ARTICLE: Driving Down Software Costs – Software Asset Optimization Defined – (Part 2/6)

This article series has been contributed by Colin Bartram of Vector Networks.

In this series Colin looks at how organisations can drive down software costs with proactive software management.

Driving Down Costs with Software Asset Optimization
Part 1: Extending Audit Horizons
Part 2: Software Asset Optimization Defined
Part 3: High Level Business Drivers
Part 4: Optimization’s Potential Benefits
Part 5: Three Phase Optimization Process
Part 6: Fast Track to Optimization Benefits

PART TWO – Software Asset Optimization Defined

There are four key factors in the ownership, management and exploitation of application software assets –

1. Requirements – defining and quantifying the organization’s true requirements for an application. Organizations will purchase MS Office™ Professional for the entire network simply because they have no tools to quantify how many users only require Office Standard.
2. License ownership – If an organization has had decentralized software purchasing, then locating and documenting actual licenses can be the most challenging aspect of taking full control of software assets.
3. Inventory – how many copies are actually installed? This is critical – top quality inventory is a cornerstone of software asset optimization.
4. Usage – how many of the deployed copies are actually used. A PC sitting unused on a desk is highly visible. A copy of an application sitting unused on a hard disk is invisible and unnoticed.

We regard an organization as having fully optimized its software assets when all four factors are in sync.

Colin Bartram

About the Author

Colin Bartram is VP Technology with Vector Networks Technology Group. He has been involved in the evolution of IT asset management since its inception in the 1980s, holding positions primarily in marketing and product management. Further information regarding Vector Networks can be found here.

Read part three here.