Software

3 Tips to Manage Software Licenses

The federal government spends $6 billion a year on software licenses. Here’s how organizations can ensure they get the most out of every dollar.

Wylie Wong

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Wylie Wong is a freelance journalist who specializes in business, technology and sports. He is a regular contributor to the CDW family of technology magazines.

1. Provide user training. Agencies should educate users about the value and inner workings of software licenses. For example, a database license may only allow access to a specific number of processor cores, while other software vendors may charge through a consumption-based model, says Amy Konary, IDC’s vice president of software business models.

2. Coordinate between stakeholders. Many software asset management tools require the installation of software agents on servers to collect data. This means system owners must collaborate with the software asset management team to successfully run the asset management tool, says Daniel Cosgrove of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

3. Take an agile approach. USCIS adopted agile principles to make continuous improvements to its software management processes, allowing the agency to make changes that met business needs while realizing immediate results, Cosgrove says.

For more on how software asset management is being used in the federal government, check out "How NASA Saved $100 Million on Software Licenses."