Software can help reduce IT costs

IBM rolls out software to streamline enterprise environment

IBM today announced software to help companies manage the costs brought on by the proliferation of IT assets such as mobile devices, laptops, printers, switches, sensors and billions of interconnected devices.  The software also helps control the complexity of software licensing, and increased pace of compliance audits.

“The new features of the Tivoli Asset Management for IT will give us additional insight into our software expense and usage,” said David Mitchell, ITAM Process Owner, United Space Alliance. “This will allow us to discover and eliminate overlapping and unnecessary IT costs.”

IBM’s CIO office projects software license reuse and audit exposure savings of US$3 million in 2009 and US$5 million annually beginning in 2010 after implementing a software license management program using IBM IT Asset Management software.

“By gaining greater visibility, control and automation of our IT assets, we expect to realize nearly $5 million in savings annually,” said Lorraine Herger, Director, Architecture and Strategy, IBM CIO Global Infrastructure.

The software offers special features focused on asset lifecycle management, software license management and audit readiness.  These attributes help companies find and manage software inventory, as well as determine how and when software is used. This data is then linked to inventory, contract and procurement information, allowing companies to identify over- or under-licensing, which helps mitigate compliance risks and reduce IT costs.