Why you need visibility into your environment
Before embarking on your cost management journey, you’ll need a baseline understanding of the software in use across your organization. This is something that can be provided by good Software Asset Management (SAM) data. If you don’t currently have a SAM program in place, speak to one of the ridiculously helpful experts at SHI to understand the fastest and most effective way to start generating software insights you can act on. And if you do have a SAM or ITAM program already, it’s worth asking yourself whether your processes and technologies were designed for a largely on-premises software estate. If so, these will likely come up short as more software usage is in the cloud, more devices are remote and new types of devices are being used to access expensive applications and services. Having a good baseline of software data has never been more important or as challenging.
Next: Overcoming challenges in SAM data >>>
Despite knowing how important good visibility is, most organizations struggle with managing multiple tools, each providing visibility into different subsets of their environments. For instance, MDM technologies for mobile devices, specialized tools for cloud, and often separate tools for ITAM, deployment and security … and the list goes on.
Collecting and aggregating data from multiple sources that then needs to be validated and cleansed requires expertise you may not have in house.
For years, the default position of internal teams has been to buy a SAM tool and run it in-house. That works well if you have the resources to run an effective tools management program and the skills to optimize your licensing and subscriptions.
Arguably, a smarter way to look at the challenge of managing software is to bring in the experts – and not just the technology – to provide the insights you need to make important decisions with confidence.
Thankfully, SHI has a skilled team of Software Asset Management professionals, equipped with an extensive portfolio of technologies, that mean no matter what software you’re running or in what environment, we can help you realize the cost management objectives outlined on the following pages.
