Increase ROI by Integrating an Enterprise App Store with your Software License Optimization Solution
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This document discusses how integrating an enterprise app store with a software license optimization solution can increase ROI. Some key points: - Enterprise app stores provide employees with convenient access to approved business apps, but must maintain control over high-cost applications and complex licensing terms. - Integrating an app store with a license optimization solution allows them to check license availability before fulfillment, maintain continuous compliance and avoid costly penalties. - The integration also enables automated license reclamation to minimize overbuying and ensure full utilization of existing licenses, reducing software spending. Working together, these solutions help control costs while providing employees with a better experience.
Increase ROI by Integrating an Enterprise App Store with your Software License Optimization Solution
- 1. WHITEPAPER Increase ROI by Integrating an Enterprise App Store with Your Software License Optimization Solution
- 2. Increase ROI by Integrating an Enterprise App Store with Your Software License Optimization Solution 2 Increase ROI by Integrating an Enterprise App Store with Your Software License Optimization Solution Introduction Enterprise app stores are taking off, driven by the enormous success and popularity of consumer app stores. Enterprises are eager to offer their employees this consumer-oriented experience at work, so they benefit from the simplicity, convenience and speed of buying online and downloading apps almost instantly. What these enterprises are discovering is that an enterprise app store can and should be an integral part of an overall Software License Optimization program to increase efficiency and drive higher return on investment (ROI) across both the application portfolio and the asset management program itself. Easier access to business apps through an enterprise app store delivers clear benefits for employees. That alone is a compelling reason for embracing this technology because it enables enterprises to address the demand for the consumerization of IT. However, the new self-service model also offers major benefits for the enterprise. Per Gartner, enterprise app stores can increase ROI of the application portfolio as well as reduce license compliance risks, license fees and administration expenses. And considering that software represents 25 percent or more of total IT spend for the majority of enterprises, taking active steps to increase ROI in this area is of vital importance. An app store on its own can deliver significant value to the enterprise. However, to maximize ROI and unify application management processes in your organization, your app store should be part of an overall application usage management strategy. That requires integration with solutions that enable IT to effectively manage software licenses and maintain continuous license compliance while optimizing usage and minimizing spend. Software License Optimization is the next generation of Software Asset Management (SAM). It goes beyond simply comparing license counts to install counts to fully leveraging license entitlements. In doing so, it reduces license consumption and ongoing software costs. An enterprise app store can help the Software License Optimization solution enhance the management of on-premise, virtual and cloud-based applications and associated software licenses. In this white paper, we focus our attention on the value an enterprise can derive from integrating an app store with its Software License Optimization solution — benefits that include an enhanced ability to maintain license compliance and optimize software spend. Mark Bishof CEO Flexera Software, LLC
- 3. Increase ROI by Integrating an Enterprise App Store with Your Software License Optimization Solution 3 Software License Optimization plus Enterprise App Store Delivers Significant Business Benefits Enterprise app stores are already delivering tangible benefits to companies in a broad range of industries. An app store replaces cumbersome software request processes with a self-service experience that closely resembles shopping for consumer apps. As a result, employees enjoy higher productivity and faster delivery of the applications they need to be productive. An app store also helps drive down costs by taking a huge load off the IT staff through the automation of the software request and approval process. Companies report saving hundreds to thousands of hours in IT staff time as a result of this automation, depending on the number of users and applications. When done right, enterprise app stores not only provide employees with a rich selection of approved applications from which to choose, but they also allow IT to maintain control of the approval and fulfillment process to ensure fast delivery. When an app store is used in conjunction with a Software License Optimization solution, management can be confident that controls are in place to ensure that no software is installed without a license and that existing licenses are fully utilized. This minimizes the risk of license noncompliance and helps optimize software spend. Managing the Cost and Complexity of Enterprise Apps Despite the similarities between consumer and enterprise app stores, a successful enterprise app store isn’t merely the equivalent of a consumer app store dropped into an enterprise environment. That’s because enterprise applications differ substantially from their consumer counterparts in several important ways: