Authors

Judith Hurwitz, President

Marcia Kaufman, COO

Sponsored by IBM

IT Procurement managers often find a discrepancy between the number of software licenses purchased by the organization and the number actually in use.

You want to pay for the just the right number of software licenses, not too few or too many. This goal is not as simple as it sounds; over procurement continues to be an on-going problem in many businesses. Maintaining dynamic insight into the availability and management of all IT assets, including software, has become increasingly challenging as these assets are recognized as a vital component of the business fabric. An IT Procurement manager who doesn’t have an accurate picture of software assets usage, is likely to buy more software licenses than the company needs. On the other hand, if there are not enough licenses, the company may be hampered in being able to complete a project on time. 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. As the number of licenses and the complexity of those licenses increases, the traditional methods of manually keeping track of software licenses becomes unwieldy. Improving the management of your IT assets can help ensure your company is in compliance with contract requirements and that you are optimizing the use of the IT assets you are paying for.

Authors

Judith Hurwitz, President

Marcia Kaufman, COO

Sponsored by IBM

IT Financial managers are accountable for an organization’s contractual obligations for licensed software.

The increasing prevalence of software audits places the IT Financial manager in a difficult position, unless he has immediate access to accurate information about software license usage at the organization. Often it takes a long time to compile the information required to gain a complete view of software license usage across the organization. Once the compilation is complete the IT Financial Manager is not always confident in the accuracy of this information. Software contracts are very complex because they must 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. As the number of licenses and the complexity of those licenses increases, the traditional manual methods of keeping track of software licenses becomes unwieldy. Improving the management of your IT assets can help ensure your company is in compliance with contract requirements and optimizing the use of the IT assets you are paying for.

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.

Authors

Marcia Kaufman, Partner

Dr. Fern Halper, Partner

Sponsored by IBM

Organizations are taking a hard look at how to ensure that the software delivery process is aligned with the strategy and goals of the business.

The delivery of high quality software in today’s increasingly interconnected and computerized world is more critical than ever to an organization’s success. Why? In one form or another, this software touches the customer. Today, software drives everything from equipment on the factory floor to controls managing traffic flow on crowded city streets. Whether it is a system to process claims and deliver information to customers and partners, an online banking system, or the embedded technology systems in an automobile or household appliance, businesses rely on software assets to build competitive advantage and grow their businesses.

Authors

Judith Hurwitz, CEO

Robin Bloor, Partner

Sponsored by Phurnace

Configuration Errors are the Road to Ruin

Companies of all shapes and sizes are faced with an increasingly complicated world of
having to maintain web applications. A lot has changed over the last ten years. When
companies began acquiring web servers to build customer facing web applications the
world was a simpler place. These applications were changed only once or twice a year.