SAM Self-Assessment Tool Launched to Drive Software Cost Savings

<p>Following several recent high profile cases involving UK organisations being caught and fined for using unlicensed software, FrontRange Solutions has launched its online ‘SAM Analyzer’ to help firms self-assess their current approach to software asset management (SAM). The simple ten question test examines the organisation’s approach to critical software management factors such as having a complete audit, centralised procurement and how applications are deployed. The test is available at: www.frontrange.com/analyzer.</p>
<p>Matt Fisher, Director of Marketing at FrontRange commented: “While incidents such as the Soho House settlement with the BSA highlight the potential risks of not managing software effectively, there are also significant cost savings to be made from better SAM practices. For example, our own research shows that most organisations have unused software languishing on the network. Better visibility of these assets would enable firms to harvest these and reallocate licenses, rather than purchasing new software.”</p>
<p>According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), in 2008 British businesses had to pay £1.6 million in compensation and to ensure compliance. Furthermore under-licensing can cause security risks as unlicensed software is often not automatically equipped with all security relevant features and updates.</p>
<p>Speaking on behalf of the Software Industry Research Board (SIRB)[1], Sam Bramwell from Microsoft added: “While tighter IT budgets might encourage IT professionals to retrench their efforts and postpone new initiatives, SAM is a prime example of a project that is perfectly-suited to recessionary climate. We would typically expect a SAM project to more than pay for itself within no more than 12 months, delivering a fast and substantial ROI that the organisation can use to fund other critical projects.”</p>
<p>On completion of the self-assessment, the FrontRange SAM Analyzer will highlight areas of both strengths and weaknesses, advising organisations on how and where to make improvements in order to help drive a reduction in both software costs and risk of being caught in a non-compliant state.</p>
<p>To compare your organisation’s current approach to software management against established industry best practices, visit: www.frontrange.com/analyzer.</p>
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<p>[1] The SIRB is part of The Federation Against Software Theft, founded by Microsoft, Oracle, FrontRange Solutions and Computacenter.</p>
<p>About FrontRange Solutions</p>
<p>FrontRange Solutions develops software and services that growing mid-size firms and distributed enterprises rely on every day to build great customer relationships and deliver high-quality customer service. The company applies a unique combination of innovation and automation with a standards-based approach to simplify core business processes, including: IT service management; customer relationship and sales force management; and PC lifecycle management. More than 150,000 of the world’s best-known brands use FrontRange offerings to quickly improve their interactions with external and internal clients and achieve better business results. For more information, call +61 2 8080 3300, visit www.frontrange.com.au or follow FrontRangeSols on Twitter.</p>

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