ITASCA, Ill., April 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Flexera Software, the company that is reimagining the way software is bought, sold, managed and secured, announces today its sponsorship of IDC’s “Management of Software Assets: an Essential for Cost Control and Compliance Risk Reduction” report, published in France. According to IDC, managing software assets is increasingly important to an organization’s operational model.
IDC’s report was published after the analyst firm surveyed a number of businesses throughout France, to get a current pulse on the state-of-the Software Asset Management (SAM) market, with the goal of helping organizations control costs and reduce license compliance risks.
“Software Asset Management is changing significantly,” said Christian Hindre, Regional Vice President at Flexera Software. “In a bid to capture lost revenues, software vendors are auditing more frequently, especially as they realize they may not be getting paid for all of the software that is being used. Enterprises benefit from sophisticated Software Asset Management solutions like FlexNet Manager Suite to ensure license compliance and maximize the return on the software investment.”
Key Findings from IDC’s Report
- Almost half of all businesses have not yet deployed SAM solutions
- 59% of French companies are regularly audited by vendors, with that number reaching 65 percent worldwide
- Only 16% of businesses are certain that the conditions of use for their software perfectly meet contractual terms and conditions
- Aware of the challenges involved, companies are gradually improving their SAM procedures through new modes of governance and investing in specialized SAM solutions
- Less than one-third of businesses know the risks they run in the event of an audit being carried out
- Companies that routinely manage their software environment are better able to control costs. Only 33 percent of these businesses anticipate an increase in their software costs in 2017, while 42 percent of companies with less SAM maturity face increasing software costs
- 51 percent of businesses are currently classified as having average or high SAM maturity, meaning 49 percent are only slightly mature, or not at all. This figure is expected to reach 70 percent by 2019 as more companies invest in specialized SAM solutions
“Businesses have varying levels of maturity in how they evaluate their Software Asset Management and governance model,” said Karim Bahloul, Research Director at IDC. “However, the consequences associated with software license non-compliance and security breaches in poorly-managed IT environments are significant. Therefore, it is vital for companies to take a structured approach to managing software assets to mitigate these audit and security risks.”
Compliance Risk
Failure to comply with license agreement conditions can lead to financial penalties, with the impact for companies sometimes reaching several million dollars. The results of IDC’s survey shows that software audit risk is higher for large enterprises: three-quarters of larger companies (those with over 5,000 employees) are often faced with these compliance audits, compared to 50 percent of businesses with 2,000 – 5,000 employees.
IDC's survey results also highlight the fact that many companies are still a long way from achieving good control of their software environment, despite the increasing number of audits. In fact, only 56 percent of them have sufficient knowledge about the contractual conditions of use for these software packages.
In order to meet these challenges, companies are investing in third-party SAM solutions. According to IDC’s survey, 54 percent of businesses are now deploying these tools, and 25 percent plan to invest in a SAM solution in the next few months.
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About Flexera Software
Flexera Software’s business sits at the nexus between the world’s software producers and buyers – repairing the broken software supply chain, which is the most dysfunctional supply chain in all of business today. That dysfunction manifests as risk and cost – to both the producers of software and the enterprises that buy software – as they solve the complex, time consuming, and expensive problems of ensuring licensing compliance and security from vulnerabilities. Our software licensing, compliance, cybersecurity and installation solutions are essential to ensure continuous licensing compliance, optimized software investments, and to future-proof businesses against the risks and costs of constantly changing technology. A marketplace leader for more than 25 years, 80,000+ customers turn to Flexera Software as a trusted and neutral source of knowledge and expertise, and for the automation and intelligence designed into our products. For more information, please go to: www.flexerasoftware.com.
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