28th July 2023

The current economic climate has seen an increase in organisations looking to drive cost efficiencies across their business. One area where companies can make significant and rapid savings is their software.

When it comes to maximising software spend, companies, now more than ever, rely on applications to help them streamline operations, enhance productivity, and maintain visibility over the security and compliance of their estate. However, effectively managing your software estate can be daunting, often riddled with overspending, compliance risks, and inefficient resource allocation.

Two types of application are available to help companies do this: License Optimisation applications and Software Asset Management (SAM) applications.

What is Licence Optimisation?

Compared to what you would expect within a traditional management tool, licence optimisation adds extra layers of data combined with the freedom to explore, interrogate and question this data on demand. This additional visibility allows you to thoroughly analyse your estate in terms of licence usage, when licences were last used, which elements of the licence are being used, what could be removed or reduced, and align this information with your overall business goals.

"Only 5.5% of IT leaders claimed “complete visibility” into how many of their employees were actively using licensed software"
techradar.com

But how does this help you in real terms:

• Cost Removal and Avoidance: Identify various levels of inactivity and redistribute licenses to those who need them most. By efficiently reallocating licenses based on genuine usage data, avoiding unnecessary additional purchases, significantly reducing costs and only paying for what you need.
• Maximise Adoption: Real-time visibility into uptake and usage enables you to understand how your organisation is actually using the services you have purchased. Deep analytical data allows you to target specific areas of the business with relevant adoption programmes to maximise usage and provide a greater return on your investment.
• Improve Security and Compliance: Fully analysing your licencing estate allows you to discover where you may have security and compliance vulnerabilities, such as inactive user accounts or areas where 2FA is not enabled. By addressing identifying and addressing these, you can remove hidden gaps in your security and improve compliance.
• Strategic Decision-Making: In-depth, real-time analytics provide valuable insights into how your licences are consumed and allocated and the associated costs. This data empowers you to make informed decisions that allow you to align your software strategies with your over-arching business outcomes.
• Empower Negotiations: Having the data about how your company utilises licences at your fingertips and creating a picture of exactly what your company needs gives you the power to control negotiations and get the best deal based on what your company requires to perform.

Discover how the compound cost of SaaS Licencing is affecting your organisation and how you can navigate it >

Licence Optimisation + SAM

Many organisations use SAM tools but do not realise that they are only being provided with part of the picture. SAM tools focus on tracking and managing licenses rather than applying deep analytical understanding of the product(s) they are managing. A License Optimisation tool perfectly complements SAM solutions when used in tandem. Together they will provide you with:

• Enhanced Visibility: License optimisation software integrates seamlessly with any SAM solutions, providing enhanced visibility into license entitlements, usage data, and risk avoidance. By combining the power of both tools, organisations gain a highly detailed view of their estate, providing accurate license tracking and optimisation activities.
• Industry Shaped Deep Analytics: Products like the SaaS Optimisation App from Hublsoft enhance SAM solutions by offering highly relevant and detailed analytics. By leveraging data-driven insights, organisations can identify license usage patterns and optimise allocation to groups and specific end users based on real-time usage data.
• Automated Action: Hublsoft can automate the process of license assignment based on actual usage data, significantly reducing time on manual efforts and with improved accuracy.

License optimisation will help your organisation go beyond what is available when just using a SAM tool, driving more value from your licences. It will give you the power to fully optimise your software licenses based on usage, minimise costs, strengthen your security posture and ensure you remain fully compliant within your licensing agreements. 

Find out more about Hublsoft SaaS Optimisation today.