Part II: Investing Wisely in IT Asset Management

Transitioning from Novell ZENworks to a more functional software asset management (SAM) solution was the right decision, but not an easy one for Bryant Caldwell, Director of IT Asset Management and Finance for the Annuities Group of Great American Financial Resources.

To select the most effective solution for the complex and critical IT infrastructure under his oversight, Caldwell applied a number of rigorous selection criteria. The key issues he considered are outlined below.

1) Robust compliance analysis and auditing

While many organizations have the best of intentions, it can be difficult to stay compliant since vendors typically don’t do a good job providing clear direction on interpreting licensing agreements.  For example, Microsoft changed their licensing policy for their 2012 products from a CPU license or server model to a “per core” model, where each license is valid for a defined number of processors or processor cores.

The implications? Server applications that run on multiple processors or cores on a single server might require multiple licenses. And if you are running Microsoft titles from other years concurrently with 2012 products, they will probably have different licensing terms. It’s therefore important to have an ITAM solution that can do a deep dive on each product showing exactly who is using it and how it’s being used.

Data analysis and presentation need to be intuitive and robust, particularly when it comes to vendor audits, which are very disruptive to day-to-day business. Caldwell gave Express Software Manager top marks for enabling him to quickly and easily pull up the data required for an audit and provide proof of their license position.  As a result, the Annuities Group has sailed through audits with no license infractions.

2) Controlling licensing spend

Caldwell found that Express Software Manager has been indispensable in enabling the IT team to  determine who is actually using a particular application simply by reviewing the product’s software metering data.  His department is under constant pressure to control costs and ensure that no products are lying dormant when they might be candidates for re-harvesting.   This insight is also valuable in making decisions about license renewals.

3) Accurate software recognition 

It was key for Caldwell to find a solution that could accurately identify installed software titles and pinpoint their locations. He told us, “My team doesn’t have time to waste sifting through mounds of data.  Express Software Manager has a superior ability to perform these tasks.” He also points out that the product’s ability to locally fingerprint non-mainstream or in-house applications is key in allowing him to incorporate them into the overall compliance picture.

4) Low cost of entry, easy and efficient management

Caldwell  needed to reverse the administrative headaches of the previous ITAM solution as well as keep costs in check.  “With Express Metrix, we have modules for software inventory, application usage, and IT purchasing with a similar look and feel to the older versions of ZENworks—but at a very low cost of entry and 40% lower maintenance fees. Installation and configuration of Express Software Manager took less than a single workday, without requiring support services. Agent deployment to new workstations is quick and easy, and new machine inventories are available in fewer than 20 minutes.”

Caldwell believes the Express Metrix best-of-breed approach offers significantly greater efficiencies than other solutions, particularly with respect to administrative overhead. The dashboard GUI is intuitive and logical, and Caldwell has found it to be very accurate. “It takes much less time to administer the product and figure out, ‘Are we compliant?’ With Express Software Manager, you click the button and get results.”

5) World-class customer support

Caldwell has found Express Metrix support to be extremely responsive. “The software runs without issues, and when you do need to call, you get a live voice on the other end. Normally, you’d pay a premium for this level of support.”

The Bottom Line

By creating systematic selection processes based on pre-established criteria, Caldwell gave himself the ammunition to reduce administrative overhead, lower costs and improve efficiencies. He is very pleased with the results he’s achieved since making the switch; in his own words, “Express Metrix has a very good product and I have the results to prove it!”

When access profiles are applied, users can only view and edit data that is part of their own access profile. The access profile and the user that created the order are displayed when creating and/or editing the order. Express Purchasing administrators can view all data.

To create access profiles, you will need to be logged into the Express Purchasing Console as an Express administrator or Express Purchasing administrator.  Prior to doing so, an Express administrator must configure the product to enable the creation of access profiles.

Configuring Express Software Manager to enable the creation of access profiles

1. Go to the Administrative Console, click on the Express Today panel icon in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Click the Express Purchasing link under the User Policies section.
3. Check the box Enable Express Purchasing user policies and then click the link Open Express Purchasing Console.

Creating new access profiles

1. In the  Administration tab, click Access Profiles in the left pane. The right pane will update.
2. Click the Add Access Profile toolbar button. The Access Profile Details box will open.
3. Enter a name and description, and then click Add authorized user. The Authorized Users for dialog box will open.
4. In the lower portion of the box, search for a user or user group by name (you can use wildcards), and then click User or Group. The box will expand to show all users or groups that meet your search criteria.
5. Click the Select link next to anyone you want to add to this profile, and the top portion of the box will be updated.
6. Click Save once you are satisfied with the list of users and groups for this access profile.  You will be return to the Access Profile Details box.
7. (Optional) Specify where to send email alerts for orders related to this access profile for the below conditions, and click Save.
   • Expiring leases
   • Lease buyout notifications
   • Expiring maintenance agreements

NOTE: users only receive reminders for orders they created or are part of their access profile.

