Microsoft's purchase on Wednesday of software asset tracking system supplier AssetMetrix indicates that interest in this sector is growing, and comes as the International Standards Organisation (ISO) gears up to ratify the first internationally recognised standard for software asset management — ISO 19770.
Software asset tracking systems help organisations to understand what software they are using, what versions are installed and so forth. This is a core issue for organisations, especially large ones.
Many companies have great difficulty in keeping track of exactly what software they are using and have even more difficulty in answering what should be fairly simple questions, such as: What software is being used in what part of my organisation? Am I paying the appropriate licence fees to the right suppliers? Am I paying too much for my software?
As the issue of compliance has come to centre stage in many IT managers' thoughts, the issue of cost has also gathered more attention. Organisations like FAST and the BSA are constantly on the lookout for companies that are not paying enough for their software. But they are less concerned about the companies that may find they are actually paying far too much, often because their assets exist in "silos" when consolidation may bring bigger discounts, or because the department buying the software may simply be unaware of cheaper alternatives, such as open source.
Liken is a UK company that is growing in this field by offering advice to companies on how to ensure that their software assets are properly accounted for and, crucially, that they are paying the right price for those assets.
The company's directors, James Rowlands and Hugh Skingley, talked to ZDNet UK about the issue of software asset management, the role of the larger suppliers and the role of organisations like FAST and the BSA. They discussed whether the new ISO standard will finally make the issue of compliance easier to deal with.
Q: Why should UK companies consider paying for your service, rather than just keeping on top of their software assets themselves?
A: Liken provides a simple, serviced-based approach to software asset management. By monitoring precisely what companies have installed, what they are entitled to and how they use what they have, we can provide sound independent advice on how to minimise licence requirements and reduce maintenance costs.
We're also independent. Because we're not interested in selling licenses you have confidence that we are there to improve your processes and help you meet your goals, including saving money if so wished.
You use a tool to do this. How accurate is the tool? Is it expensive?
Our tool is a freely distributed part of our service. It just gathers data and sends it back to us for processing — we then do our job and deliver a guaranteed level of 95 percent of all files reconciled to their applications. Our service starts from £3 per PC per year.
Users need to make sure that their software and licensing policy complies with the right standards. What standards should they follow to ensure they are compliant?
The tools are not the key to achieving a standard, they are just tools. It's what you do with them that counts. The various standards including the forthcoming ISO 19770 provide an effective benchmark against which a company can measure its level of compliance: which one is best for your organisation probably depends upon external drivers such as peer pressure or government diktats. But ultimately, knowing exactly what you have and what you are entitled to is the name of the game. We would advocate whichever standard most closely matches your organisational objectives.