Enterprise software costs more, the licensing terms are far more complex and if you don’t apply Software License Optimization strategies, you are almost certain to overspend on software licenses and maintenance. The Cost of Enterprise Software Unlike the typical consumer apps, enterprise applications can cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars per user. Consequently, you can’t allow users to indiscriminately download business applications. You need to establish and enforce an approval process for these higher-cost applications. In addition, you may also need to track costs by individual or business unit for purposes of chargeback or showback. Because of the higher costs, your enterprise app store and Software License Optimization solution have to employ effective strategies to maintain control of your application portfolio. For example, organizations need to minimize the existence of unused and under-used software throughout the IT environment. In establishing software asset management processes, however, it’s important to avoid burdening users with overly complex software request procedures or long delays in fulfilling requests. Licensing Complexity The complexity of software licensing terms is an additional factor to contend with in establishing a successful enterprise app store and Software License Optimization solution. Enterprises purchase licenses in bulk for large groups of users through volume purchase agreements. The terms of these licenses are complex and vary widely from one vendor to another. Failure to comply with license terms could result in unbudgeted software audit true-up costs and penalties. To avoid these unplanned and unnecessary expenses, IT and procurement personnel must have processes and tools in place to maintain license compliance. An audit trail of license entitlements and software deployments is also essential so you can demonstrate compliance to software vendors if and when it comes time for an audit. Both the app store and Software License Optimization solution play a role in maintaining an audit trail and staying in license compliance. The Need to Optimize Software Licenses In some enterprises, as much as 35 percent of IT spend goes toward software. To reduce software spend while increasing the value you derive from software investments, you must actively avoid overbuying of licenses and ensure that you fully utilize the licenses you have. That means operating your app store in concert with your Software License Optimization solution. License optimization involves leveraging software product use rights and analyzing usage data to minimize license consumption and reduce ongoing software costs. An integrated enterprise app store aids the license optimization process by automating the license reclamation process — reclaiming and reassigning licenses for applications that are installed but are no longer being used. The Power of App Store and Software License Optimization Integration App store integration with a Software License Optimization solution enables you to accomplish much more than merely providing convenient and efficient access to applications. You can also achieve continuous license compliance and conduct automated license reclamation campaigns to avoid over buying software licenses. Continuous License Compliance When a user requests an application from the app store, the store immediately accesses asset data for that application from the Software License Optimization solution, including the license position of the requested application (the number of licenses owned, how many copies of the software are installed or in use, and how many licenses are currently available). If the license position data indicates that a license is available, the app store can reserve a license for the user in the Software License Optimization solution and then move to the next step in the fulfillment process. This immediate
- 4. Increase ROI by Integrating an Enterprise App Store with Your Software License Optimization Solution 4 check for license availability and subsequent reservation maintains license compliance by making sure that a license is available prior to deploying the software. As a result, it eliminates the risk of unplanned and expensive software audit true-ups. Additionally, if no licenses are available at the time of the user request, workflows could have been defined to kick off the procurement process to purchase additional licenses. This would minimize delays in obtaining the licenses required to fulfill the request. Figure 1 shows how integration between an enterprise app store and a Software License Optimization solution can ensure that software is deployed only when a license is available—maintaining continuous license compliance. (1-2) When a user requests an application from the online catalog, the app store automatically queries the Software License Optimization solution to see if a license is available for that application. (3) If so, it requests that a license be reserved in the Software License Optimization solution. If not, the workflow could be developed to include a notification to the purchasing department initiating the procurement of additional licenses. (4) The app store determines if approval is necessary for that application. If not, delivery can take place in a matter of minutes through your enterprise deployment solution. If approval is required, the app store routes the request to the appropriate approvers according to rules established by the administrator. (5) When all approvals have been collected, the app store solution triggers the enterprise deployment solution to deliver the application to the user. (6) The next inventory collection process causes the Software License Optimization solution to consume a license for that application, as necessary. Figure 1. Automated, End-to-end Process for Software Request, Delivery and License Compliance
