CIO Archives - EasySAM https://easysam.co.uk/tag/cio/ Software Asset Management. Simplified. Mon, 19 Jan 2026 11:49:36 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://easysam.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/easysam_icon-60x60.png CIO Archives - EasySAM https://easysam.co.uk/tag/cio/ 32 32 The capabilities CIOs should demand from IT asset management software in 2026 https://easysam.co.uk/knowledge-base/the-capabilities-cios-should-demand-from-it-asset-management-software-in-2026/ Wed, 14 Jan 2026 10:29:00 +0000 https://easysam.co.uk/?p=36808 Automate workflows, maintain compliance, and make faster, data-driven decisions in a single, integrated system.

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Automate workflows, maintain compliance, and make faster, data-driven decisions in a single, integrated system.

Published on 14th January 2026

According to recent research by Freshworks, organisational complexity accounts for 7% of total annual revenue loss for an average business. Software is a major contributor, with companies estimating a loss of $1 out of every $5 spent on total software due to complexity, including IT complexity. That’s time, talent, and money that could instead be fuelling innovation, improving customer experience, and driving expansion.

IT asset management (ITAM) solutions are one of the most effective ways to combat software complexity. They provide tools for recording, categorising, and organising technology assets, giving IT leaders visibility across hardware, software, and cloud resources. Beyond reducing cost and operational complexity, ITAM mitigates business risk: unused or poorly tracked software can create security vulnerabilities, increase points of failure, and expose organisations to audit and compliance issues—especially in regulated industries. Acting as a central hub, ITAM ensures accurate data, supports better decisions, streamlines operations, and maintains compliance.

How should CIOs go about choosing the right ITAM platform?

The best ITAM software does more than track inventory. It provides unified visibility across all assets, automates lifecycle processes, and integrates tightly with IT service management so asset data drives operational decisions. The right platform depends on asset scale, regulatory requirements, and ITSM maturity. CIOs should prioritise solutions that turn asset data into actionable intelligence rather than static records.

At a minimum, leading ITAM platforms should deliver:

  • Unified asset visibility across hardware, software, cloud, and SaaS
  • End-to-end lifecycle automation, from procurement to retirement
  • Native ITSM integration that connects assets to incidents, changes, and SLAs

What capabilities define full-lifecycle IT asset management?

  • Acquisition & procurement to onboard vendors and capture cost data
  • Deployment to assign assets, update inventory, and validate configurations
  • Usage & operation to monitor performance, usage, incidents, and changes
  • Maintenance to manage patching, warranty tracking, and scheduled service
  • Retirement & disposal to decommission assets, perform secure wipes, manage disposition, and maintain audit trails

The most effective platforms manage all of these stages within a single workflow, rather than across disconnected tools.

How do leading ITAM platforms support ITSM workflows?

The strongest IT asset lifecycle platforms are deeply integrated with IT service management systems. Assets are not static records, but rather operational entities tied to SLAs, incidents, and changes.

For example, when an incident is logged, the service desk can immediately identify the affected device, its dependencies, warranty status, and change history. Automated workflows can trigger asset reassignment during employee off-boarding or initiate refresh cycles when hardware reaches end of life.

This tight coupling between ITAM and ITSM improves resolution times, supports root-cause analysis, and enables proactive service delivery.

What capabilities should CIOs look for in ITAM solutions?

The best ITAM solutions support end-to-end visibility and automation at scale. Key features to look for include:

  • Centralised hardware & software inventory to track laptops, servers, mobile devices, SaaS applications, licenses, and virtual assets in a single system of record
  • Automated discovery & dependency mapping to identify assets using agent-based and agentless scanning, network discovery, and configuration management database (CMDB) relationships, and to understand how assets interact
  • SaaS license & software management to reduce spend through license utilisation insights, unused seat reclamation, automated renewal visibility, and contract linkage
  • Lifecycle tracking from procurement to disposal to effectively monitor every aspect of assets, including purchase cost, warranties, depreciation, maintenance events, assignment history, and end-of-life milestones
  • Workflow automation to automate lifecycle activities such as onboarding and device assignment, patching and maintenance, asset return workflows, and retirement approvals.
  • Contract, vendor & compliance governance to maintain operational efficiency and compliance through renewal reminders, contract metadata, vendor performance reviews, audit readiness, and lifecycle governance
  • Integrations & API support to connect with HRIS (for onboarding and offboarding), procurement systems, SSO/SaaS management tools, MDM solutions, service desks, and related platforms

Source

https://www.cio.com/article/4113883/the-capabilities-cios-should-demand-from-it-asset-management-software-in-2026.html

Image Credit

Aman Ansari via Vecteezy

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]]> What CIOs need to know about licensing models https://easysam.co.uk/knowledge-base/what-cios-need-to-know-about-licensing-models/ Wed, 21 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000 https://easysam.co.uk/?p=35209 Struggling with ballooning licensing costs? Try evaluating the metrics you buy licences under - new options are always emerging.

