Businesses these days use lots and lots of software programs. All of those programs need to be licensed, managed, and retired in accordance with different vendor guidelines. How can you corral those tasks into an efficient and straightforward process? Use the ServiceNow Software Asset Management application.
The first two steps in starting down the road to software asset management are, by far, the most critical:
- identify what you have
- clean house
To determine the software you have, use a tool such as Discovery. This ServiceNow subscription product extracts information from computers using probes and sensors. The discovered information is analyzed and loaded into the CMDB.
Now that you know what you've got, allocate time to clean up the information. I know, nobody wants to do clean up work, but your software asset management program has a much greater chance of success if you start with an accurate and logically organized foundation. While editing the information, create standards for naming software programs and versions. Then, stick to those standards and make sure everyone else does as well.
Managing software assets properly can save your company money and keep your company in compliance with complex licensing rules. For more information, see Software Asset Management in the product documentation.
