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Keeping all of your software licenses organized and updated can be a challenge for any company.  But with careful documentation, you can keep ongoing costs down as well as improve your chances of avoiding an expensive software license audit.

1- Compare existing licenses to currently installed products to verify that they match.

2- Put a system in place that automatically updates when licenses expire or new products are added.

3- Keep a copy of all master software license agreements in a central repository.  It is helpful to look back at what was used originally and what negotiations took place to reach that initial agreement.  Seeing how the master agreement came together can be helpful in future procurement and negotiations.  This master agreement will also note which members of the vendor’s staff was responsible for each respective application.  When one of the applications has an issue, you won’t have to do any digging to find the right person to reach out to for help.

In taking the time to thoroughly document your software licenses, you’ll be able to reduce costs, stay effective and keep things running smoothly.

Software deployment can be a headache. When installing something like an Operating System (OS) across many machines, you have the option of installing it as a “package” which will cut down on the time you spend installing. There are also software asset management tools that will assist in software deployments.

Deployment tools are very helpful, but beware, they rely heavily on the associated discovery tools in order to indentify which machines have the software installed, and which do not. Tools like this are only as good as though using them. They can’t be relied on 100%, like any software on the market.

IT managers struggle with inbound requests for software installs. They get one-off requests from individual employees for a single program installation – often daily requests from various individuals and, more often than not, no two requests are the same. During all this, they are dealing with organization-wide patches and updates for all users. What is important to remember here is that a clear system for these requests (and managing the requests) is put in place and followed in order to insure that software investments are being made wisely and requests are getting fulfilled.

IT managers are also faced with the challenge of downloaded software off the Internet (paid for by credit card). They lose a bit of control when there is no disk in hand! In order to control this, we recommend implementing controls on every desktop, laptop and mobile device that will require administrator access to download any form of software. Beyond this, a centralized request process for new software must be routed through the IT department and a procedure for such requests implemented. For example, a request for more than 5 users must go through management, whereas a one off request can go through the IT department with accounting in the loop. Exception reporting will also help IT to recognize unauthorized downloads.

The surest remedy is to ‘lock-down’ all desktop computers so that only an administrator can install software, but even the most disciplined companies will have computers that are not ‘locked down’ for whatever reason, and it will always have people who know the administrator password which gives them the ability to install what they wish. Also, exception reporting is the key to identifying uncontrolled software installs and initiating processes to have it removed.

Whatever you do, be sure to implement a formal process and follow it. We say this time and time again, an exception set of policies and procedures is nothing if they are not implemented properly and followed.

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