A [Highly Unscientific] Software Asset Management Survey

We recently surveyed via email 363 IT professionals to gauge at a very high level their current status with respect to their software asset management initiatives.  While I don’t claim this survey adheres to the more rigorous standards of academic research, I still found it quite interesting.  Here are just a few of the findings:

1)  Nearly half of those surveyed indicated they currently have a software asset management tool in place. 

2)  Of those with a software asset management tool, close to 40% were dissatisfied with it.

3)  Overall, only 10% said they’ve achieved their software asset management goals.  Of those who have not, 40% said they have plans to implement new technology to assist with their software asset management efforts.

4)  Despite the small number of those who have met their software asset management goals, a whopping 75% overall (inclusive of those with tools already implemented) indicated they don’t have executive support for their software asset management initiatives. 

While the survey didn’t get into the particulars of how the current economy has influenced or changed organizational goals or executive support for software asset management, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that #3 and #4 above can vary significantly from year to year depending on businesses’ financial performance and the resulting impacts on IT spending.  In particular, it’s no secret that in challenging economic times executive support for spending money on anything but the most “mission-critical” software projects comes to a grinding halt.

My next post will explore what, exactly, “mission-critical” means, and whether or not software asset management can (or should) be regarded as such. To those concerned about my objectivity, I promise to leave the KoolAid in the fridge…

Article written by Kris Barker, CEO

As co-founder and CEO of Express Metrix, Kris focuses not only on business strategy, but also leads a team of passionate developers responsible for planning and executing on the product roadmap. Kris also enjoys competitive sailing and debating the finer points related to proper use of the English language.