Develop a License Management Strategy

The appropriate license-management strategy depends on your company structure and network environment. Software products and licensing models vary widely, and vendors continually introduce new agreements, upgrades, and volume-license options. These combinations can make existing license positions difficult to assess. Without appropriate licensing expertise, it is difficult to minimize unnecessary license costs while maintaining compliance.

It is not recommended to completely rely on external consultants in connection to such an important subject – especially then if the external consultant is the friendly hardware shop next door, who doesn’t really know what he is selling you without the slightest idea of how license models of the vendors (Microsoft, Adobe, HP, McAfee and some others) work these days.

The company itself remains responsible for its licensing decisions. External consultants often limit liability for incorrect advice in their service agreements. Some Lan-Inspector customers have had to relicense substantial parts of their environments because previously purchased licenses could not legally be used in the intended way.

Especially striving for innovation and following new trends creates license problems within companies. Cloud service providers want to distribute their solutions usually caring much about existing software and hardware infrastructure in companies. They propagate new models and sell them without mercy (“Well, I’m sure it will fit in your license models”).

If everything is done correctly, license management can spare costs and provide legal safety. You need a proper strategy for your license management that fits to the individual quirks of your productive IT landscape. But, if every network is so individual and heterogeneous … how can it be possible to find the proper strategy for it?