There is a fundamentally different approach to Software Asset Management and Software License Compliance compared to traditional solutions. Effective, robust, end to end solutions must follow an “Entitlement-centric” approach vs. the traditional “Asset-centric” approach. There are key elements that must be adhered to in software license management that traditional tools fall short on:

1. The solution must be designed from the ground up to accommodate the unique nature of software assets. Software assets are inherently different from most other assets that are purchased by corporations. Unlike physical assets, such as tables or laptops, software is intangible and fluid in nature, with specific and distinct usage rights. If a solution is not specifically architected to understand these differences, then it cannot adequately manage the unique entitlement based model under which software is sold and licensed.

Most, if not all solutions available today were initially designed to support physical assets or simple device inventory collection and have been modified in an attempt to support software assets. This is why the “entitlement-centric” approach is distinct among SAM methods in that it was built from the ground up to specifically manage software rather than evolving from a physical asset management application. This fundamentally different approach allows the solution to more effectively manage software assets through an inherent understanding and support of software entitlements, contractual terms and conditions, and organization cost center support.

2. The solution must have a fully researched and detailed catalog of license entitlements and software recognition information. However, being able to recognize software assets is only part of the equation for accomplishing effective SAM and license compliance. To be effective, the solution has to have an extensive range of information about each software title. Email me if you would like further details on the information required for software titles.

3. The solution must also have business knowledge, so that software entitlements can be done in a way that is effective and sensible to the business. The solution must understand geographic, departmental and cost-center based corporate entities so that software costs and entitlements can be easily associated and tracked for these entities.

4. The solution must understand the varied license metrics that software manufactures have developed to determine entitlement. These metrics include processor based license, PVUs, virtualization license rules, Named User, Name User Plus, as well as many others.

5. Finally, the solution must be able to track cost information associated with software to allow the organization to analyze the financial costs associated with their license compliance position. This data must be of direct relevance to the organization (their cost tracking information) so that business decisions can be made with accurate knowledge of the financial risks.

Without all of these elements, software license management is not a consistent, savings-generating program and no gap analysis or compliance report is reliable.

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