Within the complex realm of information technology asset management (ITAM), software asset management (SAM) gets the spotlight over its less glorified sibling, hardware asset management (HAM).
It’s easy to see why; when IT executives see the huge price tag on their Microsoft or Oracle renewals or shocking costs associated with non-compliance in a software license audit, they immediately jump to launching a SAM program. They do this to minimize exposure and realize hard cost savings.
A SAM program is an excellent way to control your company’s software investments. Companies spend a significant amount on a new SAM tool. They hire a few employees to manage it and expect that it will solve their headaches for why they started a SAM program in the first place.
However, the SAM team inevitably starts to hit roadblocks and gets frustrated when they realize their newly implemented SAM tool cannot give them all the data they need. They can’t generate an accurate, effective license position (ELP) to support software renewals and optimize spending.
In our experience at SoftwareOne, poor hardware asset management is one of the most common reasons why customers hit these roadblocks and have an ineffective or failed SAM program. HAM is something that most SAM tools have limited or no capabilities with.
However, HAM plays a critical role in determining the success of your SAM program. Intuitively, this makes sense. After all, software, by its very nature, needs hardware to run on.
How can you expect to manage your hardware assets if you can't manage your software assets?
It’s akin to building a house on an unstable foundation. If you don’t know what hardware exists, where it’s located, its status, who owns it, or what it’s used for, managing the software running on it becomes exceedingly difficult.
Furthermore, while SAM gets the majority of the focus within ITAM, hardware, not software, remains the top IT spending category, according to the ITAM Review. This means companies spend more on hardware than software. With a hybrid cloud becoming the preferred IT strategy for many companies, instead of a pure public cloud strategy, that means hardware spend is not going away.
How do you set up your SAM team to start doing HAM? It begins by combining tools, processes, and people like any complete, sustainable solution. Let’s dive into each area.
A quality configuration management database (CMDB) is the pillar of good HAM. Most people think of a CMDB in the context of supporting operational IT activities such as service management and change management, but it also helps ITAM and SAM. A good CMDB has both the right data attributes and accurate data (see process and people) that should be integrated with your SAM tool.
You may have a CMDB in place, but what’s the process for keeping the data in it up to date? Are new configuration items (Cis) automatically created when new servers are built? Are they retiring old CIs when they decommission that Windows 2008 or 2012 environment? Is the correct server environment being entered so teams can differentiate between production and development servers? There must be processes in place to manage the lifecycle of your company’s hardware assets.
Are your infrastructure teams aware of the processes, and more importantly, is there any governance around them? Do they understand the importance of data quality, both for doing their own job and so the SAM team can do theirs?
While HAM doesn’t get the attention a SAM program typically does, building your successful ITAM program from the ground up makes more sense. Start with establishing sound processes and controls around hardware asset management. If you do this, you’ll find that your SAM program runs much more smoothly, efficiently, and effectively in the long run.
Download our full list of on-demand sessions to gain valuable insights on optimizing your software asset management (SAM), enhancing your FinOps practice, and modernizing for long-term value.
Download our full list of on-demand sessions to gain valuable insights on optimizing your software asset management (SAM), enhancing your FinOps practice, and modernizing for long-term value.
