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Software Asset Management Blog

ITAM and Enterprise License Optimisation

By: Steve Schmidt
In a recent report from Gartner on IT Asset Management (ITAM) solutions (http://www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/ca/173370.html ), Flexera Software is referenced as a company that solves the specific problem of software license entitlement management for expensive applications. That’s an appropriate description. It applied when the report was written before the acquisition of ManageSoft, and to an even great degree now.
That reference in the report raises an interesting question regarding the difference between traditional ITAM and Enterprise License Optimisation. They are linked, but they are not the same. Traditional ITAM forms the foundation of Enterprise License Optimisation. Information about what is installed and what is licensed is critical, but what it also needed is 1) information about how the application is used and what the specific entitlement rights are, as well as the 2) analysis to tie that information together in a way that enables an optimised license position.
Where Enterprise License Optimisation complements the ITAM category is in making intelligent business decisions about the procurement and allocation of entitlements. It goes beyond counting installations, and even beyond harvesting and reallocation of unused licenses. It extends to leveraging upgrade and downgrade rights, applying the rights to use on a second system, and splitting of full suite rights among users of the different suite components. Other examples include assignment of the appropriate user-tier rights (and costs) based on actual usage type, and performing scenario analysis under different license reallocation conditions.
Why is this “specific problem” of software license entitlement management so important? Because applications have become strategic. More money than ever before is spent on them, they are taking the place of pure hardware devices, and they run the business. They are the key set of IT assets, and yet they are generally not “owned” by the users. Thinking of applications as an asset to be managed is important, but is not enough. In addition, the associated software licenses and entitlements need to be optimised.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 at 10:31 am and is filed under Software Asset Management.