How Can Licence Management Software Help A Business' IT Department

Management of a company's software licenses is as paramount as managing the company's daily operations. If a business does not have a software license management program, the company may violate legal requirements for the use of software licenses and suffer criminal or civil penalties. Without a license program, a business may be paying more than is necessary for software. And a software licensing program will help to assure the computer systems security of the business and to ensure the company's software portfolio is up-to-date.

Software As A Business Asset To Be Managed

Assets are those essential elements of every business that contribute to the health and well-being of the business. An asset requires explicit management during its lifecycle, from purchase, to deployment, to maintenance, and finally, to retirement. And software is one of those assets. License management is an aspect particular to software assets, and should include operational features that will scan the company's networks, discover automatically all software on the network, and monitor the software licensing to check for compliance, and whether the company is underlicensed or overlicensed.

Software Licensing As A Negotiable Item

The terms of software licensing can be negotiated with each vendor, not only to save money, but also to simplify software license management. Use this checklist of the most important software licensing contract points:

- Scope The license should be broad enough to allow installs and use of the software on as many computers as required. - Deliverables The license should be clear on what will be provided to the company, when, and in what form, for the executables and the documentation. - Services Furnished The license should specify the vendor's obligation to provide training, support, and maintenance and support. - Remedies The license should specify how promptly the vendor is required to address problems.

Software Licensing Within A Microsoft Environment

Microsoft software programs, from email and word processing applications, to server and workstation operating systems, are embedded everywhere in the infrastructure of any business. Special software monitoring is possible with Microsoft's own software licensing applications. Any company server running a MS Server OS is a good choice for installing this monitoring software, which will keep your company on track for the correct volume usage discounts from Microsoft.

Software Licensing As Part Of Business Operations

A software licensing management requires a company to inventory all software as soon as it is purchased, installed, and deployed. Part of that deployment should be a permissions hierarchy that will indicate who is authorized to use which software programs and that will deny access to any unauthorized users. The license monitoring software will check the usage of software per the software's license, but usage of the software will vary as employees leave the company and new hires begin work for the company -- software licensing will need to be modified as the employees who use the software come and go. The most vital aspect is to align the management of software licenses with the policies and goals of the business.

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