SOFTWARE ASSET MANAGEMENT AND Its ESSENTIAL PLACE IN A WELL RUN organisation

The BSA, in collaboration with IDC, release their latest global study:
Software Management: Security Imperative, Business Opportunity.

This revealing June'18 study set out to quantify the volume and value of unlicensed software installed on personal computers across more than 110 national and regional economies, finding that although there has been a global two-point drop in unlicensed software installation rates during the last two years, an astonishing  37 percent of software installed on personal computers is still unlicensed. 

Of the six regions encompassed by the study, Asia-Pacific was one of four in which the majority of software deployed on personal computers was unlicensed, representing the largest commercial value globally:

And while the rates across both Australia and New Zealand have shown a decline over recent years there is clearly still room for improvement:

Compelling numbers - sure, but how does unlicensed software translate to an imperative to me and my organisation?

The answer can be summed up succinctly in just two words - Savings and Security.

savings.

IDC estimates that when companies take pragmatic steps to improve their software management they not only boost their bottom line by as much as 11 percent, but can also achieve as much as 30 percent savings in annual software costs by implementing a robust SAM and software license optimisation program.

They also calculated that by improving the software compliance rate by just 20 percent (for example, lowering an unlicensed software rate from 24 percent to 19 percent), an enterprise with annual revenue of $83 million (the average in the survey) could increase profits by an astounding 11 percent. This, along with other benefits stated by CIO's below, represent compelling reasons to adopt a strong SAM practice in any organisation, irrespective of size:

SECURITY.

In addition to the potential savings, the study highlights that organisations need to consider the security risks of running unlicensed software, in particular the heightened one-in-three chance of encountering malware, with the associated costs potentially more than $10,000 per infected computer, and a combined cost to companies worldwide of nearly $359 billion a year.

While the primary concern relating to malware was the theft of data (46 percent), there were also significant concerns with other key exposures of:

• ​unauthorised network access (40 percent)
• responding to potential ransomware (30 percent)
• system outages and downtime (28 percent), and
• the time and cost of disinfecting the network (25 percent).

 
Clearly, minimising malware exposure by avoiding unlicensed use is critical but, even when a company is using licensed software, the study reiterates that having an adequate SAM system in place is still essential.

The study concludes with the very relevant and often over-looked point that robust SAM also helps companies accelerate the transformational benefits they can achieve by migrating to the cloud by providing the foundational steps necessary to make a smooth transition - think how can I leverage the value of current software assets without knowing what those assets are?

A timely reminder (and prompt) for those with responsibility across their organisations commercial software. If you're unsure where to start just get in touch with us here, and if you're lacking the tools necessary to manage your IT landscape take a look at the most cost effective SAM tool on the market - ComplianceWare - here (where you can also request a demonstration login to try it out for yourself as well).