Why is SAM so important?
Statistics
Company expenditure on IT is escalating with a higher percentage of this tending towards software. The estimates below are based on Gartner's review of IT environments and Software Asset Management.
- IT Expenditure: 5% of an organisation's annual turnover is realised as its IT investment. An estimated 25% of the IT investment is allocated to software.
- ROI Calculation: an organisation could experience of cost saving of 25%-30% of the cost of software in the first year after successfully implementing a SAM solution.
- Potential Cost Saving: organisations that have been marged or rationalised could be over licensed by 15%-25%.
- Potential Comliancy Risk: up to 35% of desktops could potentially be under licensed.
Regulatory Drivers of SAM
All the Regulatory Standards below have compliancy elements focusing on Software Asset Management:
- ISO Standard 19770-1 on Software Asset Management
- King II Report
- Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
- IFRS compliancy
- IAS 16, 36, 38 Effective January 1, 2005
- Public Finance Management Act (PFMA)
- Municipal Finance Act (MFMA)
- Electronics Communication Act (ECT)
- Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA)
- Privacy and Data Protection Act
- Copyright Act
- Protection of Information Act (PIA)
- Minimum Information Security Standards (MISS)
- Minimum Information Interoperability Standards (MIOS)
Benefits Derived from SAM
Risk Management: A porperly implemented SAM solution facilitates better management of the following business risk areas:
- risk of interuption to IT services
- risk of deterioration in the quality of IT services
- legal and regulatory exposure
- risk of damage to public image arising form any of the above
Cost Control: SAM facilitates better cost control and negotiating ability through:
- reduced direct costs of software and related assets, e.g. by negotiating better price through optimum use of the volume contracting agreements, and by avoiding purchasing new licenses when existing ones can be redeployed;
- reduced time and cost for negotiating with suppliers owing to readily availible, up to date information;
- reduced support costs that are significantly affected by the quality of SAM processes, both directly within IT and indirectly within end-user areas;
- improved financial control through better contract knowledge and charge reconciliation, resulting in more accurate forcasting and budgeting;
- reduced infrastructure costs through managing software and related assets and ensuring that assts are efficiently and effectively utilised;
- constant up to date view of IT Assets, allowing for more informed decisions
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