By Cyndi Tackett
Another important factor to consider in selecting a Software License Optimization solution is the level of automation supplied to reduce the manual effort required for maintaining your optimal license position across your software estate.
For instance, you want to make sure your solution is able to automate these critical processes:
- Associating License Models to Users or Devices. For example, if an installation of Oracle Database should consume a Named User Plus license, the Software License Optimization solution should automatically assign the software license model and metric to each instance of Oracle Database found on the same server.
- License Assignment and Transfer Process. Assigning a block of license purchases to individual users or machines should be simple and straightforward. For example, if you purchase 10 copies of Snag-It for ten specific devices, the process for license transfer processing and software license assignments should be simple and straightforward across bulk purchases which is the way you typically buy such licenses.
- Maintaining Point Tables. Many vendors such as Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Symantec, etc. supply point tables to determine how many points an application installation on a specific machine consumes. Your solution should provide out-of-the-box visibility into these points tables, including visibility into which points tables were applied to any license consumption.
- Maintaining Cost Center Structures. Your Software License Optimization solution should support a flexible, multi-tiered cost center hierarchy and it should be simple to map purchases to these cost centers. Most large organizations have complex cost center structures that are many layers deep.