Software Asset Management is an important aspect of business operations, but some management teams are apprehensive about making a change either because they fear unexpected costs from implementation or the inability to understand that SAM will save them money over time.
The three main business drivers for SAM (for those of you who need some convincing) are:
Cost Control: Unless you know where and how your software assets are deployed, you cannot use them optimally. Software assets are called “assets” for a reason, because they cost money! Why make a significant investment in enterprise software if less than 60% is utilized properly? Enterprise software is an expensive line item, often in the millions.
Annual Planning: Poor planning can cost money all around, especially with software. Without proper tracking and understanding of software assets, you can’t properly plan for the year ahead. This often leads to over or under licensing, which can disrupt any IT budget in a big way mid-year!
Regulation: Whether it is SOX compliance or just plain vendor compliance, if you don’t know your assets inside and out what do you wanna bet you aren’t compliant? There is a big chance, vendors licensing terms are tricky – and cost big bucks if you are out of compliance! It can even lead to jail time..
You can’t control what you don’t know, I say this all the time. In order to save the most money and prevent unexpected costs – you need control. Software asset management is not a “nice to have” it’s a “need to have” for any organization or any size.
I would love to read more from this author. Is there somewhere you have it posted? asset management software is great as it helps us keep up on scheduled maintenance which keeps our over all costs down. But you have to be proactive. So as I said before, I would love to read more about this. I have to deal with this on a daily basis. I do all of these things, but I had never made such a clearly outlined list of duties!