Details for The Value of Asset Management for the CIO

Authors

Judith Hurwitz, President

Marcia Kaufman, COO

Sponsored by IBM

CIO’s want to ensure that all IT assets across the organization are well-managed in order to operate efficiently, control costs and comply with contract requirements and regulations.

However, as IT software contracts have become more complex and varied, many organizations recognize that they need a more automated approach to effectively manage software licenses. Software contracts are complex because they take into account the version of software, the maintenance of that software platform, the costs associated with the hardware configuration and the number of users authorized to use that software. In addition, it can be very challenging for organizations to understand how many licenses of a software product they have and how, where, and by whom these software products are being used. The CIO wants to ensure that the IT team has all the information it needs regarding how software is used and how the licenses are managed so the company is not at risk of failing an audit. The many variations in software license models and the increasing use of virtualization have added complexity to what should be a straightforward problem.