Cloud services such as “software”, “platform” or “infrastructure as a service” (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS for short) are now used in almost every company. Obtaining computing power, storage space and software via an internal or external cloud is cost-efficient and future-oriented. When selecting providers, data protection and data security are particularly important selection criteria, but the cloud strategy must also be coordinated with license management.
It is important that each provider carefully examines which licensing models are possible and how unnecessary duplicate costs for licenses can be avoided if they are already available in the company. Questions arise as to the extent to which it is possible to “bring your own licenses into the cloud” or whether it is cheaper to rent licenses via the cloud provider and, if necessary, to terminate contracts that have already been concluded.
Agreement of cloud strategy & license management is economic question
A company’s software asset management faces new challenges in the area of cloud computing. While many of a company’s efforts are focused on centrally managing IT and license management, software-as-a-service solutions are often purchased and managed by the business units themselves. The larger the company, the faster a momentum of its own develops here that is difficult to capture. For example, questions arise about how to measure instances in the cloud to ensure license compliance.
It is therefore essential to include license management in the cloud strategy, because although there is potential for savings (e.g. in infrastructure costs), there can also be a waste of costs for unused or doubly procured licenses.
The following things should therefore be ensured:
– Include license management in the cloud strategy and processes
– Thoroughly examine suppliers and product contracts
– Formulate policy on software procurement & management in the cloud
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