IT Asset and Service Management Innovator Explains How Companies Can Comply Now to Avoid Paying Later
SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PS’Soft, a global provider of IT Asset and Service Management (ITASM) solutions to hundreds of large and medium-sized organizations, has released its top five tips on Software License Management best practices for achieving license compliance within an organization. A comprehensive Software License Management program drives better management of corporate compliance and financial risk as well as improves infrastructure planning and control of software assets.
Gartner Research says that, “Through 2010, 30 percent of large enterprises will experience at least one on-site software audit per year.” In addition, an anonymous survey at the September 2006 Gartner IT and Software Asset Management conference revealed that “35% percent of clients had experienced an on-site audit from a major software vendor. In the short term, [they] expect this trend to accelerate.”1
“Software License Management is a quick payback program. The savings in license re-use, purchase avoidance and compliance from tighter management of just one or two software titles can easily pay for the system,” explained Paul Rochester, CEO at PS’Soft. “The additional benefits of improved user service, software control benefits, reduced audit costs and clean audit results are an on-going ROI bonus. It’s a ‘no brainer’.”
PS’Soft recommends the following tips as a starting point to implement an effective Software License Management program within an organization:
- Appoint and empower a Software License Manager. To be successful, one person in the organization needs to take charge and own responsibility for implementing the Software License Management initiative.
- Tackle the top three to five software publishers in a pilot environment. Learn from your successes and mistakes before rolling out a company-wide initiative.
- Centralize software agreements, media and authorization keys. Understand the terms and conditions of all software agreements and store them in a centralized location where they can be easily managed and updated.
- Enable self-service software request processing with automated approval routing. Software License Management needs to be an on-going effort – not a one-time snapshot in the face of an audit. Building automated processes for staff to order and deploy approved software ensures that your record of compliancy is continuously updated.
- Define standards, policies and processes and publish them. Establish rules around what software is allowed to be installed and disseminate these rules to everyone in your organization. But provide immunity to all staff for existing non–compliance – don’t punish the past.
To learn more in-depth information on how to implement a Software License Management program, please access an on-demand version of a PS’Soft webinar which outlines best practices and provides a comprehensive list of tips for organizations to achieve compliancy. Visit www.pssoft.com/us/webinarform.html to view this informative webinar.
About PS’Soft
PS’Soft is a global provider of business-oriented Asset Management, Service Management and Software License Compliance solutions. With over fifteen years experience and thousands of successful deployments, PS’Soft guides organizations to develop sound asset and service management processes – whether based on ITIL, other industry standards or an organization’s unique process requirements. Unlike complex frameworks, PS’Soft’s suite of scalable applications is adaptable, provides quick time to value and easily integrates with an existing IT infrastructure. For more information about PS’Soft and its suite of products and services, please visit www.pssoft.com.
1 “Gartner Survey Shows Increases in Software License Audits” by Alexa Bona and Jane B. Disbrow, 12/20/06.