- 5. Increase ROI by Integrating an Enterprise App Store with Your Software License Optimization Solution 5 Automated License Reclamation When software sits idle, the enterprise is paying for licenses it either doesn’t need or could be allocated to other people in the organization who are requesting that software. License reclamation (also known as reharvesting) allows you to defer new license purchases and eliminate wasteful spending by discovering applications that are installed but have not been used for some period of time. With access to the Software License Optimization solution, the app store can periodically query those systems to identify software that is deployed but unused. Usually the IT asset manager specifies a period of time in which the software is unused, for example 90 days, after which the software becomes a candidate for reclamation. If your app store solution includes the ability to conduct automated reclamation campaigns by email, you can engage users in the reclamation process by sending a message that offers the option of keeping an application or surrendering it. For users who opt to surrender the application, the app store triggers a de-install process through the software deployment tool. The Software License Optimization solution then detects the removal of the software at the next inventory collection and adds the license back to the available pool. Effective license reclamation campaigns track user responses and provide full visibility into results, including how many users did and did not respond, the percentage of users who opted to keep or surrender the software and the users’ justification for keeping software. Users are more likely to readily surrender unused applications when they know that they can quickly gain access to them again, if needed, via the enterprise app store. Software leasing is another way that the ability to reclaim and reassign software licenses can help ensure that software usage is optimized. With leasing, users acquire an application for a limited period of time after which the license is reclaimed and made available for other users. Leasing is particularly useful in project- based environments where application needs change as employees move from one project to another, as well as in environments in which contractors are brought in to perform specific functions for a period of time. Leasing provides access to an application for a specified time period, after which the license is reclaimed automatically unless the user extends the lease. An effective leasing capability gives you the flexibility to set a maximum lease time and a default lease time based on the needs of your business. When a lease is about to expire, it’s important to have an automatic notification capability so users aren’t caught off guard and they can extend the lease if necessary. The continual reclamation and reassignment of unused, underused and leased software drives up utilization and reduces unnecessary purchases, thereby optimizing software spend and contributing to a higher ROI. Some companies have reported that they recouped nine times the acquisition cost of their app store solution within six months after purchase simply by using the license reclamation capabilities. These companies are achieving additional cost savings in the support area as a result of higher efficiency and productivity.
- 6. Increase ROI by Integrating an Enterprise App Store with Your Software License Optimization Solution 6 Figure 2 shows how integration between an enterprise app store and Software License Optimization solution enables automated license reclamation. (1) The Software License Optimization solution imports software usage data from the deployment/ configuration management system. (2) The app store queries the Software License Optimization solution to check for unused applications. (3) If unused apps are found, the app store sends out automated email messages to users to see if they agree to relinquish the software. (4-5) If users agree, the app store triggers the deployment system to remove the software from the user’s device. (6) The next inventory collection reveals that the software has been removed, triggering the Software License Optimization solution to return the license to the available license pool. Figure 2. Automated License Reclamation
- 7. Increase ROI by Integrating an Enterprise App Store with Your Software License Optimization Solution 7 Conclusion The trend toward enterprise app stores is clear. What is also clear is that if you’re going to create a successful, widely adopted enterprise app store, you have to adapt the consumer app store model to address the more complex needs of the enterprise environment. Moreover, if you want to achieve maximum ROI across both your application portfolio and your asset management program, you must integrate your app store with a sophisticated Software License Optimization solution. This strategic approach helps you achieve maximum value from your applications, ensure continuous license compliance, drive down software spend through license optimization and reduce operational costs through increased IT staff productivity. Flexera Software Solutions and Services Flexera Software has been pioneering Application Usage Management solutions for more than 20 years to help enterprises streamline the deployment and management of the full lifecycle of