Cut unused applications loose

Businesses are wasting thousands of pounds on unmonitored applications, reckons Adrian Foxall

Business computers are often packed with applications that are unused, underused or redundant, partly as a result of patchwork approaches to licensing, industry consolidation, and BYO whatever.

Few IT teams know exactly what applications are on the corporate network and how they are used. I have read that many large businesses have estimated they have more than 500 apps installed, yet most reckon they use only 50 on an average day.

Surely this is a huge waste of IT budgets. It's also often a big security risk, as unknown or unused applications could be unpatched and more vulnerable to malware.

Obviously, IT teams should control licensing, retire unwanted applications and streamline their estates.

Unfortunately, it is usually hard to get a view of all the applications on the network or the potential efficiency gains from removing the unwanted ones.

IT teams can benefit from a single source of accurate information, gleaned through an application audit.

Audit tools can get visibility across all servers, desktops and devices, putting information in a central database and profiling actual usage.

The customer can then retire apps that are not needed, identifying users who need only basic functionality available in a standard or free version, or standardising on a single application where different ones are currently used for the same job.

It is possible to make significant savings on licence, upgrade and support costs as well as improve workflows.

A large part of enterprise IT operating budgets is spent on ongoing operations and management. So how about telling your customers to stop hoarding IT applications if they want to save money?

Adrian Foxall is chief executive at Rimo3