Many technological advancements have made it easy for companies to manage the crucial assets that help them run their day-to-day businesses. For instance, the rise of automation has empowered them to create agile, flexible, and mobile business processes. But it has also meant that many of them are now dependent on software tools, which play a vital role in streamlining the processes and improving the overall productivity.
Software Asset Management (SAM) is a business strategy that aims to actively control and monitor the software any organization uses to conduct various business operations. In this article, we look to bring to light some of the best practices to implement software asset management.
Firstly, why do you need Software Asset Management?
Firstly, why do you need Software Asset Management?
It’s simple, really. You need Software Asset Management because it provides visibility into how useful a software is for your organization. It can help your organization take the right decision at the right time regarding its usage, upgrade, exit, etc.
SAM also helps you:
- Get software ecosystem transparency to differentiate the ones supported by vendors from those which aren’t.
- Gain a security layer to mitigate non-compliance risks and their associated costs.
- Build a clear timeline to better understand the lifecycle of your software.
SAM is an integral part of any IT management department.However, if you want to maximize its advantages, you must know about the best practices involved. Let’s look at seven best practices for state-of-the-art Software Asset Management.
Best Practices for Software Asset Management
1. Gaining C-suite support
When you consider implementing a SAM program, get the buy-in from an experienced C-level executive. Engage with them during the early stages of the program so that they can provide a strong business case to optimize the overall IT costs.
2. Choosing the right tool
If you look around for a SAM tool, you can easily get intimidated by the sheer volume of options in the market. It is important to ensure that theSAM tool is scalable and flexible enough to be aligned with your company’s business model. It should also offer software license management features with the capability to measure operational and financial metrics. At the end of the day, it must help your teams make all the decisions.
3. Building the right SAM team
With the right SAM tool, you need the right skill set that understands every nuance of SAMtools – and how to effectively implement each of them. Therefore, choosing the right people for your software asset management is the key to SAM success.
4. Measuring SAM success
You should set up key performance indicators or KPIs to measure the success of your SAM. Some of the important metrics include software utilization rate, the ratio of the total number of software licenses vs. the number of unused licenses, and the percentage and monetary value of licenses that the SAM team recycles periodically.
5. Categorizing software assets
One of the key functions of the SAM tool should be to list out all the software that are currently used by your organization. Each software can be categorized based on its impact on your business, whether high, medium, or low priority.
6. Recycling software licenses
Recycling software licenses must take precedence over buying a new one – wherever possible. For instance, when an employee leaves your company – you can allot the software license to a new employee without spending on a new license. This best practice can reduce IT costs to a huge extent.
7. Being audit-ready
You must periodically run SAM analysis like gap analysis to keep track of software with/without licenses.Additionally, you must also conduct compliance analysis to separate over/under-licensed software. It prevents your SAM from bad audits that can potentially cause harm to your organization’s financial standing or reputation.
Conclusion
The global software asset management market is estimated to grow up to 2.32 billion USD by 2022. In the current digitally-driven business scenario, you need a SAM tool that empowers your business with the right software license management to take your business to new heights.
At Infraon, we provide the best SAM tools and solutions to accelerate your business with a well-structured plan that ensures maximum ROI. Get in touch with us andspruce your software ecosystem to grow your business in the new digital world!
