Here’s an interesting article about the relationship between CIOs and CFOs, written by Scott Rosenberg of Miro Consulting.  In the column, Rosenberg asserts that CIOs and CFOs frequently don’t see eye-to-eye not because of competing agendas, but because budget is typically prioritized and allocated based on the profitability of any given division. Ironically, therefore, CIOs often find themselves with inadequate budget to effectively accomplish the initiatives intended to support those very groups.

What does this have to do with software license management?  Well, one issue that compounds the problem is that all too often, organizations are vastly over-licensed on software. However, CFOs, who are preoccupied with opportunities to reduce unnecessary spending, don’t have the expertise or tools to identify such problem areas.  If CIOs can bring this problem to light, they can strengthen their partnership through a shared agenda and free up precious funds by renegotiating license agreements that more closely reflect actual software usage.   

(more…)

Ouch!  A New York-based brokerage company, Euro Brokers, is being sued by IBM for an undisclosed amount for allegedly downloading unlicensed software valued at more than $1.7 million.  According to an InformationWeek article, Euro Brokers was once a legitimate IBM customer, having purchased licenses for Informix database software. But a software audit performed by KPMG revealed that over the course of several years the company had installed additional copies that it hadn’t paid for. 

Here’s the chronology of events as described by IBM in the lawsuit: (more…)

In one corner we have the “do-everything” enterprise asset management suite that competes based on its heavyweight status—dripping with functionality and desktop management features that accompany its software license management capabilities.  In the other corner we have the slender, agile point product that delivers swift punches with a narrower set of capabilities.  So who wins the match? 

I will start this post by saying that I’m biased. This blog exists to accomplish more than to satisfy my desire for celebrity and to impress my friends.  I work for a company that has spent 10+ years cultivating a software license management point product that meets a targeted set of customer needs. But still, I will try to be objective.                                                        

(more…)

[Warning: Those who know me know that I’m somewhat prone to hyperbole; this post is no exception.]

I woke up this morning feeling something like Bill Murray in “Groundhog Day.” On NPR: yet more bad economic news from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Despite forecasts predicting a December turnaround in the employment market, the economy actually shed another 85,000 jobs. Seriously? Again?

You may recall in the economic downturn of 2001, George Bush famously pleaded for consumers to “go shopping” as a patriotic duty that would help lift the nation out of recession. Well, if, like me, you’re not inclined to go spend your recently decimated nest egg, given the tepid “jobless recovery” that seems to be underway.  But maybe you’re more inclined to spend a little of your company’s money as a patriotic act of economic stimulus known as “software license management.”

Still with me?  If so, hear me out:

(more…)

Happy New Year!

If you’re anything like me, the first weeks of January usually involve a Herculean effort to work off the extra pounds you packed on as a result of all the holiday excess.  But this task is dwarfed in comparison to the effort your company may face as a result of the past decade’s technology excesses:  blind overpurchasing of applications, lax software usage policies, unfettered adoption of new enterprise and consumer technologies, and a pervasive “Wild West” attitude toward responsible licensing practices.  All these have led to a glut of shelfware, institutionalized overspending, and unprecedented software piracy risk among many organizations–leaving IT departments with a colossal mess to clean up.

Related to all this, I thought I’d post a timely and well-written article about the ever-evolving pitfalls related to software licensing, written by Dan Tynan of InfoWorld. The column is a good primer on software license management, especially for those looking to get a handle on their license position. (Our own Kris Barker was tapped by Dan to lend his expertise about driving down application and support costs by metering software usage, along with navigating the licensing landmines associated with virtualized systems and software.)

(more…)