Displaying the Access Profiles column

(Once you perform this step, the Access Profile column will always be displayed unless you hide it or log in as a different user.)

1. Go to the Purchase Orders page in the Express Purchasing Console
2. Right-click anywhere in the column heading.
3. Click on Columns and then check the Access Profile check box. You will now see a column heading of Access Profile on your Orders page.

NOTE: You will see Purchasing Administrator listed under this column for any existing orders since this is the default access profile. You cannot delete the Express Purchasing administrator’s access profile, nor can you change its name or description.

In the webinar, you’ll learn how to set up and modify access profiles, view purchase order change history, and create required custom purchasing fields.

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR NOW

Great American Financial Resources, Inc. is a successful financial services company with a reputation for excellence in money management and providing value to policyholders.For any company, IT asset management (ITAM) is a complex and demanding discipline that involves constant tracking and analysis of both tangible and intangible assets and activities. For Bryant Caldwell, Director of IT Asset Management and Finance for the Annuities Group of Great American Insurance Group (the Annuities Group), there’s an extra stress factor: the Annuities Group’s product line is closely tied to market movements, and the unique complexities of its IT infrastructure reflect the critical importance of constantly monitoring and responding to market changes and providing reliable, unimpeded information flow to employees wherever they are.

Caldwell oversees almost 1,400 software products and all endpoints located across the organization, from its offices in Ohio and Texas to employees’ home offices, plus a sales force located at various points around the country. He manages an annual budget of $24 million, a substantial portion of which is allocated to IT asset management.  His responsibility covers virtually all aspects of ITAM including software inventory, license compliance, and support contracts, as well as managing hardware—servers, desktops, laptops, and all of the software that runs on them.

Caldwell is also responsible for managing the array of mobile devices that enterprise workers increasingly rely on to stay connected and productive.   The group is currently developing a “bring your own device” policy for all company-issued and employee-owned mobile devices, whether they are company-supplied or employee-owned, and which run the gamut of just about every available device, platform, and carrier.

Evolving IT Asset Management Needs

Until 2012, the Annuities Group had used Novell ZENworks as their IT asset management tool. While the product had worked well for many years, Caldwell’s team started noticing a degradation in ZENworks’ ability to manage software assets after an apparent shift in product focus and business model. Valuable features and functionality had been lost in a series of product updates, and his team was forced to devote considerable amounts of extra administrative overhead to compensate. Caldwell explained, “We needed a different tool that could automatically recognize and manage a wide variety of product types, licensing models and usage contexts: freeware and shareware, licensing per seat and per user and so on. We also needed to be able to account for different kinds of installs, whether on a workstation or mobile device.”

To halt the resource drain, Caldwell initiated a search for a better solution. After an extensive evaluation process that included careful performance and cost analysis, he ultimately recommended a  switch to Express Metrix’s Express Software Manager because of its superior functionality—especially in software inventory, usage, and license management—and the resulting savings that could be realized in terms of administrative overhead and overall costs. The Annuities Group transitioned to Express Software Manager in May of 2012.

Caldwell used a highly systematic approach to reach his decision.

“It’s fundamentally simple, but crucial, to put it all on paper and crunch the numbers to achieve not only potential savings, but also to estimate cost avoidance,” he says. “It’s tempting for some people to try to calculate everything in their head or execute by gut, but it’s just too easy to lose track of where you stand and end up overspending.”

In the next post, found here, we’ll talk about the specific issues and performance criteria that influenced Caldwell’s product selection, and the results that validated his selection.

This newest release of Express Software Manager introduces enhancements within Express Purchasing that allow organizations to segment purchasing data based on organizational structure. When enabled, users are only able to view and edit Express Purchasing data that’s part of their “access profile.”

To support this new functionality, the following features have been added:

• Access Profiles. Using a new Administration panel within the Express Purchasing Console, you can now create access profiles that limit access to purchasing data to specified groups or users. You may also easily migrate orders from one access profile to another.

• History. When editing and viewing an existing order, you may now view a report that displays the order’s history, including date, user, item description, and old and updated values.

• Required Custom Fields. Custom purchasing fields can now be specified as required.

Currently maintained customers can upgrade to Express Software Manager Version 10.2 at no cost.

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When our co-founder and CEO, Kris Barker, presented a new topic at IAITAM‘s Annual Conference & Exposition in Houston last week, it became clear that he had hit upon something important.  The meeting room was jammed to capacity, there were dozens of questions during and after the presentation, and a number of attendees remarked afterward that they wished the session had actually lasted longer—not exactly a common sentiment among folks spending two full days attending intensive back-to-back sessions inside a hotel in 80-plus degree weather.

