It is time Indian SMEs recognised the importance of ‘software’ and reaped the rewards by applying it in their day-to-day business activities
SOFTWARE is a tool and, like anything that helps us to increase productivity, develop capabilities and enhance experience. Hence, it should be carefully monitored, maintained and optimised. The physical intangibility of software can sometimes make it difficult to track. This is all the more critical for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Help is at hand to allow SMEs manage their software assets effectively – not simply to avoid licensing pitfalls but also to improve productivity.
In an IT-driven world, maintaining an infrastructure of accurately licensed, well managed and optimised software can be troublesome for IT departments. SMEs are particularly vulnerable as they often do not have a designated IT team in place or developed software strategy to control installations and usage. This can lead to problems, not to mention the dangers of counterfeit software. When SMEs or their individual employees deploy counterfeit software, they put themselves at serious risk in terms of security, infrastructure and also lose the opportunity to identify fraud and data loss.
Inaccurately licensed software is a problem. A study released by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and IDC in May 2008 revealed that approximately 69% of software installed on PCs in India in 2007 was unlicensed. This exposes businesses to large fines as a result of potential audits by the BSA, which may be followed by the need to spend more on new software licences to ensure compliance. It’s not only about internal threats. Technology, as an industry, contributes significantly to economic development. Pirated software takes opportunities away from legitimate businesses that actively contribute to their local economies. An IDC Economic Impact Study, released in January this year, found that reducing PC software piracy in India by ten percentage points over a period of four years could generate an additional 44,000 new jobs, $3.1 bn in economic growth, and generate over $200 mn in tax revenues. Software management involves people, technology and processes, looking at the entire infrastructure necessary for the effective management, control and protection of software assets, throughout all stages of its life cycle. Software Asset Management (SAM) is a business-critical investment, not a cost. It is about using assets to the optimum to benefit the business. A majority of the working population uses software as its primary production tool. However, an average small business uses only a fraction of its software capability. If a company does not have an accurate picture of what tools its people are using, how can it be sure that they are using the best ones for the job? An effective SAM strategy will track software assets throughout their life cycle, match them to licenses and, importantly, establish needs for future upgrades and purchases.
It is time SMEs realised the value that a comprehensive SAM programme will bring to them. SAM provides a competitive advantage to SMEs that adopt it. An instance of this is Goldshield Plc, a marketing-led British pharmaceutical and healthcare company that applied SAM to primarily standardise software deployment across the organisation and to optimise usage of their software licenses. Further, they wanted to understand their current licensing gaps and achieve compliance for licensing. With the use of SAM, Goldshield was able to optimise its licensing, and also gain knowledge and awareness on a large variety of compliance issues. Asset management was a key concern for Goldshield which was also taken care of by SAM. Overall, post the implementation of the SAM process there was better control over management of software, and it allowed Goldshield to discontinue ad-hoc purchasing of software. The benefits of implementing a sound Software Asset Management process for SMEs are many, including financial control, risk mitigation, security and compliance. They will know exactly what they have, and more importantly what they need. A faster time-tomarket through streamlined software functionality and a thorough knowledge of existing databases are other benefits that SMEs adopting SAM will reap. Lastly, budgeting becomes much more of an exact science when a company knows what software assets it has, and consequently what it needs. Investment decisions can be based on facts, and unnecessary purchases avoided. SAM encourages and facilitates standardisation, which helps reap rewards in IT time and expenditure.
So what can companies do to get smart with SAM? There are four simple steps customers should take to implement an effective Software Asset Management plan:
1. Prepare a software inventory to find out what software assets the company currently has and/or is using.
2. Perform licence reconciliation by locating the license documentation for each software asset in their possession.
3. Review policies and procedures to ensure good Software Asset Management techniques.
4. Finally, develop a Software Asset Management plan to use moving forward.
Microsoft is helping SMEs recognise software as an asset, not an expense, to manage and control those assets; and to put in place a process that covers all stages of the software life cycle. SAM is recognised as an industry standard, and Microsoft is working to raise awareness among customers and partners about the need and importance of using licensed software, so that they can realise optimum value from their software assets.
