License management for embedded software – Have license managers missed something?
The implementation of a license, and software asset management (SAM) for the specific software in the development cycle of embedded software/systems ensures the efficient use of company assets. Those looking for potentials to exploit can score here.
SAM out of the mainstream – what else can SAM do?
Usually, a software license manager gets the hang of SAM after some time. He knows how to deal with the ever-changing license models and metrics and can help his employer, or if he is lucky enough to be an external consultant, his customer to reduce license costs, ensure compliance, ... well the usual mandatory program. By mandatory program, I mean above all the usually very narrowly defined vendor portfolio on which the SAM community has focused. Microsoft, SAP, Oracle – you all know what happens here.
License management – from scratch
Perhaps I was very lucky to work for a company that wanted to implement enterprise-wide and multi-vendor license management. The task was entrusted to me and without any previous knowledge I immediately took care of EVERYTHING that had to do with licenses.
Cars need power, not Microsoft Exchange CALs
Due to the industry, the requesters for new software/licenses (i.e. my internal customers) were mainly software and hardware developers, full-blooded computer scientists and mathematicians. For them, I provided from now on all licenses. Of course, compliant and cost efficient.
The booking of working hours in SAP or other administrative and thus annoying activities, were mostly just a waste of time for my internal customers. This should not take them to the next level of automation. Some developers "virtually never" used Outlook. Products that were used with greatest enthusiasm were those of the manufacturers Altium, Etas, dSpace, Greenhills, iSystem, Mathworks, Vector, ...
Quality and quantity
The annual expenditures for these exotic software vendors, dwarfed the annual expenditures for Microsoft, SAP, and all other usual SAM scope vendors. Volume licensing was mostly absent – the challenge was a time-consuming single-user/device license management. The broad scope, individual metrics, and even licensing technologies were major hurdles to overcome. Today, I know what a MISRA Checker is and I also know where the numerous license dongles are used (keyword "drawer IT"). The path to license transparency was arduous and labor-intensive. Especially the collection of the license inventory, a mostly unpopular bone job – It was always worth it!
Development software – still outside the scope of SAM
For license managers, there are few professional conferences or similar formats. Always the same familiar faces. Like-minded people who specialize in license management of development software in the area of embedded software and embedded systems – missing. This tends to affect all technology-driven and development-oriented industries. The automotive industry, aerospace, all companies that manufacture smart devices, banks and insurance companies and, of course, the medical sector can hardly remain competitive in the market without the use of these special products. The application possibilities are increasing and it is hardly surprising that the sales of these very specialized software manufacturers are also growing. At the same time, the expenses of the companies that depend on the use of this specialized software are increasing. Process customization, centralization, software pooling, and many best practices can help companies reduce costs and use their software more efficiently for this specialized product portfolio as well.
SAM 2.0
The profession of license, and software asset manager reached prominence as enterprise infrastructures became more complex. SAM has focused on IT infrastructure and administration software. As enterprise value creation has changed and expanded greatly, especially with the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, so should SAM. The time has come for SAM 2.0.
Author: Volker Albrich