How to control Data Transfer across a Corporate Network
Introduction
The degree to which computing has become a part of normal life and day-to-day business has forced a change in the way management approaches how they manage the money, the processes and the systems within a business. IT is fast becoming an increasing factor in business.
As technology becomes more widely used within a business and takes a more prominent vital within the critical functions of that company, it is necessary to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is given to this technology.
Technology have come a long way during the past few years and are now seen as vital elements of any company. As such, they are allocated larger budgets but must also be able to deal with a larger amount of responsibility.
But after you have spent a large amount of your budget on developing your IT network and seen the needs of your organisation change, how do you ensure that the systems you are using can keep up with demand? Moreover, how can you achieve this without spending a large amount of money?
This is the function by IT management software and systems.
Every organisation and every situation will have different specifications and will offer different issues. To satisfy these needs there are a range of different solutions and approaches that can be used to help control the IT network of your organisation.One of these approaches is discussed below.
Software Asset Management
SAM ( Software Asset Management) is designed to do exactly what it says on the tin - monitoring and maintaining the deployment and usage of software suites within your business. It is a business process rather than a distinct skill and is becoming a more essential part of the modern corporate environment, particularly for businesses operating in the field of IT. 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 deploying software across a large corporate network, but can be a critical tool to help improve performance at all levels of a organisation. The objectives of SAM include monitoring costs of the IT infrastructure within a company, negating legal threats associated with incorrect software license usage and sustaining high levels of productivity by making sure software is up to date and fit for its purpose. As IT usage in an organisation grows, so do the potential benefits of SAM.
The practice of SAM is often seen as an unnecessary evil due to the abstract nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the financial case for employing a SAM solution is not always obvious until a broad audit of the software infrastructure of a company has been carried out.
Financial benefits remain the most motivating commercial factor when choosing to operate software asset management technology within an organisation. Every company needs to make profit after all and profitability is a very measurable figure. The financial benefits of SAM do certainly exist however.
An increasingly large proportion of a business’ IT bank roll is spent on software licensing so there is a vital need to invest to correctly monitor this spending. As businesses expand and diversify, their software needs can change radically and hardware and software can quickly become outdated. There is no requirement to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where SAM really delivers an advantage.
software asset management is not restricted to simply the IT department of your company either. As a management operation it will often include many of the departments within a organisation, including Finance Human Resources, to make sure that it runs as efficiently as possible. It is a process that does not need to follow regular.
SAM can easily be achieved within your organisation through a feasible Centennial Discovery strategy that is tailored to your specific needs.
Why follow a SAM Strategy?
Having seen the multiple advantages of deploying a SAM solution, how do you know that it would be correct for your company? Each company is different and has its own separate set of problems and advantages, so any plan you will use needs to be tailored to these specific characteristics.
There are more than simply financial advantages that can be gained through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across a businesses IT network. Productivity can be hugely boosted by ensuring that users have the latest editions of software available under current licenses held, and communication inside the business is aided when support staff know exactly what is deployed on every workstation under their control. The benefits of software asset management are not confined to the technological hardware of your organisation.
Financial Savings
As discussed previously, perhaps the most convincing reason to utilise software asset management within your company is the potential financial savings that can be made. The profitability of your business is always going to be the bottom line so any system that can help to increase this profitability by lowering costs is one that should be evaluated.
The most direct way that software asset management can help to lower costs is by targeting any software running on your corporate network that is no longer needed. The software might not be being used anymore, it may be too outdated to be of use or it may be duplicated on your system. software asset management can be used to remove this unnecessary overhead.
By clearing these items of software that are no longer a help to the running of your business you are streamlining a large portion of your IT infrastructure. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and support and maintenance contracts means that more finance can be spent on the critical sections of your IT system. Focusing your attention on these critical components will improve the overall performance of your IT department.
Mitigate Risk
A surprising proportion of software that is actively used in the business environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Having any amount of unmonitored software on your IT system is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable.
Unlicensed software programs can be introduced into an uncontrolled IT system in a number of ways. Software may have been included when your IT hardware was originally purchased although the original software licenses may have expired. Without the correct access policies in place, users may also be able to install their own software onto the system.
