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11 Mar 2010
Comments:2
Satisfying compliance issues is the least likely driver for UK firms to adopt software asset management solutions (SAM), research claims.
According to the findings of the IDC’s UK Software Asset Management Maturity white paper, just 1.25 per cent of UK firms cited legal compliance as a driving force behind their company’s SAM policy.
Instead, UK firms are more likely (53 per cent) to adopt SAM solutions to optimise software licence use and keep the purchasing of new licences to a minimum (55 per cent).
Further reading
Some 400 UK firms took part in the study, which was commissioned by the Software Industry Research Board (SIRB) to assess the attitude of businesses to SAM solutions.
Additionally, 45.5 per cent of those questioned in the survey cited lack of budget as the reason they struggled to adopt appropriate SAM initiatives, while 24.5 per cent said a lack of technical knowledge was to blame.
Alex Hilton, chairman at the SIRB, said: “Reduced compliance risks, controlling software costs and reduced labour costs in managing software must be seen by organisations large and small as an attractive proposition in today’s economic climate.
“But this research has highlighted one fact only – that SAM and SLM appear to be at the bottom of a long list of priorities.”
Hilton said that organisations should consider appointing someone to take responsibility for SAM issues to ensure compliance in the future.
John Lovelock, chief executive of The Federation Against Software Theft and Investors in Software (FAST IiS), said organisations could be losing money because of poor understanding of SAM practices.
He said: “SAM is more than just doing the bare minimum to avoid being fined as part of an audit process. That is just one side of the compliance coin. An effective SAM programme will help the bottom line in the overwhelming majority of organisations as they can manage their software estate to match their needs today.”
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Do you agree?
SAM needs to move up the agenda
SAM should indeed be a priority for UK organisations.
From the powers accorded to the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) to the importance of ISO 19770 software asset management standards, the stakes have recently been raised extremely high. Yet many organisations still fail to recognise that these standards show little sympathy for company directors who disregard software licences, a crime which can now result in a 10 year jail term or hefty fine.
Organisations cannot afford to rely on piecemeal policies and inadequate asset information. It is only by instigating rigorous asset acquisition and disposal policies and recording detailed information about the software loaded onto every machine, that any organisation can attain real control over the software asset and prevent over-purchase of software licences.
With this information to hand, organisations can immediately check for unlicensed software and manage user numbers against agreed licenses. If a machine is scrapped, rigorously updating the asset register will ensure that software can be reloaded on another machine, if the license allows. Furthermore, using alerts, an IT manager can be warned if user levels are reaching the license limit.
Companies could definitely be 'losing money because of poor understanding of SAM practices' and this issue needs to be moved up the agenda.
Karen Conneely
Group Commercial Manager
Real Asset Management
www.realassetmgt.co.uk
Posted by Karen Conneely | 12 Mar 2010
Businesses take a more mature view of SAM
Although the research shows that compliance is no longer a driver for adoption of SAM, it's not that businesses are ignoring this issue. Moreover, this research suggests that businesses are now taking a more mature view of SAM, demonstrating that if compliance is the least important driver; how crucial SAM actually is.
During the recession, organisations were subject to heavy compliance, so much so that is now a matter of course, rather than a key consideration. Now businesses are far more focused on realising efficiencies within to gain competitive advantage as the economic climate starts to improve.
Virtualisation has been touted as an approach to achieve this, and, although it has its benefits, all assets, whether physical or virtual, need to be tracked and SAM will remain the best approach to rationalise them.
Posted by Matt Fisher, FrontRange Solutions | 12 Mar 2010
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