ISO Survey Results
FINDINGS:ISO 19770 A bridge to far
Survey Aim:
To determine attitudes towards formal SAM models and frameworks (particularly/embodied by ISO 19770-1 and others such as BSA 'SAM Advantage' and FAST)
250 responses collected respondents were largely IT management, private sector organisations.
Results:
What is your opinion of formal SAM programs?
I am dubious of the motives of Formal SAM programs as they vendor dominated or not truly independent 8%
Formal SAM programs are onerous and do not provide clear business benefits 31 %
Formal SAM programs require more resource than I have available to be cost effective or a success 28%
Formal SAM programs can positively influence operations 23%
Formal SAM programs can (cost effectively) deliver cost savings / reduced procurement spend 10%
Which of the following best matches your opinion of the focus of IT over the coming year?
Cost savings will be the primary focus 58%
Performance improvements will be the primary focus 18%
Return on existing IT investments will be the primary focus 24%
Rank the following items in order of importance to your organization in 2009 when selecting the adoption of IT best practice activities and programs (where 5 is most important and 1 is the least important).
Delivering overall IT cost reductions 5
Meeting compliance and legislative requirements 4
Improving operational efficiency 3
Standardization of services 2
Improvements in IT management control 1
The main business benefit of Software asset management (SAM) is:
Meeting regulatory and license obligations 64%
Mitigating operational risk 6%
Strengthening internal controls 12%
Controlling costs 10%
Reducing costs 8%
ISO/IEC 19770-1 defines a set of controls for \\\'best practice\\\' in software asset management. These controls are mainly operational in nature and often require changes to working practices and extra resource. In 2009, how likely is your organisation to invest in the achievement of formal SAM standards such as ISO/IEC 19770-1
Less likely than 2008 46%
No change 42%
More likely than 2008 12%
Key Findings:
The market equates formal SAM programs with compliance: SAM is still primarily seen as a method for meeting compliance and regulatory obligations.
Cost savings are not seen to be a key deliverable of SAM (This may be because of the heavy vendor influence in SAM programs)
Formal SAM programs are seen as onerous / resource intensive.
Formal SAM programs will struggle for justification unless they can display real value and cost savings, given this ISO 19770-1 appears to be an aspiration only.
Organisations are less likely to implement formal SAM programs in the current economic climate than they were a year ago.
SAM should refocus on how it can reduce costs: the 'legal' message will not sell as well as 'lean and legal'
The primary goal of SAM should be to reduce the amount and types of software in use, leading to operational efficiency and cost savings. The traditional message of 'truing up' should be replaced with 'slimming down'.
