Software asset management ensures that your business or organization is in full compliance with all of the legal agreements that are included in the software that your company uses.
Software asset management also ensures that your company has all of the right tools in place to monitor company software usage, reallocate licenses and have the appropriate level of vendor support. This allows your company to maximize software acquisition dollars.
Software asset management is invaluable to the success and organization of any IT company. When an organization utilizes a comprehensive and useful license management system, it can reduce costs and maintain compliance.
A benefit includes the ability to manage software assets impacts a company’s bottom line; having transparency into a software’s use can help to avoid unnecessary spending and increase efficiency. Also, a company can better manage risk by cataloging which software products are vendor supported vs. the versions that they no longer support. Finally, your company can potentially avoid fines or true-up costs that can result from a vendor audit or an audit from the Business Software Alliance (BSA). BSA is currently offering a $1 million reward to whistleblowers who report company misused unlicensed products.
Many software vendors have increased the amount and frequency of audits they perform. This can increase the chances of a non-compliance issue being discovered.
If your IT organization uses proper management software, you can avoid many of the expensive issues that this can cause. When software licenses are managed effectively, the whole of the company will benefit. It can save a lot of time, money and stress over the long term.
Don’t wait for a vendor or the BSA to do an audit. Be proactive and do it yourself. If there are any discrepancies, make the appropriate adjustments in your asset management software.