The danger of running unlicensed software on your system is clear. When anything goes wrong with the hardware or software platform supporting your vital processes, how do you recover the situation? Operating a complex software system without the proper support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can critically limit your responsiveness to unpredictable events. The cost of recovery will always outweigh the cost of mitigation when it comes to data systems.
Some of the most profitable Centennial distributors during modern times have viewed software asset management as key part of their portfolio.
Implementing Software Asset Management in your Organisation
As previously mentioned, there are many potential benefits to using a good SAM strategy within your business, both monetary and otherwise. It is therefore important to consider which parts of SAM you should deploy first since some benefits will be realised more speedily than others.
This discovery process can be viewed as three primary stages that have to be performed to really build an informative picture of the usage of IT assets within your company.
Inventory
Inventory is the most basic stage of the discovery cycle. It is crucial that an accurate inventory of software assets within your business is created to help your IT department to maintain baselines for your IT network. This inventory process must be performed before carrying on with discovery.
Thankfully, this process can now be made automatic and even the grandest of infrastructures can be searched and analysed in a reasonably short period of time. Inventory must be able to identify your IT assets regardless of their physical location or technological characteristics.
Capture
The next step in the discovery cycle involves the capture of the software license entitlements that concern the software programs identified in the inventory. The capture stage should gather entitlements regarding all of the software that is installed on your system, even when the software is not currently used. Without this step the inventory would be nearly useless.
The element of human error can be mitigated by using automated tools that are specifically created to build a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently employed are incredibly efficient at gathering accurate data.
Identification & Validation
The next step is to match up your software inventory to the repository of licensing information that were created in the previous two stages. Errors may have been made anywhere from the original paperwork for software to the most recent audits undertaken on your IT system.
One crucial factor in the validation stage is the ability to link the license entitlements on 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 created an incredibly rich picture of how your IT network is delivering software assets to its users. It will be a lot simpler to identify any trouble spots on your network, 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 upon your network. You should compare the software programs that are actually installed on your network 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 SAM start to take effect.
The software spread within your system may include many hundreds or perhaps thousands of individual instances, and there may be any number of rules that may be associated with the licensing agreements you have in place. It is therefore essential to automate the reconciliation stage, utilising one or more tools to apply intelligent rules to the process.
The IT industry is in vital need for many Centennial vendors that can provide the right IT monitoring products.
Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management
Many of the fundamental principles of a successful SAM strategy are based upon the principles laid out in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This library defines a number of principles 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 concepts and policies that cater to the constantly changing IT environment of modern business. A good SAM strategy should be fluid enough to comply with the guidelines set out in the ITIL whilst meeting the changing needs of the business within which it is actively utilised. This is an essential requirement of effective SAM
The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has published a standard that applies directly to software asset management 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”.
The ISO standard should certainly be followed when planning a software asset management strategy for your own business, although the level of detail covered within can easily become a daunting challenge. It is vital to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when designing a software asset management strategy, whatever you decide to implement must help your organisation rather than hinder it.
Creating a full and comprehensive software asset management strategy for your own business may actually never come to fruition. Your strategy must be flexible to change and grow as your business does, and it should allow for updates to your daily tasks, no matter how trivial or underlying they might be. This really is the key to a worthwhile software asset management plan.
Conclusion
It is clear to see that as the extent and importance of computer systems within your organisation grow, so does the requirement for correct and efficient monitoring of these systems. Gone are the times when an IT branch was a bonus that would occasionally progress the business. Computer networks are now critical to the modern company.
As with other branches of any organisation, a number of separate strategies should be evaluated and utilised in order to ensure the smooth running of day to day activities. software asset management should not be the only tactic used to manage computing assets within your organisation, but rather one of a number of complimentary policies used to control the system as a whole. SAM can go a long way toward aiding your company but should be supported by other strategies.
So if you feel that your business is really suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and management over its IT network, or that the possible benefits outlined in this article could manufacture a critical market edge over your competitors, then it would be well worth researching how software asset management could be employed within your company. There may be no time to spare.