The root cause of both situations is the inability to accurately manage software assets. In the past, complex licensing agreements made it easier for large enterprise IT groups to simply purchase more licenses than they expected to use. As software licensing costs have risen however, this approach is no longer viable. In addition, as older software tools fall into disuse, many organizations unknowingly continue to pay for users’ seats simply because they do not know the status of a specific license agreement. The problem is different for small and medium-sized businesses, which pay approximately $11 million of the $13 million in annual fines assessed by the Business Software Alliance, according to a recent article in the Associated Press. In these companies, violations are often unintentional, and fines represent a high percentage of the companies’ revenues. Yet software licensing compliance is a serious subject, and firms must find ways to ensure that usage aligns with paid licenses to avoid fines or overbuying.

“Software asset management holds the potential to save money, improve IT staff efficiency, raise service levels, and avoid risk,” says Peter Williams, senior analyst at Bloor Research. “Today’s asset management solutions include sophisticated capabilities for tracking software licenses and user requests, as well as metering actual usage. Deploying these kinds of capabilities not only minimizes the risk of overspending and noncompliance fines, but also supports enterprise chargeback operations.”

Solutions from PS’Soft have long been used to manage all IT assets. Today, many enterprises are finding that managing the full lifecycle of software assets reduces software costs, eliminates “rogue” buying, and improves software vendor contract negotiation. For example, the PS’Soft Software Request Management solution supports software selection processes that permit users to only select software that meets set usage profiles, automatically checks inventory before deploying new seats, supports automatic distribution, web downloads and manual installation processes, and automates budget and management approval processes.

“No matter the size of the company, asset management is increasingly required to manage software compliance—whether the software is shrink-wrapped boxed, delivered as a service, deployed across global locations, or even virtualized,” said Bill Yaman, vice president of marketing and business development at PS’Soft. “The stakes are too high to ignore software asset management, and with current technology, companies of all sizes can find an appropriate solution for their specific environment. As an industry leader, PS’Soft has been delivering powerful asset management solutions for more than 15 years, and has developed the expertise to help companies of all sizes avoid the pitfalls of buying too much or not enough.”

About PS’Soft

PS’Soft is a global provider of Asset Management, Service Management and Software License Compliance solutions. With over fifteen years experience and thousands of successful deployments, PS’Soft guides organizations to develop sound asset and service management processes – whether based on ITIL, other industry standards or an organization’s unique process requirements. Unlike complex frameworks, PS’Soft’s suite of scalable applications is adaptable, provides quick time to value and easily integrates with an existing IT infrastructure. For more information about PS’Soft and its suite of products and services, please visit www.pssoft.com.