Featuring research from Gartner Analysts, License Dashboard’s latest newsletter reveals how selecting business-relevant SAM metrics demonstrates its business value.
Software Asset Management (SAM) and IT Asset Management (ITAM) – discussions once confined to the IT department – are beginning to make an appearance in the boardroom. The importance of effectively managing your IT estate is being realised not just because more vendors are conducting more software audits than ever, but also because organizations are more aware of the cost reductions that can be made – up to 30% in the first year!
It’s one thing to introduce a SAM program to your organization, but another to gain the interest of organization leaders for real ROI. Gartner Research reveals the best way to help C-level employees understand the value behind a SAM program, SAM Managers must deliver information to other departments to help them understand the positive outcomes of SAM – unfortunately some departments have yet to see the value.
Kickstart an interest in SAM
Software asset management is a complicated subject and so it can be difficult for non-IT employees to get behind it. For example, your organization’s finance manager might struggle to see why understanding what is deployed across your estate, how to manage it, and how to maintain it directly affects them, but it does. Putting installed data figures in front of the finance team probably isn’t going to spark interest, but offer information around the cost of those installs, and insight into where money can be saved or how budget is going to be affected by planned deployments, and the finance team will start to take note. This sort of data will immediately demonstrate the business value in effective software asset management.
Providing each department with relevant information will not only communicate the effectiveness of SAM, it will help SAM Managers to ensure resources are directed toward the activities that need it most. It’ll encourage positivity round your internal SAM strategy.
Sharing software licensing information
Throughout the research, Gartner stresses the importance of supplying data that addresses the immediate interest to each stakeholder – any information that can validate software strategy or assist in funding or sourcing decisions. These ‘quick wins’ are usually most apparent in the first year of implementing a SAM solution, but keeping organization leaders armed with up to date, accurate SAM data ensures they’re in it for the long haul. Using SAM data to set budgets, anticipate software deployments/upgrades, move to new technologies, and head into contract negotiations confidently, confirms its position in moving a business forward.
How to efficiently share the SAM data you manage on a regular basis
Gartner states that you must define the objectives that need to be measured, outlining aspects that different stakeholders will be interested in, and map the information you can provide to display business value. Providing easily accessible, high level metrics with the option for the user to delve deeper is always recommended.
