The Hindu Business Line : ‘Managing software assets key to regulating effectiveness, losses’

Bangalore, Aug. 21 Software Asset Management (SAM) might be the answer to unauthorised software deployment, which creates a dent in a software maker’s revenue, but the concept still has a limited mind space in India.

There are very few customers who have a mature and operational SAM framework and technology in place, said Mr Arpinder Singh, Executive Director (Advisory), Forensic Services, KPMG

He told a group of journalists, who attended the KPMG Intellectual Property Summit, 2008 organised by the company in Goa, that the flip side is that these companies are constantly struggling in managing software assets and are looking for an effective solution, he added.

SAM includes the infrastructure and processes necessary for effective management, control and protection of software assets throughout their lifecycle, KPMG said.

Survey

Software companies lose significant amounts of their revenue due to unlicensed use of their products. In a survey conducted by KPMG, 34 per cent of respondents said losses amount to 10 per cent of revenue and 21 per cent said their companies lose over 20 per cent.

The survey was conducted in association with the International Business Software Manager’s Association, a trade group that represents enterprise-level software customers, the company said.

Mr Singh said only bits and pieces of SAM can be seen implemented in the industry; ISO 27001 talks about asset management and identification. Some deployment inventory tools are available and implemented. Fully operational solutions around SAM are also available, he added.

KPMG said SAM is not a static framework, but an ongoing process. The SAM ecosystem has three main areas — procedures, technology and people. Effective implementation of SAM components around these areas will bring better control around software deployment and other related issues, said Mr Singh.

He said people’s awareness ensures that users use authorised software and follow the processes. On the other hand, well-designed processes ensure adherence to organisation policies for legitimate software use. Technology provides technical control and automation to the ecosystem that is most important for success of any SAM framework.

System benefits

SAM provides multiple benefits such as compliance against licence agreements, said Mr Singh. It also allows better forecasting, budgeting, efficient utilisation of licenses and better negotiating power with the software vendors, he added.

He said awareness around what software is in use in the company provides the management accurate decision-making control around standardisation and optimisation on IT infrastructure. Companies would also get greater corporate value due to compliance and better-informed people, he added.

KPMG said unlike physical assets, software can be easily and effortlessly replicated, which may result in under licensing (installing software on multiple computers using one licensed copy).

Relative invisibility of software assets causes challenges in monitoring and control, checking misuse and determining effectiveness, it added.