software assets. Our enterprise app store solution, Flexera Software App Portal, is a self-service app store that permits employees to request applications, services, devices and other items while enabling IT to maintain control of the purchase and fulfillment processes. Our Software License Optimization solution, FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises, enables enterprises to track and manage hardware and software assets, manage contracts and optimize licenses to reduce software costs and maintain license compliance. These solutions are tightly integrated to increase IT efficiency and drive higher return on investment. App Portal App Portal makes the enterprise online app store a reality. With this industry-leading solution, employees can request the applications they need from an easy-to-understand catalog using a Web browser. When users submit requests, App Portal executes the fulfillment process end to end, gathering approvals, enforcing proper licensing, triggering delivery of the software, verifying successful delivery and maintaining a detailed audit trail. Users benefit from on-demand software provisioning that delivers all the advantages of self service while giving IT management complete control of purchase, request, approval and fulfillment. Through tight integration with Flexera Software’s FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises, users can obtain asset data for each application requested from the online catalog. When a user submits a software request, App Portal sends an inquiry to FlexNet Manager Platform (the foundation of FlexNet Manager Suite) to check license availability for the requested application. If a license is available, it is reserved during the approval and fulfillment processes so it is available once all approvals are obtained. The end result is that you are never out of license compliance, so you minimize the risk of costly software audit true-ups. App Portal license reclamation processes are tightly integrated with FlexNet Manager Suite to identify unused applications, query users to determine if they still need the application, reclaim licenses and add them back into the available software license pool. This allows organizations to optimize usage of their existing software licenses and defer new license purchases to reduce costs. FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises is a next-generation hardware and software asset management, contract management and Software License Optimization solution. It maintains the asset data that provides insight not only into license availability, but also into software usage and usage trends, allowing organizations to optimize licensing and better forecast future software needs. This advanced suite automates license reconciliation, applies license entitlements to optimize license consumption and reduces software audit risk by maintaining continuous license compliance. The foundation of the suite is the FlexNet Manager Platform, which provides extensive hardware and software asset management capabilities for managing desktop, laptop, server, mobile and other hardware devices, and software from more than 14,000 vendors. FlexNet Manager Suite optimization solutions (FlexNet Manager for Microsoft, FlexNet Manager for Adobe, FlexNet Manager for IBM and others) are built on top of the Platform and calculate optimized license positions for specific vendors, taking into account license entitlements, purchased quantities, installations, usage data and contract terms and conditions. License optimization reduces ongoing costs for software. Integration with App Portal makes this data available to the enterprise app store, enhancing an enterprise’s ability to reduce ongoing software licensing costs and maintain continuous license compliance.
- 8. Increase ROI by Integrating an Enterprise App Store with Your Software License Optimization Solution 8 Flexera Software Consulting Services Flexera Software Global Consulting Services helps you accelerate and increase the value you receive from your investments in Flexera Software solutions. Our consultants have deep subject matter expertise and use proven methodologies to speed deployment and bring your staff up to speed so they can manage your Flexera Software solutions most effectively. For more information on how our service offerings can help you maximize return on your software investment, visit www.flexerasoftware.com/service/consulting or contact a Flexera Software representative. About Flexera Software Flexera Software is the leading provider of strategic solutions for Application Usage Management; solutions delivering continuous compliance, optimized usage and maximized value to application producers and enterprises. Flexera Software is trusted by more than 80,000 customers that depend on our comprehensive solutions - from installation and licensing, entitlement and compliance management to application readiness and software license optimization - to strategically manage application usage and achieve breakthrough results realized only through the systems-level approach we provide. For more information, please go to: www.flexerasoftware.com
- 9. Flexera Software LLC (Global Headquarters): +1 800-809-5659 United Kingdom (Europe, Middle East Headquarters): +44 870-871-1111 +44 870-873-6300 Australia (Asia, Pacific Headquarters): +61 3-9895-2000 Beijing, China: +86 10-6510-1566 For more office locations visit: www.flexerasoftware.com Copyright © 2014 Flexera Software LLC. All other brand and product names mentioned herein may be the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. FNM_WP_SLOintegration_June14