The Assessment:
Our client, a large government agency, recognized the need for a new software asset management (SAM) system and wanted to bring in DSS subject matter experts (SMEs) to modernize their current system. The team that worked on the SAM process was understaffed. For years, they had been using manual processes resulting in suspect data that possessed no real structure. This situation led to confusion amongst the consumers in relation to obtaining and maintaining software titles.
The DSS Solution:
We broke the project down into several phases to resolve present-day issues related to the stale data and lack of proper procedures. First, we decided to clean the data. Next, in collaboration with the customer, we created and implemented a procedure for tracking the lifecycle of every software title in the infrastructure.
We did all of this with an eye toward the future goal of integrating software asset management into ServiceNow. Since the client was putting ServiceNow into the infrastructure, it seemed the best approach to utilize the tools already available. Because government entities can be slow-moving and change-resistant by nature, we felt this path would be the one with the least resistance and the highest chance of successful adoption.
At the one-year mark, we are well ahead of our proposed roadmap. We have cleaned the data and propagated information to make the process of acquiring and renewing software licenses more transparent to end users. We have saved the client more than $1M by rightsizing purchases of underutilized software. We have also assisted in bringing overutilized software back into compliance.
The DSS Difference: When our client faced a software asset management mishap, DSS’s consultative approach provided a roadmap to navigate from the present to the desired future state. Our in-house expertise in software asset management and IT project management added significant value throughout the engagement. At the outset, we worked to understand the nature of the client’s needs and developed an elegant solution that addressed all of them. A key aspect of the DSS difference is that the senior personnel who designed the solution are also skilled practitioners who stayed with the client to implement it. We focused on solving the client’s SAM dilemma, while navigating the roadblocks associated with government processes such as the merging of four agencies under one umbrella so that our client could focus on its primary business. Providing a solution that required few new purchases or resources, we have made great strides toward a fully automated and integrated software asset management process.
