By Eric J. Feldman
@EricJFeldman
Ever hear of the “Pleasure Principle?” This is a term coined by Sigmund Freud to describe the instinctual seeking of pleasure and avoiding of pain in order to satisfy human needs.
It’s easy to see how people will make decisions that have pleasurable outcomes. Shopping, entertainment, driving a fancy car, taking an exotic vacation. But did you know that when an outcome is motivated by both pleasure and pain, the desire to avoid pain almost always wins?
Here is an example. Think of how often people break their resolutions to lose weight. Those people can envision all the benefits of losing weight: better health, more energy, create confidence, and physical attractiveness. But what often wins out? The pain of exercise and a stricter diet.
When do many people file their taxes? In January, because they were able to experience the “pleasure” of being done with a task that no one likes? No! Filing income taxes is painful. That is why many people put it off until April when the pain of NOT FILING becomes even greater.
Flexera Software recently published an interesting report “The State of the (Software) Estate: Waste Is Running Rampant in Enterprises.” I don't want to review this report here as you can read an excellent blog about it by my colleague Steve Beards.
But I want to focus on one finding in the report. There is a survey question entitled “If you are currently managing your software licenses and usage, what are the most important reasons for doing so? (check all that apply).”
Not surprisingly, the top two reasons why an enterprise employs software asset management or software license optimization practices and tools are to either reduce software costs, or reduce the risk of an audit.
I guess if we apply the Pleasure Principle to software, then we can conclude that the pain of an audit or spending too much money will be far greater motivators than the “pleasure” received as a result managing your software licenses.
Effective software asset management does come with many valuable benefits including savings of up to 25% of your annual software license spend, the ability to negotiate better software licensing agreements, and having the data to successfully defend against a software audit.
In order to achieve this “pleasure,” you need the right solution, such as the FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises, a comprehensive, proven, next generation hardware asset management, software asset management, license compliance and software license optimization solution will help you maintain compliance, reduce the risk of an audit, and help save money on software.
And do you want more information about the waste that could impact your organization’s finances and operations? Be sure to download this report, The State of the (Software) Estate: Waste & Risk Running Rampant in Enterprises.
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