Brazil’s Band TV Gets the Story on Their IT Estate
To save money and help the company complete a Microsoft software audit, Bandeirantes TV, or Band, began investigating software use across their communications company. What they uncovered was that Snow Software could provide the insight needed to accurately and quickly understand software usage across their entire organization.
Band is one of the largest television networks in Sao Paulo, Brazil and a part of the Bandeirantes Communication Group. The company provides important communications services to approximately 90 percent of the country including 200 million TV viewers, 135 million radio listeners with 310 radio stations, 14 million subscribers to a cable TV channel and 315,000 daily print editions.
The Risks with Limited Visibility
With more than 5,000 employees and a nationwide presence, understanding their software consumption was no easy task.
“There was a great need to measure, observe and analyze how employees were using their software,” said Alexander Biltoveni, technical support and software licensing manager at Band. “We had no visibility into whether or not unlicensed software was being used or if it was out of date and therefore a security risk.”
It’s common for diverse and growing companies like Band to rely on a multitude of hardware and hundreds of business-critical applications that, with today’s popularity of self-serve SaaS productivity apps, change constantly. It’s an enormous amount of information for IT to manage and Band was feeling the pressure. “We used to manage our software inventory through spreadsheets, and it was a very complicated thing to keep track of on an ongoing basis,” said Alan Lima, IT for licensing software at Band.
Software Maturity with Snow
The IT team at Band knew they needed to elevate their level of technology intelligence with more accurate insight into what was being used, by whom, how, and when so after some research and due diligence on what would best serve their needs and unique environment, they turned to the Snow platform.
“Snow showed us how to achieve software maturity,” Biltoveni said. “We can prevent waste and unnecessary use of company resources. They help us match the user’s needs with the best software fit.”
The ability to collaboratively manage their environment based on user need has enabled Band to deliver improved service across their organization through applications that are efficient, up to date and therefore more secure that also meet their users’ needs and preferences. The Snow platform was also an integral part of Band successfully completing their Microsoft audit and contract renewal.
“We underwent the SAM audit and with just a few clicks, we had a complete report of our machine estate,” said Lima. “And within a few weeks we underwent the Microsoft contract renewal without wear and tear. We ended up renewing the contract even before the previous one ended. It was a very simple process.”
Effective software management not only improves your audit negotiations but ensures continuous compliance.
“Audits can be a tough, difficult, and expensive process, said Biltoveni. “With Snow, we have peace of mind in knowing that our information is reliable and it’s in the system for consultation by any software manufacturer, at any time.”
To learn more, download our guide to the Basics of Software Asset Management – http://bit.ly/2nyWO45