Software License Compliance
Software License Management, or SLM, is part of overall Software Asset Management (SAM) capability and involves the process of procuring, deploying and harvesting unused licenses to improve compliance and optimize IT costs. DigitoWork helps you monitor and maintain all your organization’s various Software Licenses, Cost and Compliance.
A huge advantage that we provide your company to have all software licenses under control is to save money. By tracking and monitoring all purchases, clients are ensured that each license is accounted for and is being used The biggest benefit of DigitoWork SLM is that we ensure all software products are following compliance with software licenses (also known as an End-User License Agreement, or EULA).
We completely understand that if one device that is using unlicensed software, or is not following specific guidelines set by the EULA, our esteem clients could be in for some hefty fines or even legal trouble.
Top 3 benefits of DigitoWork Software License Management:
Costs you control: Minimize what you spend on licenses, and maximize how you save (FinOps)
Automation you need: Instantly calculate the licenses you used for servers, virtual servers, and cloud (Effective License Position ELP)
Compliance you trust: Get accurate analysis that shows how your usage matches your contracts (Continuous License Reconciliation CLR)
Software License Management Best Practices and Practical Considerations
DigitoWork ensures that your company does not take unnecessary risks when it comes to managing all your software licenses. Here are some software license management best practices:
1. Strong Policies: Create a software management policy that is clear and explicit that helps you to establish clear controls needed to effectively manage your software assets as well as avoid common pitfalls.
2. Clear Controls: At a minimum, set enforce-able controls regarding software usage within the company and outline strict guidelines on who is authorized to install or purchase software. A good practice here is to control the front door through digital storefronts and restrict the ability for users to download or install software. With today’s handheld and mobility revolution and end-user app-stores, this becomes more of a risk to the enterprise and your company.
3. Process and Governance: Establish roles and processes to manage the hardware and software lifecycle. Effectively communicate, implement and manage the software asset policy and enabling processes.
4. Automated Discovery: Regularly discover your hardware and software in all network environments and audit every type of software that is installed on employees desktops. Physical audits should be established in addition to automation. Data quality is an underpinning capability to success.
5. Asset Management and your CMDB: In addition to discovery, manage the lifecycle of your assets to ensure data quality. Ensure your CMDB and Asset systems contain a robust data model that meets the needs of all your hardware and software assets.
6. Automated Provisioning and Audits: Perform regular checks and deploy the latest software updates.
7. Software Refresh: Strong License Management helps in proper software update and upgrade process combined with patch management.
8. Cloud: Reduce the cost, risk and complexity of server & cloud licenses.
9. Traceability: Keep track of how applications are being used and who is using them. Integrate this usage with your on-boarding and off-boarding processes. A good practice here is to ensure your provisioning automation for both end users and the data center not only records the software usage and owners, but also initiates ongoing discovery to enable comparison of your book understanding to a discovered understanding.
10. Contracts Integration: Utilize or integrate your contractual databases or procurement records to establish a clear understanding of your licenses. In DigitoWork , be sure to know your license types, quantity, and expiration dates.
11. Measure Your Outcome: Set targets and measure progress against license cost saving goals.
We manage various license types, not limited to:
• Perpetual Licensing
• Feature-Based Licensing
• Concurrent Licensing
• Subscription-Based Licensing
• Proprietary Licensing
• Floating Feature Licensing
• Network Licensing
• Cloud-Based Licensing
• Processor license
• Named User Licenses
• Unlimited Licenses
• Enterprise Licenses