Given its success at the IAITAM conference, we decided to prepackage the presentation as a webinar for the benefit of the wider public.

The topic of the presentation relates to a very daunting yet critical task with respect to any organization’s broader asset management efforts: collection, integration, and ongoing management of the purchasing details related to your IT investments.  In the webinar, Kris will discuss ways of expanding your ITAM program to encompass early data collection, focusing on the most practical method of doing so: at the point of acquisition. Whether you are an Express Metrix customer or not, this webinar will help you figure out where to get started, discuss best practices for implementing this approach, and show you specifically how Express Software Manager’s IT purchasing system can be used to facilitate the process.

Here are the webinar details:

Who:  Anyone feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of integrating IT procurement data into their ITAM efforts

What:  Live webinar, hosted via GoToWebinar

Where:  At your PC or streaming media device

When:  Wednesday, May 1 at 11:00 AM Pacific / 2:00 PM Eastern

Why:  Why not? It’s free!

How:  REGISTER HERE!

1.  Use It or Lose It

On average, companies overspend on software by 20%—a steep penalty most aren’t even aware they are paying. You can save substantial amounts of money by implementing technology and processes that enable you to monitor, identify, and eliminate waste in your license spend. By understanding software utilization, you can:

• Ensure that licensed applications are installed only on the machines of users who truly need them and are actively using them.  If certain applications aren’t being used, you can either re-allocate them to other users instead of purchasing additional licenses, or terminate support on those licenses altogether.
• Pay special attention to the most expensive applications and product suites—do all your users need Microsoft Office Professional when most are only using the components found within the Standard edition?
• Evaluate whether you can standardize on fewer packages in larger volumes. This will likely translate to lower licensing costs and boost IT productivity by reducing the overall number of support issues.

2.  Negotiate Knowledgeably

Purchasing software is not as straightforward as buying a piece of equipment. You are buying the entitlement—that is, the right to use the software according to the terms of a licensing agreement, which is often complex and hard to understand. In this area, it really pays to do your homework.

• Don’t rely on software providers to educate you: learn the meaning of the various licensing terms, so you determine what type of agreement applies best to your own situation. Be aware that license types and the terminology vendors use to describe them are not necessarily standard across the industry, so it is important to seek clarification on a vendor-by-vendor basis.
• Explore whether you can lock in lower maintenance or subscription pricing and hedge against cost increases by committing, for example, to a three-year agreement instead of just one.
• Be sure to consider license terms that restrict your “right” to move copies of software from one machine or user to another; you may be able to limit and/or delay such provisions.
• Try to build in some room for change and flexibility in your agreement. As employees transition out of the company, don’t assume their successors’ role, and therefore software needs, will stay the same.

3.  Use the Right Tool for the Job

If tracking and monitoring software usage manually sounds painful…well, it is. The prescription is a specialized software asset management tool. However, not all such products are created equal. Pick wisely—a program will not fulfill your needs if it doesn’t include the following features:

• The ability to accurately identify all the software titles installed on your network, along with their corresponding versions, suites and editions. Look for a product that takes advantage of a software catalog to perform application recognition rather than relying on less reliable methods such as add/remove programs or file header analysis. (Read more about the various software identification techniques.)
• The ability to track and analyze software usage patterns over time. This should include an easy way to determine which software titles have unused or underutilized copies.
• The capability to reconcile both the inventory and usage of installed applications with their actual license counts. This allows you to quickly determine where you are over- or under-licensed.
• Purchasing functionality that allows you to keep central records of software and other IT purchases, track and report on spending at a departmental level, and budget for the future.
• An intuitive and easy-to-use interface that requires minimal training for you and your team to deploy effectively. If your asset management tool is too cumbersome, it will drain resources rather than improve productivity.

Using the right tools to track software usage and licensing allows you to take action on wasted resources and negotiate more effectively with software vendors. Above all, make sure that purchasing and IT are regularly documenting and exchanging information about software usage and licensing strategies so that everyone can make informed decisions. You’ll likely notice a sizable reduction in software costs and improvements in IT productivity—not a bad remedy for a runaway software budget, and a whole lot better than herding cats.

Despite the technical ease with which software tags can be implemented, publishers, for a variety of reasons, have been slow to adopt the standard.  That said, a few large software vendors such as Adobe, Symantec, and Microsoft have pledged support for the standard and are beginning to tag newly-released programs according to the ISO standard specifications. In addition, some branches of the U.S. federal government such as the GSA and the DoD have made a commitment to include tagging in their procurement requirements for commercial off-the-shelf software. Software publishers who comply with this standard design their software to create a software identification tag (SWID) that is written to a standard location and provides identifying information about the software title that is installed.

