A new standard in software asset management has been
welcomed by the IT user community.
Last week the International Organisation for Standardisation
(ISO) launched the ISO/IEC 19770-1 Software Asset Management
Standard to establish a baseline for an integrated set of processes
and policies for software management.
Ray Titcombe, chairman of the IBM Computer Users’ Association,
said, “It’s overdue for the IT industry to have a standard method
for measuring software assets. Fifty per cent of disputes with
suppliers originate around software and its use.”
Investors in Software, an independent organisation representing
consultants in software asset management, laid the groundwork for
the ISO standard. This followed close co-operation with the leaders
in IT Infrastructure Library, a common approach to IT
management.
Shaun Fröhlich, chairman of Investors in Software, said, “We
wanted to achieve consensus on software asset management to help
with governance and consistency as well as compliance with
licensing.
“Vendors want to collect revenue – that’s their prerogative –
but it does not necessarily make them a safe place to go when
you’re trying to get things in order.”