Despite ebbs and flows within the budgets allocated to IT, chief information officers (CIOs) are still under pressure to deliver more compelling value-added solutions with "less" funding. To maximise the potential return on the funds invested in the technology lifecycle from conception and acquisition to renewal, CIOs either need to identify new areas of savings or better align their current spending with business priorities.
With changing business trends, ensuring IT can keep pace and be agile enough to complement the business will remain an ongoing challenge. This has contributed to a focus on achieving savings without necessarily lowering the end-user experience from both a quality and service perspective.
In looking at how organisations can save on their current spending, areas such as the usage of the telecommunications services, printer/output usage and software asset management and licensing tend to dominate the agenda. While telephone management systems are fairly commonplace, and the restrictions on output options can be determined from both a financial and user perspective, software licensing requires a much broader and more holistic approach. Key to understanding this is ensuring any process that is implemented is sustainable and not necessarily dependent solely on selecting software to facilitate software asset management. A failure to do so may often result in software compliance being done only when the organisation is having to address this issue in response to either allegations that it has unlicensed software installed or as a result of an internal/external audit requirement.
In both instances, organisations run significant risks. A shortfall in the number of required licences may result in the organisations having to spend significantly on addressing this weakness. In addition, organisations run the risk that they may also be liable for financial and legal penalties, and suffer a negative impact to their reputations. The latter may have the greatest impact, as it raises questions over the extent to which management control and oversight are being adequately exercised. This may affect the organisation`s standing within it supply chain, as well as the support that it receives from its stakeholders. From an operational perspective, a poor software asset management programme can contribute to the lack of implementing an adequate software update service. This may expose the organisation to the risk that besides running unlicensed software, that since it is unable to ensure the software it is running is being updated or patched that it may be susceptible to having its systems compromised by malicious individuals. This risk may exacerbate the possibility of potential financial and reputational losses.
To address these risks, implementing an in-house review of software licences provides management (both with IT and the business) with an opportunity to identify how they can best leverage their current installed software base and planned software purchases, and where savings through consolidation and better negotiation with vendors can be achieved. Similarly, auditing software licences enhances control of the software asset management process by ensuring any potential weaknesses within the process are identified and can be addressed.
Maiendra Moodley, Technical Security Advisor - Business Systems and Technology Department, South African Reserve Bank for marcus evans. Moodley will present the marcus evans course entitled "Software Audits" on 19 - 20 April 2006 at the Balalaika Hotel, Sandton. He will also speak at our "Strategic Software Asset Management" conference, taking place on 19 - 21 July 2006 at the Park Hyatt, Johannesburg. For more information on either of these events, please contact Hennie Potgieter on (011) 516 1073 or henniep@marcusevanssa.com.
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