Software Asset Management Managing the licensing and maintenance of an organization’s software is a thankless and usually lonely task. Who would want to be sandwiched between the user community that wants instant access to any app it thinks it needs, software vendors out to maximize revenues, and the CFO’s focus on year-on-year cost reduction? With … Continue reading Applying BPM methods in Software Asset Governance
Responding to market interest in subscription models for ITAM/ITSM tools. Recent discussions with service provider partners has stimulated a fresh look at the ways in which the tools necessary for supporting ITAM and ITSM activities can be charged out on a pay-per-use basis. I’m happy to share these notes with you and welcome any comments … Continue reading Subscription Models for an integrated ITAM/ITSM suite
IT asset management: too broad a term? With each new inquiry that comes to us via Google (usually…), our first challenge is always to get the inquirer to tell us what they are really looking for. Some are happy to open up and give us the background to their search, and explain their business needs … Continue reading Selecting ITAM / SAM tools: not a simple task
We are often struck by the gulf that exists in most organizations between reality and the idealized picture of totally integrated infrastructure management, in which Change Management, Service Management, Incident and Problem Management and IT Asset Management all tie neatly together. Underfunding, short horizons for planning, rapid organic growth forced by merger or acquisition, and … Continue reading Joined up infrastructure management
By chance I read an article today in an engineering design journal (long story….) summarising changes to the licensing of Autodesk software. I’ve been to their Web site and there’s nothing highlighted that the casual visitor would notice, so I’m going to quote verbatim from what I read today in Professional Engineering. They quote from Stephen Hooper, … Continue reading Huge changes coming to Autodesk licensing
Can Software Asset Management really deliver dramatic RoI? My guess is that a headline such as that will raise a lot of eyebrows and sceptical muttering, but it’s recently been illustrated very clearly just how possible this is. Many organizations have IT asset operations teams that work miracles every day with tight staffing levels to … Continue reading When SAM offers RoI over 1,000% (yes, really)
IT Asset Discovery – great start in ITAM – but only a start Organizations adopt IT asset management disciplines for a wide variety of reasons, at different rates of maturity, and at different stages of the organization’s growth. The term IT asset management is used to refer to a broad spectrum of capability and achievement. Basic, … Continue reading When do spreadsheets run out of steam for ITAM?
With Microsoft Enterprise agreements easily costing hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars / pounds / euros, it continues to sadden me that organizations will sign up without having any significant level of information regarding the Microsoft products that they have installed and actually use. When a 90 day Microsoft product usage survey to establish … Continue reading Software Asset Management and Fiscal Responsibility
A new study has found that the UK now has the highest incidence in Europe of overweight people, through poor diet and lack of exercise. With so many clear advantages to eating healthily, it’s a mystery that the message still doesn’t get through and that we don’t see more people deciding to do something about … Continue reading Software Asset Management and Healthy Eating
Software Asset Management standard to be re-structured I first referred visitors to this blog to ISO 19770-1 in a post in March 2010, and a technical briefing note generated around the same time. ISO 19770-1 sets out processes which would be implemented by an organization pursuing Software Asset Management. The twenty seven processes outlined in … Continue reading ISO 19770-1 : your chance to contribute