Software Asset Management
Below is a great article I found this morning I thought I would share. It comes from Articlesbase.
Software Asset Management: Need of the hour
Author: anaya
Software Asset Management is a business practice involving managing and optimizing the purchase, deployment, maintenance, utilization, and disposal of software applications within an organization. Software asset management is one of the facets of a broader business discipline known as IT asset management, which includes overseeing both software and hardware that comprise an organization’s IT platform
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), UK, defines Software asset management as the infrastructure and processes necessary for the effective management, control and protection of the software asset in an organization. The goals of Software asset management are to reduce information technology (IT) costs and limit business and legal risk related to the ownership and use of software, while maximizing IT responsiveness and end-user productivity.
Software asset management serves various functions within organizations, depending on their software portfolios, IT infrastructures, resource availability, and business goals. In many organizations, the goal of implementing a Software asset management program is very tactical in nature, focused specifically on balancing the number of software licenses purchased with the number of actual copies installed.
While doing so, organizations can minimize liabilities associated with software piracy in the event of an audit by a software vendor or a third party such as the Business Software Alliance (BSA). Software asset management, according to this interpretation, involves conducting detailed software inventories on a periodic basis to determine the exact number of software installations, comparing this information with the number of licenses purchased, and establishing controls to ensure that proper licensing practices are maintained on an ongoing basis.
This can easily be accomplished through a combination of IT processes, purchasing policies and procedures, and technology solutions such as software inventory tools. Microsoft maintains a list of Software Asset Management (SAM) providers to help customers manage their software.
About the Author:
Paul Benjamin is a freelance writer on ecommerce. He has written articles and blogs on eCommerce solutions, CRM applications and Inventory management.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Software Asset Management: Need of the hour