If you are interested in collecting and reporting on software tags, you will be happy to know that Express Software Manager Version 10 now provides this capability. There are no configuration changes required; the collection occurs automatically during the normal inventory process, and the SWID tag data is written directly to your Express Database.

To see the tag information that was gathered, simply run the ISO Software ID Tags report (found under the software inventory reports), which can display data grouped by machine, software publisher, or software title.

Because the ISO standard is relatively new, and only a few software publishers are currently supporting them, the results you see in your ISO Software ID Tags report will likely be limited to only a few manufacturers and software titles today.  But as more software publishers join the software tagging bandwagon, and new software versions are released, Express Software Manager will be ready to gather and report on this information!

In Express Software Manager 10.0, when you create a new hardware or software line item, you now have the option of adding maintenance immediately (see Figure A). This option is available initially upon creation of a new hardware or software line item. If you want to add maintenance after the fact, simply click on the appropriate Maintenance button for either software or hardware, then enter related details (as in the previous version of Express Software Manager.)

Let’s say, for example, that your maintenance agreement for Microsoft Office is expiring in a month and you want to renew the software contract. Here’s all you need to do:

1. In the Express Purchasing Console, click on the Status tab.
2. Click Expiring Software.  You will see a list of all orders that are nearing expiration.
3. Click on the Renew button, which will expand the renewal screen below.
4. Enter the details of your maintenance agreement.
5. Click the Save button.

Figure A) Adding maintenance details for new line items (click to enlarge)

Figure B) Entering renewal details
(click to enlarge)

Presto! Your maintenance details now reflect the new agreement details (most notably, the new maintenance date) under the Software Maintenance line items.

As a vendor that focuses on providing license management software to enterprises, I will freely admit that we rely upon those striving to be in the “One Percent” to invest in technology like ours.  Not only do they understand the importance  of SAM, but they can clearly articulate its value and will—in some cases—shout it from the rooftop.  There is a great deal that can be learned from this particular “One Percent,” and last month I was fortunate enough to meet a few of them at the IBSMA’s 2013 Compliance Manager Summit in San Jose.

The Compliance Manager Summit is designed to bring together software publishers to discuss trends in software licensing and pricing and to share best practices and technologies for enforcing license compliance.  It was therefore a rare—and very illuminating—opportunity to hear what’s happening on the software publishing side of the fence in an unedited, “no-spin” environment that’s very different from what we generally hear discussed in the public domain.

But of even greater interest to me was a panel comprised of end-user companies that had been assembled to discuss their experiences with license compliance and vendor audits. The panelists, who hailed from well-known companies such as Visa, Wells Fargo, and Kaiser Permanente, had all undergone audits and were highly sophisticated in their understanding of software licensing and software asset management. In fact, everyone in the room, including publishers, agreed that these companies were so advanced in their SAM programs that they represent the elite few.

What, you may ask, separates the one percent from the remaining ninety-nine percent of companies that struggle mightily with license audits and SAM?  Based on the discussion among panel members, here is what I’ve concluded makes them truly unique:

• They can generally stave off full-blown software audits merely by providing vendors with high-level documentation upon receipt of the initial audit letter that shows they are, in fact, compliant for the licenses in question.  More often than not, vendors accept this, and walk away.

• They save about 20% of their software spend  by performing regular software consumption analysis and continually optimizing their license portfolios. While many companies are able to manage their compliance risk reasonably well, most have not reached full SAM “enlightenment” by embracing software usage analysis.

Now, I’ve always suspected that vendors whose customers can demonstrate they’re making a good faith effort at license compliance get favorable treatment from their publishers.  But this pretty much confirms it.  While they may get audit requests, these companies have earned enough credibility to gain the upper hand with their ISVs.

We’ve also long known that companies who make an effort to track application usage will find opportunities to reduce their software spending.  Many of our customers emphasize this, but for one reason or another they rarely spend time documenting those savings.  But these organizations that are part of the “One Percent” have, in fact, documented their savings, a part of the process that allows them to continually justify their investment in SAM.

So what, exactly, did it take for these companies to find themselves in the “One Percent?”  It all boils down to this:

1)      They have undergone painful, costly audits in the past

2)      They have solid executive support for their SAM initiatives

3)      They have made a significant investment in implementing airtight SAM technologies and processes

For some reason, most companies stop short of #2.  I suspect if executive decision-makers understood—or IT managers could more forcefully articulate—that their organizations could potentially avoid software audits and reduce software spending by tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, more organizations would embrace SAM.

And, happily, the resulting benefits would be enjoyed by more than just the elite few.