In today's companies, there are very heterogeneous software landscapes that are constantly changing and growing. Specialist departments, for example, use special software, often legacy systems. In addition, the software manufacturers are constantly bringing new versions to the market: Here, the edition for servers often differs from that for desktops or mobile devices. Often the products are only downwardly compatible. At the same time the support for older versions is set faster. Who can still keep track?
Without in-depth software asset management that controls all of these issues, companies face huge risks - both under-licensing and wrong-licensing. Because a manufacturer audit and any back payments not only bring high costs, but also an enormous resource commitment within the IT and possibly the purchasing departments with it. In addition, there are compliance risks associated with possible loss of image or even criminal consequences.
Ready, compliant?
But even with a SAM solution (Software Asset Management), the expense of license monitoring becomes increasingly challenging for companies. Because it is important to choose a suitable solution, to train employees and to build up expertise and keep it up to date. Thus, the purchase and implementation of a SAM tool does not yet bring compliance status at the push of a button. This is only possible if the data has been entered correctly before. But that's not an easy task, especially when companies try it without the help of an expert. So it can happen that companies put a lot of money into systems and tools and then invest more money in the work to prepare the data accordingly.There are several reasons for this: On the one hand, too many data records must be checked, which are only partially covered by a software catalog of the tool manufacturer. For example, the order states that a software has been ordered according to a specific offer, but the article number is missing. To investigate these is cumbersome - and sometimes even retroactively impossible.
But when a result comes out that is not sure if it is correct, a company can do little with it. Even if it has been recognized that over- or under-licensing exists, the question remains how to handle it. Because there are hundreds of licenses to choose from. Decisive for choosing the right license is the technical information.SAM or SAM as a managed service?
Therefore, a solution that creates transparency in the form of a compliance overview at the push of a button is a good choice. Here we recommend a managed service solution with which procurement processes are automatically integrated and can be retrieved at any time through the license information. The tool creates an individual balance sheet from the detailed comparison of purchased licenses with the software actually installed. By continuously identifying software usage in the enterprise, compliance status information is always visible - unlike a traditional SAM approach, where individual status queries are done on a project-by-project basis. Instead of just snapshots, a managed service solution provides constantly available and authoritative compliance status information.
The transparency and timeliness gained significantly reduces the risk of cost-intensive audits without having to acquire and implement an additional software system. Companies can reliably plan and optimize their IT budgets, migration cycles and software rollouts. Another important point is that with a managed service, companies significantly reduce internal SAM costs by not having to keep their expertise up-to-date. You do not need to spend time maintaining data in a locally deployed license management tool and can focus their resources on the actual business.
Make or buy?
The question of whether a Managed Service solution is better suited than the installation of a self-managed SAM tool, can also be easily answered with an example: Suppose a company has a Microsoft Select contract with 10,000 clients and 1,000 servers, for the appropriate office licenses are needed. If you compare the costs of a managed service with those incurred in the internal support of a SAM tool, the savings potential is quickly revealed. Among other things, the Managed Service accounts for hardware and license costs, server operating costs and, to a large extent, internal personnel expenses. Extrapolated to three years, this results in savings of almost 50,000 euros.
Quo vadis license management?
As with the software market, the license management market is becoming increasingly complex. Due to constant changes of their license metrics, changed product strategies, as well as discontinuation of support services, the manufacturers ensure after a relatively short time that existing customers must constantly relist or re-license, if they do not want to be in legal uncertainty.
Many companies believe that cloud computing will solve all the problems - but the opposite is true. The cloud usage is also subject to its own rules, so that the providers of these services also carry out unannounced audits. This can be easily checked by remote access, as the corresponding devices regularly connect to the Internet in cloud services. For that reason alone, the trend is towards Managed Services for SAM. Just as hardly any company manages its own fleet, they will also outsource the management of their licenses.
Conclusion
The move to Managed Services is gaining momentum. The advantages for companies are obvious: Clearly defined tasks are given to an external service provider who specializes in precisely this task. So companies do not need internal experts and can better focus on their core business.In addition, managed services are often standardized tasks that can be handled relatively well. However, the client retains control of his IT and at the same time saves costs.
About the author
Christian Terwiel is Global Director Software Asset Management at Comparex.
