How to control Data Transfer across a Corporate Network

Introduction

The extent to which technology has become a part of normal life and day-to-day commerce has seen a change in the way management approaches how they manage the finances, the processes and the assets within a business.

As computing becomes more widespread within a company and takes a more prominent critical within the vital processes of that company, it is important to make sure that an appropriate amount of attention is given to this computing.

IT departments have come a long way over the past few years and are now seen as essential parts of any business. As such, they receive larger budgets but must also be able to deal with a larger amount of work.

But once you have spent a substantial amount of money on developing an IT system and seen the needs of your organisation change, how do you make sure that the IT you are using can keep up with demand? Moreover, how can you achieve this without spending a large amount of money?

This is the function by IT management software and systems.

Every company and every situation will have different specifications and will offer unique problems. To satisfy these needs there are a range of different technologies and approaches that can be implemented to help control the IT infrastructure of your business.

Software Asset Management

SAM ( Software Asset Management) is designed to do exactly what it says on the tin - monitoring and controlling the deployment and usage of software suites within your company. It is a business process rather than a distinct skill and is becoming a more critical part of the modern corporate environment, particularly for corporations operating in the field of IT. Despite the many benefits of SAM, there are still a great many companies that are not utilising it to its full potential.

SAM is not simply a program for technicians deploying software across a large corporate network, but can be a crucial tool to help improve performance at all levels of a company. The aims of SAM include controlling of the IT infrastructure within a organisation, negating legal risks associated with incorrect software license usage and sustaining 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 intangible nature of what it is designed to deal with, and the commercial case for using a SAM solution is not always obvious until a complete of the software infrastructure of a company has been done.

Financial benefits are still the most driving commercial factor when choosing to employ SAM technology within an organisation. Every company needs to make profit after all and profitability is a very measurable figure.

An increasingly large proportion of a company’s IT bank roll is spent on software licensing so there is a real need to invest to correctly manage this spending. As companies expand and spread, their software needs can change radically and equipment and software can quickly 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 cycle it will often involve many of the departments within a company, including Finance Human Resources, to make sure that it runs as cost-effectively as possible. It is a process that does not need to follow established corporate levels.

Anybody who was going to question Centennial resellers exactly what package stands out would get the simple answer SAM.

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 right for your company? Every company is different and has its own unique set of challenges and advantages, so any strategy you will use needs to be tailored to these specific characteristics. The benefits of SAM do cover the fundamental aspects of IT management.

There are more than simply monetary benefits that can be achieved through the control of licensing and maintenance agreements across a companies IT network. Productivity can be greatly by ensuring that users have the latest versions of software available under current licenses held, and communication inside the corporation is aided when support staff know exactly what is in use on every workstation under their control.

Cost Savings

As discussed previously, perhaps the most convincing reason to utilise software asset management within your company is the potential financial savings that can be made. The profitability of your business is always going to be the bottom line so any system that can help to increase this profitability by descreasing expenses is one that should be evaluated.

The most immediate way that software asset management can help to reduce costs is by targeting any applications running on your corporate network that is no longer needed. The software might not be being used anymore, it may be very 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 help to the running of your business you are streamlining a large portion of your IT system. Paying for unnecessary software licenses and maintenance agreements means that more finance can be spent on the critical sections of your IT infrastructure.

Mitigate Risk Factors

A surprising amount of software that is currently used in the business environment is either licensed incorrectly or not licensed at all. Having any amount of uncontrolled software on your IT system is ill advised, because when left unchecked it can become incredibly unpredictable.

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

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

Software asset management is a leading product that is available from all modern Centennial distributors reselling IT products to a wide range of markets.

Implementing Software Asset Management in your Organisation

As previously discussed, there are numerous potential benefits to utilising a good SAM strategy within your business, both financial and otherwise. It is vitally important to consider which elements of SAM you should deploy first since certain benefits will be achieved more quickly than others.

This discovery process can be seen as three basic areas that have to be undertaken to truly build an informative picture of the deployment of IT assets within your organisation. These are:

Inventory

Inventory is the most basic function of the discovery cycle. It is vital that an accurate inventory of IT assets within your business is created to aid your IT department to maintain baselines regarding your IT network.
Thankfully, this process can now be automated and even the grandest of infrastructures can be investigated and analysed in a reasonably short period. Inventory must be able to identify your software assets regardless of their geographical location or technological characteristics. Modern inventory processes are capable of this.

Capture

The next step in the discovery cycle involves the capture of the license entitlements that cover the software programs identified in the inventory. The capture stage should gather entitlements for all of the software that exists on your system, even when the software is not currently in use. Without this step the inventory may be nearly useless.

The element of human error can be avoided by using automatic tools that are specifically designed to create a library of license entitlements. Packages that are currently employed are very efficient at gathering accurate information. These tools will also maintain databases containing up to date information from IT vendors.

Identification & Validation

The next step is to match up your software audit to the repository of licensing data that were created in the last two stages. Errors may have been made anywhere from the original invoices for software to the most recent audits performed on your IT system. These errors can now be rectified.

One critical factor in the validation stage is the ability to associate the license entitlements within your system to your company’s proof of entitlement. This will be vital if any arguments with software vendors arise as a consequence of the discovery cycle.

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

You can now begin a period of reconciliation upon your network. You should compare the software programs that are actually employed on your network against the licensing and support entitlements that you are paying for and bridge any gaps between the two.

The software spread within your system may include many hundreds or even thousands of individual instances, and there are any number of rules that may be involved with the licensing agreements you have in place. It is therefore a necessity to automate the reconciliation period, using one or more tools to apply intelligent rules to the process.

To learn more about the software asset management process you could utilise Centennial reseller resources through the Internet.

Compliancy and Flexibility with Software Asset Management

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

This library is a dynamic publication and is often updated with new concepts and techniques that reflect the ever changing IT environment of modern business. A good software asset management strategy should be flexible enough to follow the guidelines laid out in the ITIL whilst matching the changing requirements of the company within which it is actively used. This is an essential requirement of successful SAM

The International Standard Organisation (ISO) has created a standard that applies directly to software asset management practices. This standard, ISO 19770-1, is an exceptionally comprehensive collection of guidelines that are built to ensure that SAM is utilised in such a way as to “satisfy corporate governance requirements”. Standards of this kind play an essential part in realising standardisation across an industry.

The ISO standard should really be followed when planning a SAM strategy for your own organisation, although the level of detail covered within can easily become a daunting challenge. It is important to remember that no matter what guidelines you follow when creating a software asset management strategy, whatever you decide to implement must help your business rather than hinder it.

Designing a complete and comprehensive software asset management strategy for your own company may actually never come to fruition. Your strategy must be flexible to change and mature as your organisation does, and it must allow for updates to your daily tasks, no matter how small or underlying they might be.

Conclusion

It is easy to see that as the scope and importance of IT systems within your company grow, so does the need for good and effective management of these systems. Gone are the days when an IT department was a luxury that would sometimes forward the business. Computer systems are now critical to the modern organisation.

As with other parts of any business, a number of different plans should be considered and utilised in order to ensure the smooth running of daily activities. SAM should not be the only tool used to manage technological assets within your company, but rather one of a multitude of complimentary techniques used to control the system as a unit.

So if you feel that your business is really suffering from a lack of planned monitoring and management over its IT infrastructure, or that the potential benefits outlined in this article could manufacture a crucial market advantage over your competitors, then it would be worth researching how SAM could be used within your organisation.