Vendor software audits attend on complexity
Don't be blindsided by software vendors amid the rise of hybrid IT, says Martin Prendergast
It will come as no shock to anyone in the IT industry that cloud adoption is on the rise. What's interesting is that in the past year hybrid IT has emerged as the infrastructure model of choice for many businesses.
However, most UK businesses don't intend on putting everything in the cloud just yet.
Many resellers have largely adapted to this model – but while businesses are finding the best models and resellers are becoming more accustomed to delivering them, many end users are vulnerable to vendor exploitation.
The complexity of having both cloud and on-premise solutions as part of an IT infrastructure means it can become even harder to have visibility of software licensing across an organisation.
Consumerisation – such as BYOA – exacerbates this and can create a big compliance problem, especially when employees begin to download unlicensed software to company devices.
Private sector enterprises appear to have seen the fastest rates of cloud adoption in the past year. Yet larger companies have the hardest job in keeping track of licences, due to the volume of users.
Vendors are taking notice of this growing complexity and auditing organisations more often. For vendors, this can be an easy revenue-boosting exercise.
Many keep track of their customers and can predict which ones might be in breach of their licensing agreements. For VARs selling software, contracts tend to be with them rather than the customer.
VARs and end users must have the right business intelligence and transparency to avoid falling foul of compliance and governance problems. Remain vigilant.
This can be achieved with just a few simple acts, including continuous monitoring, analysing and forecasting end-user usage and requirements, as well as monitoring and measuring vendor performance.
In this way the channel partner will be in a better position to negotiate on behalf of its end users.
Hybrid IT is the likely model of choice for the future; VARs should now keep a close eye on their customers' IT estates.
Martin Prendergast is co-founder and chief executive of Concorde Solutions