SMEs told to employ sound software asset management

CEBU, Philippines - To survive the growing competition in the global market, companies especially the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are encouraged to employ sound software asset management (SAM) in their operations.

Software giant Microsoft Philippines Inc., is poised to aggressively roll out its SAM program and help SMEs maximize software management as a tool to protect their business, and promote growth, amid the challenging business environment.

“Unfortunately, many Filipinos don’t treat software as an asset because it is intangible,” said Microsoft Philippines Inc. License Compliance Manager Fortune Abelo-Magsadia.

“They keep on buying licenses without understanding the licensing options available to them.”

At present, Microsoft noted that Philippine-based companies are not yet maximizing software assets to give their companies the advantages.

A clear indication that companies are not efficiently managing their software, Magsadia said, is the presence of mixed licenses. “This is a financial risk, putting a lot of money for software but not maximizing it,” she stressed.

Thus, Microsoft is urging businesses, including startups, to practice good SAM, a business process allowing companies and organizations to protect their software, recognize what they have and spot licensing overlaps.

SAM is best developed in startup businesses wherein software requirement is still manageable.

“With SAM, they can easily track their software assets,” she said. “When they grow, the process grows with them,” she said.

SAM also enables business owners to understand their licensed software applications, implement asset management in other software applications, and get easy approval in SAM certification programs.

As part of its advocacy to empower Filipinos on the benefits of software management, Microsoft Philippines announced its offer of free telesales service to educate companies on how to implement SAM and to prompt them to assess what software they have, how many licenses they have, and where they are running.

Since Microsoft started the SAM over 4,000 companies had been able to take advantage of the program, she said.

Various types of industries are already implementing different stages of SAM, including performing a software inventory, matching software with licenses, reviewing policies and procedures, and developing a SAM plan.

She admitted that the need to get more business, especially in key cities in the country to practice SAM remains.

In the next few months, Microsoft will be engaging activities to encourage companies, especially SMEs in Visayas and Mindanao to take full advantage of their software assets investments, either to cut cost, or to achieve growth.    (FREEMAN NEWS)