Software Asset Management Process Improvements Prior to Transformation
How a Large Utilities Company Targeted Software Asset Management Process Improvements Prior to Kicking off Major Transformation Activities
As the result of recent software compliance review, a number of discrepancies were highlighted between software entitlements; and, it was then utilized for a large Sydney-based utilities company.
The CIO wanted to implement tactical wins prior to a broader transformation initiative. The expectation was to ensure license management demand and supply is ongoing. Moreover, CIO wanted to assure the software license toolset data was remediated. It is important reporting is meaningful, useful and can be used to inform strategic priorities. Service management specialists were engaged to review the existing Software Asset Management (SAM) processes and capabilities, providing guidance on improving inefficiencies and gaps based on industry SAM best practices.
With over 4000 legacy software license types in place, the SAM management tool was significantly inaccurate. There was a heavy dependency on paper-based forms; and, the software request process was manually intensive across the various teams. Software demand, request and fulfilment of software licenses were not cohesive making reconciliation extremely difficult to undertake. The existing SAM toolset required multiple upgrades to bring in-line with industry practices.
The service management specialists team established a working group. They reviewed and identified specific inefficiencies and challenges in context to license management practices. They developed both current and target state visual executive presentation, overlaying gaps in simple-to-understand business context. The team highlighted suggested priorities and recommendations for efficiency gains and cost savings.
As a result, the service management team was asked to undertake the implement and the process-based recommendations. It would kick off an additional stream focused at fixing the license data within the tool. This would ensure compliance visibility, upgrade the toolset to the next version, develop an approach for software optimization & remediation plan through meaningful reporting and dashboards. The team was also bought into negotiations with vendors and introduced formal harvesting process.