Don't be afraid of SAM — Part 3

License Management: A permanently implemented process, not just a project

As the number of workstations and servers on the corporate network grows, it becomes more intricate to consistently detect the installed software packages. One hundred percent coverage would be desirable, but is probably an almost impossible task. Even more if single computers or the entire network are scanned just once or twice a year for counting and capturing the installed software packages.

Software vendors such as for example Microsoft expect a documented, ongoing process that extends over years. Therefore, a thorough license management is to be understood as a continuous and repeated process, and not as a sporadic snapshot driven by activism. The awareness that a reasonable Software Asset Management should represent a permanent and sustained process to achieve the best possible balance between overlicensing and underlicensing, is still missing in many corporations.

To obtain a meaningful statistical data base, we recommend to scan the network twice a day: At night for gathering data from computers that are permanantly switched on and connected to the network. And per logon script to collect information from computers as soon as they connect to the network. To capture most of the computers via automated network scans over a period of several weeks, we propose to let the query engine LOGINquiry run every 23 hours. This allows you to even catch information from machines who are not constantly available due to vacations, business travel, illness etc. of their users. Or simply because several computers are run only at certain times due to shift work. Through the widest possible base of raw data, you can make the necessary preparations (collect, sort,
select, consolidate data) and save both yourself and your company a lot of work and aggravation - long before an audit at your company emerges. LOGINventory offers many flexible options for reporting on contemporary states at any time.

The next Part 4 explains that there is no reason to be worried with the right SAM strategy