Doing 'more with less' is a must for IT managers. One of the main measures that managers have been taking recently is to control software licensing.
IT management is key to optimizing the use of software and also to ensuring that it is used in a way that is properly aligned with license rights.
The 8 tips to improve software licensing control
IT asset management is essential for increasing the useful life of equipment and controlling the life cycles of the fleet.
For a variety of reasons, I see few organizations effectively controlling their licenses. Two of the most recurrent consequences are paying fines for inappropriate use of software or buying licenses unnecessarily.
Summary
Make the team recognize the importance of controlling licenses
Emphasize that proper license management avoids paying compliance fines and reduces excessive software purchases. Wasting resources these days is a luxury we cannot afford.
Assign roles and responsibilities to IT staff
IT managers should delegate the task of monitoring licenses to one or more professionals, depending on the number of software assets the company has, of course.
Controlling software assets is not a temporary task carried out once a month or year. This control must be continuous to ensure that software is used in accordance with the licenses.
Document management policies and procedures
For proper monitoring, formal documentation on policies and procedures is crucial for software licensing control.
This will give you a better understanding and the possibility of being compliant in your use of software, thus eliminating the risk of fines.
Get an accurate software inventory
With a good software inventory, managers can find out whether a particular piece of software is properly licensed and monitor whether it is showing errors or compatibility problems. In this way, the IT manager can act proactively. A software inventory also indicates whether or not the company needs to acquire new licenses, based on the actual need.
Properly record all acquisitions and implementations
When acquiring a software license, managers must quickly register it so that the asset management process during the time it is in the business environment is actually effective. Not only the acquisition processes, but also the implementation processes should be recorded.
With these procedures, the company will have full control of the assets that enter and are deployed in the environment.
Track software withdrawal processes
In companies where there is no effective control of licensing, managers forget to remove software that is no longer being used or, in some cases, simply ignore this important task.
You wouldn't believe how much effective planning and monitoring of software withdrawal processes can bring many benefits to the company, such as:
But what they probably don't know is that planning and monitoring effective software withdrawal processes can bring many benefits to the company, such as:
Evaluate usage rights periodically
Cost optimization: thanks to the reuse or removal of software from computers that are obsolete or no longer used by employees;
Risk mitigation: by properly removing software from computers or servers, in accordance with the rights of use established by the supplier;
Updating inventoriessoftware records remain accurate, which makes it possible to identify software that needs to be purchased or not.
Adopt a technology that helps with management
Many companies that control software licensing choose to carry out this task manually, using Excel spreadsheets. Not only do these require manual data collection and entry - which takes a lot of time - but they also don't allow managers to collect information related to the use of software that is extremely important for their decision-making, such as:
- What software the company has;
- Which software is being used by the team, and which is not;
- On which computers the software is installed;
- Whether the use of each piece of software complies with the licenses;
- When licenses must be renewed;
- The expiration date of the licenses or the termination of the contract;
- How the software was configured.
But by adopting IT asset management managers can obtain better licensing control with all the information automatically, regardless of the number of software licenses purchased.
Proactively manage software complianceThis means avoiding the excessive purchase of licenses, optimizing their use and negotiating contracts with suppliers.
DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE LICENSE CONTROL SPREADSHEET
