titleHow to control Data Transfer across your Network/titlecategory3/category
strongIntroduction/strong
The degree to which technology has become a part of normal life and everyday business has forced a change in the way management approaches how they manage the finances, the tasks and the systems within an organisation.
As computing becomes more widespread within an organisation and takes a more prominent vital within the critical processes of that company, it is necessary to make sure that an appropriate level of attention is applied to this computing.
IT capabilities have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as vital elements of any company. As such, they receive larger 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 once you have spent a large amount of money on developing an IT network and seen the needs of your organisation change, how do you ensure that the IT you are using can keep up with demand?
This is the function by IT management software and systems.
Every business and every situation will have different requirements and will create different problems. To satisfy these requirements there are a range of different technologies and approaches that can be implemented to help control the IT infrastructure of your business.One of these approachesnbsp;is discussed below.
strongSoftware Asset Management/strong
SAM ( Software Asset Management) is built 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 skill and is becoming a more critical part of the modern corporate environment, particularly for corporations 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 a tool for technicians installing software across a large company network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at many levels of a company. The aims of SAM include controlling of the IT infrastructure within a business, negating legal risks 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.
The practice of SAM is often thought of as an unnecessary evil due to the abstract nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the commercial case for going with a SAM solution is not always obvious until a complete of the software infrastructure of a company has been carried out.
Financial benefits are still the most motivating business factor when choosing to operate SAM software within an organisation. Every business needs to make money after all and expenditure is a very measurable metric.
An increasingly large proportion 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 grow and spread, their software needs can change greatly and equipment and software can swiftly become out of date. There is no need to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where SAM really delivers an edge.
software asset management is not limited to simply the IT department of your business either. As a management cycle it will often include many of the departments within a business, including Finance Human Resources, to ensure that it runs as efficiently as possible.
The many benefits of software asset management ensure a title=Centennial Resellers href=http://www.softcat.com/centennialCentennial resellers/a retain a healthy product portfolio they can supply to clients.
strongWhy follow a SAM Strategy?/strong
Having heard the multiple advantages of employing a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be appropriate for your company? Each business is different and has its own unique set of challenges and benefits, so any strategy you will undertake needs to be catered to these specific characteristics.
There are more than simply cost benefits that can be achieved through the management of licensing and maintenance agreements across an organisations IT system. Productivity can be hugely boosted by ensuring that employees have the latest versions of software available under current licenses held, and communication within the business is helped when support staff know exactly what is in use on every workstation under their control.
strongCost Savings/strong
As discussed before, perhaps the most persuading 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 system that can help to improve this profitability by descreasing costs is one that should be evaluated.
The most direct way that software asset management can help to lower costs is by identifying any software running on your corporate IT system that is no longer necessary. The software might not be being used anymore, it may be very outdated to be of use or it may be duplicated on your system. software asset management can help to remove this unnecessary overhead.
By clearing these items of software that are no longer a help to the operation of your company you are streamlining a large chunk of your IT infrastructure. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and maintenance contracts means that more money can be spent on the vital sections of your IT system.
strongMitigate Risk Factors/strong
A surprising amount of software that is currently used in the business environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Running any amount of uncontrolled software on your IT network is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become very unpredictable. This is becoming an increasingly annoying factor for IT managers.
Unlicensed software applications can be introduced into an unmonitored IT environment in a number of ways. Software may have been bundled when your IT hardware was first purchased although the initial software licenses may have expired. Without the correct security policies in place, users may also be able to install their own software onto the network.
The danger of running unlicensed software on your system is clear. When something goes wrong with the hardware or software platform behind your critical processes, how do you manage 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 limit your responsiveness to unforeseen events. The cost of recovery will always outweigh the cost of prevention when it comes to data systems.
Even in a stagnating and unpredictable economy a title=Centennial distributors href=http://www.softcat.com/centennialCentennial distributors/anbsp; continue to find that SAM is a technology in demand from companies.
strongImplementing SAM in your Organisation/strong
As previously discussed, there are numerous potential advantages to using a good SAM strategy within your company, both financial and otherwise. It is therefore important to consider which branches of software asset management you should deploy first since certain benefits will be achieved more speedily than others. Some may take a period of years to be fully felt.
This discovery process can be seen as three fundamental phases that have to be performed to really develop an accurate picture of the usage of IT assets within your organisation. These are:
strongInventory/strong
Inventory is the most basic stage of the discovery cycle. It is crucial that an accurate inventory of software assets within your organisation 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.br /Fortunately, this process can now be made automatic and even the grandest of networks 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 computing characteristics. Modern inventory processes are capable of this.
strongCapture/strong
The next step in the discovery cycle is the capture of the license entitlements that concern the software assets identified in the inventory. The capture stage should collect entitlements regarding all of the software that exists on your network, even if the software is not currently used.
The risk of human error can be avoided by using automatic tools that are specifically designed to build a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently available are incredibly efficient at gathering accurate data. These tools will also maintain databases containing up to date information from IT vendors.
strongIdentification amp; Validation/strong
The next process is to match up your software inventory to the repository of licensing information that were built in the last two stages. Errors may have occurred anywhere from the original paperwork for software to the most recent audits performed on your IT system.
One crucial factor in the validation step is the ability to combine the license entitlements within your network to your company’s proof of entitlement. This will be vital if any disputes with software resellers arise as a consequence of the discovery process. You want to be as informed as possible in these circumstances.
Once these three steps have been undertaken you will have built an incredibly detailed image of how your IT system is delivering software assets to its users. It will be a lot easier to identify particular trouble areas on your system, or areas of software use that are no longer of any practical benefit to your activites. This detailed map can be used for future strategies as well.
You can now begin a period of reconciliation on your system. You can compare the software packages that are actually used on your system against the licensing and support entitlements that you are paying for and close any gaps between the two. This is when the financial benefits of software asset management start to take effect.
The software spread in your network may include many hundreds or even thousands of individual installations, and there may be any number of rules that may be involved with the licensing contracts you have in place. It is therefore a necessity to automate the reconciliation process, using one or more tools to apply intelligent rules to the process.
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strongCompliancy and Flexibility with SAM/strong
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 ideas and best practices that should be adopted for successful management of IT operations.
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 flexible enough to follow the guidelines laid out in the ITIL whilst meeting the changing needs of the business within which it is actively used.
The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has created a standard that applies specifically to SAM practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an exceptionally comprehensive set of guidelines 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 really be followed when planning a software asset management strategy for your own company, although the level of detail covered within can quickly become a daunting challenge. It is important to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when creating a software asset management strategy, whatever you decide to implement needs to help your business rather than stifle it. Industry standards cannot simply be copied when it comes to applying them to your business.
Creating a full and comprehensive software asset management strategy for your own business might actually never come to fruition. Your strategy must be flexible enough to change and grow as your organisation does, and it must allow for modifications to your daily activities, no matter how trivial or underlying they might be.
strongConclusion/strong
It is clear to see that as the scope and importance of IT systems within your organisation grow, so does the need for correct and effective monitoring of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT department was a bonus that would sometimes forward the business. IT networks are now critical to the modern company. Critical systems need to be maintained to an appropriate level.
As with other parts of any organisation, a number of separate strategies should be considered and used in order to ensure the smooth running of daily activities. software asset management should not be the only tool used to manage computing resources within your company, but rather one of a multitude of complimentary policies used to manage the system as a whole. SAM can go a long way toward helping your business but should be helped by other strategies.
So if you think that your organisation is really suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and control over its IT infrastructure, or that the possible benefits described in this article could manufacture a critical market edge over your competitors, then it would be worth investigating how SAM could be used within your organisation. There may be no time to lose.