Service Matters! ITSM & IT Management

To answer this question, let’s look at some of the key concerns from an organizational perspective:
·          Do we know the number and type of software applications currently used in our company by user, business unit, and job function?
·          Do we have the proper controls in place for purchasing, deploying and managing software assets?
·          Based on our actual annual software spend, do we know the Return On Investment (ROI) by application & by user type?
·          Is there awareness in our organization on the legal ramifications, risk of being fined if caught “out-of-compliance”?
·          Is the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of software assets correctly accounted for in the organization’s financial statements?
·          Are we able to track costs of the software applications deployed in the organization?
·          If an audit is conducted in our organization on software license compliance, what would the result be?
 

If the answer to all or even some of these questions poses a challenge, then it indicates the need to optimize Software LM in the organization.
To put it simply we can say that the Software LM domain refers to the management of software licenses that are used within organizations. Possibly, one of the first things that comes to mind when we think of Software LM is the process for license management and the referential positioning of this process within industry best practice.
 

Technically, the license management process can be placed under the Service Transition book of IT Infrastructure Library Version 3 (ITIL V3). Within this book there are guidelines for Service Asset & Configuration Management (SACM). However, there is not much specific guidance on Software LM best practices. Hence, it is imperative to highlight the current trends and industry wide best practices followed in license management, rather than referring to only a particular industry process framework.
 

Industry process standards like ISO/IEC 19770 talk about SAM (Software Asset Management) as well as some of the technical standards for Virtualization, Centralized License Management and Application Hardening that highlight the current trends in license management.
According to our research the most common types of Software licenses are Proprietary, Commercial Royalty free and Free software licenses. Also, categorizing the types of licenses based on pricing is important, the types of pricing models can include Feature-Based, Rental and Pay-per-use license.
Lifecycle stages of license management refer to the phases that a license would pass through right from the plan to buy licenses until the end where the organization would dispose them off. The stages of the license management lifecycle are:   Planning & Design, Procurement, Fulfillment, Tracking and Disposal.
 

Whilst analyzing the best practices in the field of License management, we came across various tools that help an organization in managing Software Licenses effectively. Some of the basic features that a tool in this category are expected to have can be managing product keys, license count, purchases, installation history, software categories etc.  Tools like SamLite, Centennial License Management, eSMART by Dell and Software Asset Management - Phoenix Software provide this feature.
 

All this discussion on license management would be incomplete without highlighting the business benefits that Software LM can realize. Listed below are some of the key benefits that an organization can expect by adopting Software LM:-
·          Reduced Software TCO - Accurately plan and budget for software requirements, license upgrades (or retirements) and particularly support requirements.
·          Economies of Scale – Knowing what software you have, why you have it and where it helps in making informed strategic, tactical and operational decisions. This information also helps to decide where to steer the business in the future.  It enhances corporate transparency and accountability regarding software assets, which results in vesting more power with the Finance/ Procurement teams to negotiate with vendors on the pricing models and therefore helping lower TCO.
·          Improved Efficiency of Support/ Help Desk – By standardizing software versions, file-sharing issues are reduced, communication is made easier & Users can work together seamlessly which leads to increased productivity. A SAM Software Use Policy will reduce unapproved software downloads and potential viruses that can infect the network.
·          Capability to build knowledge bases and best practices – To develop and sustain capabilities is essential  to gain competitive advantage for growth & sustainability of any org. Effective LM solutions enhance end user experience & encourages members to take initiatives to generate new knowledge and effectively translate requirements into research results.
 

If Software LM can achieve all these benefits, why not adopt it!!