IT Infrastructure Monitoring

Introduction

The extent to which computing has become a part of normal life and everyday commerce has prompted a change in the way management approaches how they manage the finances, the processes and the systems within an organisation.

As technology becomes more widely used within an organisation and takes a more prominent role within the vital functions of that organisation, it is important to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is given to this technology.

IT departments have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as essential parts of any company. As such, they are allocated grander budgets but must also be able to manage a greater amount of work. There is an eternal race between business demands and IT capabilities.

But after you have spent a large amount of your budget on developing an IT network and seen the needs of your organisation change, how do you ensure that the systems you are using can keep up with demand?

This is the function by IT management software and procedures.

Every business and every environment will have different requirements and will create unique challenges. To meet these needs there are a number of different solutions and approaches that can be implemented to help control the IT assets of your organisation.One of these approaches is discussed below.

Software Asset Management

Software Asset Management (SAM) is designed to do exactly what it says on the tin - monitoring and controlling the deployment and usage of software programs within your company. It is a business process rather than a distinct area of expertise and is becoming a more critical part of the modern commercial environment, particularly for corporations operating in the field of IT.

SAM is not simply a program for support staff rolling out software across a large company network, but can be a critical tool to help improve performance at many levels of a organisation. The aims of SAM include managing of the IT infrastructure within a organisation, negating legal risks associated with incorrect software license usage and preserving high levels of productivity by making sure software is up to date and fit for its purpose.

The practice of SAM is often viewed as an unnecessary evil due to the abstract nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the financial case for employing a SAM solution is not always obvious until a broad audit of the software infrastructure of a company has been carried out.

Financial benefits are still the most driving commercial factor when deciding to use SAM software within an organisation. Every company needs to make profit after all and expenditure is a very measurable metric. The financial benefits of software asset management do certainly exist however.

An increasingly large percentage of a company's IT bank roll is spent on software licensing so there is a vital need to invest to correctly handle this spending. As companies expand and spread, their software requirements can change radically and hardware and software can swiftly become out of date. There is no need to spend money to maintain the licenses on this outdated software, which is where software asset management really delivers an advantage.

software asset management is not restricted to simply the technology of your company either. As a management operation it will often involve many of the branches within a organisation, including Finance Human Resources, to ensure that it runs as efficiently as possible.

IT managers and staff with decision making authority should note Centennial Discovery during meetings about the implementation of IT resource management.

Why follow a SAM Strategy?

Having heard the various advantages of utilising a software asset management solution, how do you know that it would be correct for your company? Each business is different and has its own unique set of problems and benefits, so any strategy you will undertake needs to be catered to these specific traits. The benefits of software asset management do cover the fundamental aspects of software management.

There are more than simply cost benefits that can be made through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across a businesses IT system. Productivity can be vastly by ensuring that users have the latest versions of software permitted under current licenses held, and communication inside the corporation is helped when support staff know exactly what is deployed on every computer under their control.

Financial Savings

As discussed previously, perhaps the most persuading reason to utilise software asset management within your business is the potential financial savings that can be achieved. The profitability of your company is always going to be the bottom line so any plan that can help to increase this profitability by reducing costs is one that should be considered. Money can be saved in a multitude of ways.

The most direct way that software asset management can help to lower costs is by identifying any software running on your corporate network that is no longer needed. The software might not be being used any longer, it may be too outdated to be of use or it may be duplicated on your system. software asset management can help to remove this unnecessary overhead.

By removing these items of software that are no longer a benefit to the operation of your organisation you are streamlining a large chunk of your IT system. Paying for unneeded software licenses and support and maintenance contracts means that more finance can be spent on the vital parts of your IT system.

Mitigate Risk

A surprising proportion of software that is actively used in the business environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Having any amount of unmonitored software on your IT system is not advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable. This is becoming an increasingly frustrating factor for IT managers.

Rogue software applications can be introduced into an uncontrolled IT environment in a number of ways. Software may have been included when your IT hardware was first bought although the original software licenses may have expired. Without the correct control policies in place, users may also be able to load their own software onto the system. Operating a corporate IT system in this wild way will almost certainly lead to trouble.

The risk of running unlicensed software on your system is clear. When something goes wrong with the hardware or software platform behind your vital processes, how do you recover the situation? Operating a complicated software system without the appropriate support can create a metaphorical minefield when it comes to disaster recovery and can seriously limit your responsiveness to unpredictable events. The cost of recovery will forever outweigh the cost of mitigation when it comes to data systems.

