Software Asset Management is NOT About the SAM Tool!

We're constantly neglecting the key disconnect in terms of software asset management within a majority of enterprises. In brief, the company wants to rely on automated tools to perform effective SAM and we continually fail to ensure that there are qualified software asset managers present to utilize those tools. The SAM tools approach follows the classic IT line of approach that "software" (in this case, the systems discovery tool) can cure all our problems.

This post is in response to an article published in "Business News Daily" - Making the Case for Software Asset Management.

The practitioner members of The Institute for Technology Asset Management have determined that a clear majority of SAM-related issues can be resolved with minimal cost & disruption to the enterprise when software goods and services are managed from a business life cycle perspective. For Example: 

The core of many of our software issues can be traced back to ineffective license and agreement negotiations coupled with a failure to genuinely FOLLOW the terms and conditions of the agreement.

As long as the enterprise fails to approach SAM from this business perspective, with intelligent controls in place and clearly managed, the enterprise will over-spend on virtually all tech-related products and services as well as remain essentially defenseless targets for an ever-expanding predatory software and copyright compliance auditing industry.

Do you need justification for SAM? Try these:

• Fewer than 20% of software licenses are seriously negotiated by the business consumer
• A majority of software asset managers are trained & "certified" in programs designed by the compliance enforcement industry & their friends - The Institute provides the only genuinely supplier-neutral life cycle asset management training to the SAM community of practice.
• If your training enterprise is owned by, or financially supported by, the enforcement industry or software publishing industry, your training is NOT going to be focused on cutting life cycle costs. That would represent a serious conflict of interest to the provider.
• Fewer than 10% of SAMs have ANY training in detailing (following?) license & agreement terms & conditions.
• A majority of enterprises has no idea where the proper license support documentation is located. These companies are easy audit threats & the enforcement groups KNOW it.
• Fewer than 5% of SAMs have any level of oversight in terms of "how" software products are distributed across the enterprises systems. This is one of the TOP VIOLATIONS in non-compliance audits.
• Over 95% of enterprises still believe that, if they are compliant, they will not be targeted for audit. WRONG. According to your license agreements your business can be audited at any time, for any reason, & for NO REASON by any number of 100+ enforcement groups.
• That same 95% of enterprises still believes that, if they are audited by one enforcement group, they're safe from further audits. WRONG. Just because one enforcement group gives you their "blessing" does NOT preclude the rest of the groups from piling on & conducting their own audits.

Train your software managers to genuinely manage the entire range of SAM products and services. Ensure that their training reaches beyond merely counting computers and policing surface compliance. For more clarity, take a moment to look over the FREE Software & Copyright Compliance Quiz. Take notes and recognize that each question represents a category of SAM deliverables you need to have in place to ensure maximum ROI and value with minimal risk.

Are you interested in the NEXT GENERATION of SAM credentials? Take a look at these Credential Overviews from The Institute for Technology Asset Management.

Are you ready to join the NEXT GENERATION of well-qualified Software Asset Management Professionals?  Follow this link to The Institute's exclusive online - on-demand - training programs. professional development.

Software Piracy Settlement - Delhi, India

In August, 2011, a small enterprise in Delhi, India was confronted for hard disk loading. The consequences for this enterprise were costly but there was a critical hidden message for every software asset manager behind this court case. When fewer than 10% of software piracy, or license non compliance, settlements are made public, it pays to know how to respond to the few that DO show up in public.

For a quick review of this incident, and a more comprehensive discussion of how asset managers in this region should respond, take a look at my commentary HERE.  (Or click here for a link to the original IndianExpress.com article by Utkarsh Anand). At the end of the commentary you will also find a link to the full Institute for Technology Asset Management PDF Knowledge Briefing that will provide you with strategies & tactics to respond to events similar to this in your geographic area. 

THESE are the some of core competencies that are only exhibited by Institute-trained Software Asset Management Professionals.

Software Asset Managers (SAMs) Beware: This scenario represents one of the most frequent blindsides in our industry.  A single reseller who violates copyright regulations - if linked to your enterprise - can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars - in many cases, it'll even cost you your job. (Conveniently enough, you don't even have to have done anything wrong...)