No matter what business you ‘re in, software is becoming increasingly integral to your success.
Brands that fail to capitalise on the ease, convenience and sheer utility of the solutions software have to offer are going to struggle in today’s modern and highly digital era.
Often companies today use more than one piece of software to meet their various needs. This is great in theory, but often can lead to a business buying and paying for software that overlaps in terms of their function.
Software Asset Management is a great way to manage your various software assets. It ensures you never waste money on software you don’t need and can help your business save money in a variety of ways.
5 Ways software asset management (SAM) will help save you money
A company’s software is key to its success in the modern business world. Companies are increasingly relying on various software pieces to become more efficient, reduce time wasting, and ultimately improve their business profits.
While involving software in your business, it’s important that you only involve necessary software. SAM is massively important if you want to reduce redundant software and create balanced IT budgets.
Good businesses use a variety of software. Great businesses use SAM to find the perfect balance of that software. Read ahead to learn more.
It enables you to spot redundant software
The most important thing Software Asset Management does that can help your business save money is spotting redundancies.
That’s because it provides your business with a holistic, 360-degree view of all the tools your business currently uses to operate.
This enables you to better understand what software your business needs and for what. The best tools to track software licenses are well worth the effort spent, simply because of the value it provides.
Doing so means you never risk overpaying for software or purchasing software that overlaps with other software you already own. It’s also capable of letting you know if you’re missing any software licenses or identifying when licenses need updating.
However, SAM may be ineffective when you use multiple software tools with overlapping capabilities.
Alerting you to expiring software and licensing
While redundant software can be a pain, it’s not the only way a Software Asset Management solution can help your business save money. Another is by alerting you when you need to update expiring software and licensing.
If you’re running a business, updating and renewing various licenses can tend to slip your mind. As a business owner, you have a hundred other things on your mind and often may not take updating licenses as a priority until it’s too late.
A software asset management solution keeps an eye on these factors and warns you of expiring licensing. Therefore, you can prepare, plan and research alternative software that’s cheaper and more efficient.
Keeps you from incurring fees and fines
When it comes to software, being found noncompliant can become incredibly expensive. Fines that outweigh the cost of the software you’re using are the last thing you want as a business.
That’s because software audits are becoming increasingly common. According to Gartner, 68% of organizations receive at least one audit request a year, making SAM a good investment.
Helps you recycle software
If you’re running a business, odds are you’ve got some employees that use specific software relevant to them and their department. This can become a major headache when employees leave the business or change positions.
Software can then be abandoned, logins lost or kept on inactive devices as people move around. This means you may end up paying for software that’s not being used or no longer relevant to your employees.
From there it can be recovered, stored somewhere safe and secured until a relevant employee needs access. This ensures smooth transitions when you onboard new employees. Rather than struggling to find software for them, you can turn to wherever you’ve decided to store that software.
Reduces security breaches
Data theft as a result of security breaches represent one of the costliest threats to any business today. No matter the size.
According to a report on data breaches by IBM, it’s only a matter of time before a business experiences a data breach. For some businesses, this can be catastrophic. In the US that could amount to over $9 million. That’s an eye watering figure no matter what the size of your business.
Software Asset Management can be an amazingly useful tool to enhance your data security. Whether that’s by preventing unauthorised software downloads, creating lists of authorized software or a variety of other tasks that can help your IT team ensure your data is kept safe.
If you’re looking to save your business money, reducing its exposure to data thefts is a great way to go about it.
The breakdown
When it comes to solutions that save money while bolstering the overall functions within your business, nothing beats a great Software Asset Management solution.
An effective Software Asset Management solution allows you to both mitigate risks, costs, plan various business activities and reduce security breaches. Usually, by doing a combination of these activities, our business inevitably winds up saving money.
Technology is all about convenience, so having one piece of software dedicated to taking care of the more troubling components of using various software can go a long way.