Blogs

Digital transformation is making the IT world increasingly complex and reducing the ability to control technology assets (and even forcing us to question whether it is appropriate to do so in a world where ‘agile’ is key to innovation and success). I believe that IT asset managers need to reinvent the ITAM discipline to support digital transformation and remain relevant to digital business.

Good technology management – the business of managing the hardware and software consumed by an enterprise in a cost efficient and secure way – starts with the user, is proactive, and highly automated. In this first of a series of posts about Unified Endpoint Management (UEM), Anna Kungsdahl (Product Manager for Snow Device Manager) presents Snow’s unique perspective on UEM.

The media reported on Monday that Micro Focus International’s “lower than expected license income” has resulted in a projected fall in revenues of 6%-9% (higher than the 2%-4% originally anticipated in May 2017 ahead of the takeover), and the resignation of its CEO. While the share price has seen a small recovery, the market reaction has wiped approximately 50% off the company’s market capitalization.

Software Asset Management has had to evolve for the needs of today. Should it still be referred to as Software Asset Management? Matt Fisher charts its evolution.

Take note of how the GDPR may affect software audits once the regulation comes into force; ensure full understanding of open source software licensing and compliance; and provide clarity around enforcing and responding to audits were key points of discussion at this week’s IBSMA conference.

SAP customers need to ensure that identifying and tackling Indirect Access risk is a key priority. So, what does Indirect Access entail, and how do you know if you’re exposed to the risk of fines? How do you identify whether you have systems which enable users to indirectly access SAP?

After years of warning and clarifications, the time is nearly here.  Enforcement of the EU’s General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) is due to start on May 25, 2018.  Affected organizations find themselves at vary states of readiness, with some years into their journey and others just now realizing the mountainous effort required to achieve compliance.

If you find yourself in the latter camp, don’t despair.  The hardest part of any long journey is starting.  Here are seven steps to help start you down the path.

One of the questions I’m frequently asked by Software Asset Management professionals is how to prioritize SAM efforts.  Here is an approach which I have found useful in dealing with the overwhelming number of software applications discovered during a SAM implementation.

In recent years, Software Asset Management (SAM) has evolved to manage a wider range of business assets and processes, transforming beyond license compliance. Today’s SAM practices include strategic cost control, infrastructure management and security control, on top of the foundation of license optimization. Issues that figure heavily on the agendas of most CIOs. It’s their job to ensure that the organization is doing more with less, contain soaring IT costs, deliver user flexibility, and minimize risk exposure. A good SAM practice goes a long way toward helping organizations, and their CIOs, achieve these targets

There’s a new update to the ISO 19770-1 international standard for Software Asset Management (SAM) with many new changes. The launch has been fairly low profile, but that’s probably a reflection on the SAM community and the fact that the standard is developed by volunteers (unpaid, in their own time) who are ITAM professionals rather than marketing experts.