Your Guide to Choosing a Software Portfolio Analysis Solution

Software Asset Management (SAM) solutions have promised software compliance and lower risk in case of an audit. But knowing your software inventory can do so much more for your business. However choosing a software portfolio analysis can be quite challenging. We shed some light on the 3 things to do before you decide on a portfolio management solution and explain what you can expect from a good Portfolio Management Platform.

According to IT analyst Gartner, companies can reduce their current software budget by up to 30% by analyzing, optimizing and right-sizing their current portfolio of software applications. A transparent and well-managed software environment can also reduce your security risk profile dramatically. But all software portfolio analyses solutions are not the same. In fact, the current solutions on the market remarkably differ from each other regarding scope of functionalities, data quality and additional services.

Compare the features and benefits of your software

Prevent unnecessary software diversity and identify security gaps immediately.

The main goals of introducing software portfolio analyses in your company are to lower costs and reduce security risks. But how can you accomplish this?

1. Consolidate your software to a smaller number of vendors to get higher rebates for higher purchasing volumes, which usually translates into higher discounts, and lower your operating, support and training costs
2. Analyze your current portfolio based on required functions for your job roles and business requirements instead of just renewing your current contracts blind
3. Sort out software which is not used or has been discontinued by the manufacturer to lower support and training expenditures and to reduce security risks
4. Identify software versions and patch levels that are not up-to-date or have even reached end-of-life (not supported by the vendor anymore) to reduce security risk
5. Identify software that is not frequently used by your users and identify unauthorized software like games, suspicious programs or file-sharing

In order to do this effectively, you need as much information about your software as possible. Only with detailed information – such as the functionalities of the software products that you use and that are available on the market – are you able to compare and select which products you want to continue to use. Not every solution for software portfolio analyses provides this valuable information with this level of detail.

Some software asset management solutions provide possibilities for software portfolio analyses. These packages often involve time-consuming and complex implementations, as well as large investments. You might not even need all of the included features at the moment. Instead, a modular solution is able to fit your current business needs, makes your initial investment smaller and gives you immediate value.

Before you decide on a portfolio management solution, you should be certain that it provides the right benefits for your company. To make sure you choose the right solution, you should request an individual and non-binding proof of value so you can assess whether the information, functionalities and reports meet your requirements and generate the promised potential for optimization.

What you can expect from a good Portfolio Management Platform just like the one SoftwareONE offers:

• Comprehensive evaluation options to analyze your software within 17 categories, comparing a total of 480 functions, so you can obtain an overview of all installed software versions, patch levels, as well as unused software.
• Unique qualification of your data and a comprehensive software catalog that automatically recognizes 14,000 manufacturers and 800,000 releases. The software catalog expands continuously and is also able to recognize and analyze non-standard software.
• A powerful managed service easily adapting to your business requirements: Additional Services can be easily activated within your Portfolio Management Platform Dashboard.
• A non-binding Proof of Value that shows you the benefits of our solution.
• A single point of contact for technology, service and consulting. The SAM experts support you so you can achieve your business requirements and guide you through your digital transformation.