What risks should be considered? Risks could be in the shape of legal, financial or operational. It is also important to look at what companies can do to mitigate risks.
Legal Risks
- Use in geo-graphic zones outside of contract
- WAN vs LAN licenses
- Short term emergency use?
- Not uninstalling license severs following a server move
- Using ‘Generic’ users under named-user scheme
- Do Test environments licensed
- Use of undocumented features (development code)
- Pirated and unauthorized software use
Financial Risks
- Inaccurate budgeting – Unexpected purchases due to poor forecasts.
- Over expenditure on licenses – Under utilization is common costing the company money.
- Costs associated with Audits including Legal fee’s, time lost in data gathering and financial settlement agreement.
Operational Risks
- Uniformed decision making happens when there is insufficient detail on license utilization and / or little understanding of allocation. User ratios may not be measured, thus resulting in unnecessary spend
- Not being proactive and understanding the latest vendor license models – Subscriptions, Token-based, Named-User, Consumption.
Mitigating Risks
- Use SAM methodology to record asset data. Understand who, what, where and when for licenses. Understand contact details. Store contract and contact information in one place. Keep good records of purchases and PO’s
- Run regular internal audits
- Consolidate software as much as possible
- Strategic analysis of use –Determine growth or reduction requirements. Ensure you have the big picture.