SAM They Can (if They Plan)

December 10, 2008

Ask many organizations and they will say they already “do” Software Asset Management. In fact, a recent study undertaken in the UK stated that SAM was the biggest single area of technology adoption in 2007. With analyst firms like Gartner claiming that organizations can realize savings as high as 55 percent in their IT budget, it’s easy to see why more and more firms are looking to make improvements in their software procurement and management practices.

But making savings of this scale relies on the organization working as one – something that sounds simple, but is actually a rare occurrence as the silo mentality continues to prevail. In the case of SAM, there is often a disconnect between those charged with purchasing software assets and those who are responsible for making sure that the right applications are available to users across the organization.

The two departments’ approach to SAM is based on different mindsets. The purchasing team - as part of the wider remit of the finance department – is predicated on managing cost within the organization. The IT department, however, is primarily focused on IT delivering value back to the organization.

Both speak a different language within the business, and it is here that some of the SAM problems start.

Bridging the Gap Between IT and Finance

Working on the basis that a SAM initiative usually comprises four key areas, we can map out how Finance and IT each have roles to play in the initiative’s overall success:

Asset Discovery (what is on the network at any given time): IT needs full visibility of the network. Finance needs to be able to report on volume and value of assets

License Management (is the organization effectively licensed, is there redundant software on the network?): IT needs to know how best to allocate available assets. Finance needs to keep license records and track costs

Deployment (pushing out new software and upgrades): IT needs efficient means for automating this. Finance needs to monitor acquisition costs.

Patching (are applications up-to-date): IT needs to ensure the security of the network.

As such, it is clear that the two departments must co-ordinate their efforts in order to deliver success to the organization – whether in the form of cost saving, higher service levels or the successful completion of an audit request.

To facilitate this collaboration, there needs to be high-level buy-in. Without executive sponsorship, it is difficult to achieve the sea-change that is often critical to cross-department initiatives.

Allied to this buy-in, there needs to be a clear level of co-ordination between the purchasing and IT departments and a project manager assigned to the SAM initiative who has responsibility for overall project management. Central to this manager’s role is the definition of an organizational view of the enterprise, as opposed simply to a departmental view that will be blinkered to the full picture. The overriding issue is that both the Procurement and IT Departments need to be able to see what the current deployment position is.

It might be possible to manually identify, track, audit and maintain software assets sitting on a sprawling, multi-site network, but in most cases this is largely impractical and unmanageable.

It is here that the effective use of technology will help. Solutions such as the FrontRange SAM Suite enable users to automatically track installation and usage information (IT), record licensing entitlement (finance) and then reconcile the two pieces of information to establish the organizations resulting position in terms of under and over-licensing (IT and finance). By giving IT and finance teams access to common solution, everyone working on the SAM initiative can both play their individual part in the process (whether it’s the uploading of purchase information, reconciliation of discovered assets against license entitlements, identifying unused asset for re-deployment, reporting on the resulting compliance position etc.) as well as get a view of the overall position of the project.

This is the “technology” element of a proven tripartite approach to SAM success that marries effective adoption of effective technology alongside “people” and “pocesses”-i.e. having the right people in place on the project and ensuring that people within the organization are not randomly purchasing unnecessary applications on a piecemeal basis, while having effective procurement ‘processes’ within the company.

In a cost-conscious world, IT and finance leaders are already recognizing that better controls, processes and technologies can deliver significant cost savings and productivity gains across the enterprise, particularly in the management of software assets.

By giving the IT teams the ability to automatically get an accurate and dynamic inventory of all IT assets on the network, these staff can deliver cost savings not only in terms of overall software licensing, but also improved service delivery, project planning and security. Combine that with the ability to collaborate with colleagues in Finance who are concerned with the cost of software procurement, maintenance negotiations and other fiscal responsibilities, and you get a situation where two disparate parts of the organization can effectively work together to a common goal.

Instead of fretting about compliance and the prospect of an impending software audit – which is now more likely in a tightening economic landscape that affects vendors too - the business can play to its new-found strength of ‘control’, and enjoy immediate cost savings from improved software allocation, volume license discounts, better price points, and more accurate asset depreciation across the entire software life-cycle.

Five-point Action Plan for SAM Success:

Assign executive sponsorship to SAM program.
Appoint project manager to co-ordinate departments.
Set clear goals for IT and finance departments.
Give teams access to common technology to facilitate collaboration.
Review and cycle – SAM isn’t a one-time project and needs ongoing attention

About Matt Fisher: Matt Fisher is a Director of Centennial Products at FrontRange Solutions, a developer of business software that helps organizations improve IT service management, IT infrastructure management and customer relationship management.

Posted by Carl · Filed Under Uncategorized