the capture of the license entitlements that concern the software programs discovered in the inventory. The capture stage should collect entitlements regarding all of the software that is installed on your system, even when the software is not currently used.
The risk of human error can be avoided by using automated tools that are specifically created to create a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently available are incredibly efficient at gathering accurate information. These tools will also maintain databases containing up to date information from software vendors.
Identification & Validation
The next process 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 paperwork for software to the most recent 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 on your system to your company’s proof of entitlement. This will be essential if any arguments 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 undertaken you will have created an incredibly detailed picture of how your IT network is delivering software programs to its users. It will be a lot simpler to identify particular trouble spots on your network, or sections of software use that are no longer of any particular benefit to your activites.
You can now commence a period of reconciliation upon your system. You can compare the software packages that are actually employed on your network 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 are any number of restrictions that may be involved with the licensing agreements you have in place. It is therefore essential to automate the reconciliation period, using one or more programs to apply smart rules to the process.
More information about utilising SAM in your organisation can be learned via a Centennial reseller or researching on the web.
Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management
Many of the basic practices of a successful software asset management strategy are based upon the principles laid out in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This library defines a number of ideas and best practices that should be followed for successful management 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 reflect the constantly changing IT environment of modern business. A good SAM strategy should be flexible enough to comply with the guidelines set out in the ITIL whilst meeting the changing requirements of the company within which it is actively utilised.
The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has created a standard that applies directly to SAM practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an exceptionally comprehensive collection of guidelines that are designed 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 planning a SAM strategy for your own business, although the level of detail included within can easily become a daunting challenge. It is vital to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when creating a software asset management strategy, whatever plan you decide to employ needs to help your organisation rather than stifle it.
Creating a complete and comprehensive software asset management strategy for your own company might actually never come to fruition. Your strategy must be flexible enough to change and mature 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 SAM strategy.
Conclusion
It is easy to see that as the extent and importance of IT systems within your organisation grow, so does the requirement for good and efficient management of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT branch was a luxury that would occasionally progress the business. IT networks are now vital to the modern organisation. Crucial systems need to be maintained to an appropriate standard.
As with other parts of any company, 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 tactic used to manage computing resources within your organisation, but rather one of a number of complimentary techniques used to control the system as a whole. SAM can go a long way toward helping your company but should be helped by other techniques.
So if you think that your organisation is currently suffering from a lack of structured monitoring and control over its IT network, or that the possible advantages outlined in this article could provide a critical market edge over your competitors, then it would be worth investigating how software asset management could be employed within your business.