It is critical to have a deeper understanding of what's happening with mobile devices in your business beyond email, as this can have a huge impact on your licensing position and can expose you to compliance risk. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) schemes are still a fledgling practice – governing use of personal devices on corporate networks by employees is one of the trickiest processes when there is no proper structure or protocol in place.
To uncover the business intelligence that you need to gain a holistic view of your software estate, enterprise-level business intelligence software should be considered. With this in hand, you have the clarity that can really help you to understand the opportunity or risk you may face when considering a move to the cloud, implementing a virtual environment, or dealing with mobile computing.
TRP: How is cloud computing and virtualisation changing the way vendors structure licensing?
MP: While licensing has typically been based on the number of users, or per processor, some vendors have noticed that the cloud adds complexity to traditional licensing structures and have worked to create new ways to get a handle on this.
Microsoft, for example, has recently replaced its three-year-old software licensing pricing structure with Server and Cloud Enrolment (SCE), a new licensing vehicle that enables customers to standardise on one or more Microsoft Server and Cloud technologies. This makes it easier for customers to plan, administer, and adapt as organisations evolve.
TRP: What should companies be paying attention to in their vendor contracts?
MP: Check the small print for things like software maintenance clauses; you may not need this if you have IT professionals in-house and you could be paying over the odds for a service that you don't need.
In addition to this, query your audit clause from the beginning – understand your contractual obligations and control what information you should and should not provide. Remember, the vendor is likely to use audits to identify revenue generating opportunities including upgrades and under-licensing, so you need to have control of this from the first instance.
TRP: What can be done to keep track of your software estate if you want to make changes to it?
MP: When keeping track of, and making changes to your software estate, making use of scenario modelling is a good way of getting a clear picture of your entire estate and also the impact of licensing, so you can communicate this to your vendor.
Having this visibility means that you know exactly what you have and what you need, and you can avoid falling into a trap of paying for additional services you may not require when your vendor suggests them to you.
About Martin Prendergast
Martin is CEO and co-founder of Concorde Solutions. He has worked with a large number of companies around the world and has helped architect, sell and deliver solutions for market leaders such as HP, CSC, EDS and Computacenter.
