GHD, an engineering architecture and construction services firm, has taken up a software asset management (SAM) tool to monitor its use of software licenses.
In mid-2014, it went through an evaluation process of SAM tools that were in the market. After the evaluation was completed, GHD IT services manager Brett Tancred said that it went with Flexera Software licence optimisation.
“It has enabled us to identity areas where we could improve the efficient use of software in the enterprise,” he said.
“Using Flexera as a software reporting front end gives us the information readily at our fingertips to run reports and understand where our environment is at with each application.”
GHD can now accurately see how many software licences are being used, and if the licences are not being used, there is a potential to reduce costs by retiring some licences.
Tancred said GHD has “never had a concern” that it was out of software compliance.
“Flexera has helped us make sure that we are more confident in the data we are providing to the [software] vendors. It’s cut down our time from days to just hours getting that information for our software licence renewals,” he said.
“Now, we are finding that we can get that information within an hour or two and send that off to the vendor and know that the information we are providing is true and correct.”
Turning to other IT projects, Tancred said GHD wants to increase its use of video conferencing.
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“The main focus is collaboration between offices. We’ve got a large skill set within the company that is spread across multiple countries. If we can bring collaboration to the users easily, than that is always going to be a focus for us,” he said.
BSA The Software Alliance has been urging Australian businesses to use SAM tools to ensure they are not at risk of using unlicensed software.
Almost 60 per cent of IT businesses experienced a data loss following a malware attack on unlicensed software in 2013, according to a global survey by the BSA.
Sixty-four per cent of the 2,000 IT managers who took part in the survey said unauthorised access into the IT system by hackers was a concern, while approximately half would not use unlicensed software in the workplace because of malware threats.
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The survey also found that unlicensed PC software levels in Australia were 21 per cent in 2013, a 2 per cent reduction since the survey was last conducted in 2011.
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