If you are willing to do business with the best IT security distributor your business will be well placed to achieve the maximum benefit from SAM.

Implementing SAM in your Organisation

As previously mentioned, there are numerous potential advantages to using a good SAM strategy within your business, both financial and otherwise. It is therefore important to consider which branches of software asset management you should implement first since some benefits will be realised more speedily than others. Some may take a period of years to be fully felt.

The discovery process can be viewed as three primary stages that have to be undertaken to truly develop an informative picture of the deployment of software assets within your organisation.

Inventory

Inventory is the most basic function of the discovery process. It is vital that an accurate audit of IT assets within your organisation is created to help your IT department to maintain baselines regarding your IT system. This inventory process must be performed before carrying on with discovery.
Thankfully, this process can now be automated and even the largest of infrastructures can be investigated and analysed in a relatively short period of time. Inventory must be able to identify your software assets regardless of their geographical location or technological characteristics.

Capture

The second step in the discovery process is the capture of the software license entitlements that cover the software programs discovered in the inventory. The capture process should gather entitlements for all of the software that is installed on your network, even when the software is not currently in use.

The factor of human error can be avoided by using automated tools that are specifically designed to build a library of license entitlements. Tools that are currently available are very efficient at gathering accurate information.

Identification & Validation

The next process is to match up your software inventory to the repository of licensing data that were built in the previous two stages. Errors may have occurred anywhere from the original paperwork for software to the latest audits undertaken on your IT network. These errors can now be rectified.

One critical factor in the validation step is the ability to link the license entitlements within your network to your company's proof of entitlement. This will be vital if any disputes with software resellers arise as a consequence of the discovery cycle.

Once these three steps have been undertaken you will have built an incredibly detailed picture of how your IT network is delivering software programs to its users. It will be a lot simpler to identify particular trouble spots on your system, or sections of software usage that are no longer of any practical benefit to your activites.

You can now begin a period of reconciliation on your system. You can compare the software packages that are actually employed on your system against the licensing and support entitlements that you are paying for and close any gaps between the two. This is when the financial benefits of software asset management start to take effect.

The software distribution in your network may include many hundreds or even thousands of individual instances, and there may be any number of rules that may be associated with the licensing contracts you have in place. It is therefore essential to automate the reconciliation stage, utilising one or more tools to apply intelligent rules to the process. These rules can be catered to the specific needs of your business

To see how software asset management can directly help your company use an available Centennial consultant that can construct a SAM strategy suited to your needs.

Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management

Many of the basic practices of a successful software asset management strategy are based upon the principles set out in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. This library details a number of concepts and best practices that should be adopted for successful control of IT operations. The ITIL can be found online.

This library is a dynamic publication and is often updated with new concepts and policies that cater to the ever changing IT backdrop of modern business. A good software asset management strategy should be flexible enough to follow the guidelines set out in the ITIL whilst meeting the changing needs of the business within which it is actively used. This is an essential requirement of successful software asset management

The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has published a standard that applies specifically to SAM practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an incredibly comprehensive collection of guidelines that are designed to ensure that SAM is utilised in such a way as to "satisfy corporate governance requirements".

The ISO standard should certainly be adhered to when planning a software asset management strategy for your own organisation, although the level of detail covered within can quickly become a daunting prospect. It is important to remember that no matter what recommendations you follow when creating a SAM strategy, whatever plan you decide to implement needs to help your business rather than stifle it.

Creating a full and comprehensive SAM strategy for your own organisation might actually never come to fruition. Your plan must be flexible to change and mature as your organisation does, and it must allow for modifications to your daily tasks, no matter how small or fundamental they might be.

Conclusion

It is clear to see that as the scope and importance of computer systems within your organisation grow, so does the requirement for correct and efficient management of these systems. Gone are the days when an IT department was a bonus that would sometimes forward the business. IT systems are now critical to the modern company.

As with other parts of any company, a number of different strategies should be evaluated and utilised in order to ensure the smooth running of day to day activities. software asset management should not be the only tool used to manage technological assets within your company, but rather one of a multitude of complimentary policies used to control the system as a unit.

So if you feel that your company is currently suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and control over its IT network, or that the possible advantages described in this article could provide a critical market edge over your competitors, then it would be well worth investigating how SAM could be used within your business. There may be no time to lose.

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