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Published on 21st May 2025

CIOs looking to propel digital transformation face a daunting task. They need to harness the power of data analytics and artificial intelligence. They need to empower their employees and serve their customers with the best software tools, compute resources, data infrastructure, and more.

Yet to achieve this, CIOs need to navigate a ballooning budget and technology partners who might be hiking prices without giving you more features. A recent Forrester report found that nearly 80% of US organisations reported increases in software costs over the past year. Moreover, 4 in 5 tech leaders said they anticipated their organisation’s adoption of generative AI will increase software costs. Prices are going up.

Instead of cutting the technology offered, CIOs should explore changing their software licensing to improve their bottom line. Though the board might not get excited about licensing changes, they should. Complex agreements, the wrong licensing models cost an organisation dearly — both financially and technologically.

At the enterprise level, new types of models are emerging that could improve a company’s bottom line, including one that mimics a library system. They’re challenging the traditional per-seat model and could be the future of software licensing.

Traditional Per-Seat Software Licensing for the Right Tools

The per seat model, or named user licensing, has its benefits. For instance, when you have a limited set of people who need specific tools, or where there can be individualised attributes or access controls, like an enterprise resource planning system or customer relationship management software.

However, there is risk in extending similar models into other domains like engineering simulation. An engineer and their team solving complex problems and running virtual simulations on computers are using several tools, all for different purposes, stages of design, and use cases. The Office of the CFO isn’t using one spreadsheet app — they’re using CRMs, databases, accounting, and budgeting tools, etc.

And the company’s needs go beyond software. Your organisation needs hardware: cloud resources, high-performance computing (HPC) power, mainframes, and beyond.

For the wrong tools, named user licensing can be like owning a car that’s always left running, or it can cause traffic jams for projects if only one person has access to a specific software.

Token-Based Systems Make It Easier to Track Usage

Consumption licensing models — where everyone draws from a shared, but finite “tank” of resources (“fuel,” such as tokens or credits) — can be an improvement. They house resources under a single licensing framework and allow different user personas to navigate between tools as needed. They also give organisations more insight into costs and usage (since they can see when the tank is getting low). This is a popular cloud licensing model, though the technology is also seeing continued inflation costs.

But the tank for consumption models can run dry very fast. When it’s empty, you have to pay for more fuel. Plus, having that tank isn’t always helpful for controlling costs. What if someone accidentally runs a compute job overnight that uses all your fuel? You can’t get it back — you have to buy more and hope it doesn’t happen again. There’s never a guarantee you won’t overshoot your budget.

Value-Based Models are Interesting, but Subjective

Value-based licensing is a relatively newer software licensing concept aligned with business outcomes. The idea is that the cost of the software is based purely on the benefits to the end customer. These models are well-suited for solutions that can easily quantify business benefits; however, these can be subjective and hard to implement and scale. They can also extend the sales cycle and make every transaction unique (and potentially contentious).

A Library Model Combines Other Emergent Licensing Trends

Growing in popularity is the flexible-hybrid model, which combines consumption-based and value-based licensing with a predetermined capacity commitment that can’t be exceeded.

It’s like a community e-library, wherein a variety of books can be checked out when needed and checked back in when not in use. In this example, the flexible-hybrid model would work by making certain books available to a team to check out. The only determination then is how many books each team member will borrow at once.

With flexible-hybrid models, CIOs can often get the best of everything: software/hardware resources in a single, shared environment, seamless access to tools/resources when and how you need them, and a brake that prevents runaway costs.

Research from ITAM found that more than 76% of organisations considered themselves “over-licensed.” These emerging software licensing models could fix that number. However, we’ll only see it take off if CIOs start critically evaluating their licensing models and asking their vendors for the flexible-hybrid approach. While AI tops the list of many business leaders’ priorities right now, making sure to secure AI tools that everyone can use, and within budget, should be up there, too.

Source

https://www.informationweek.com/software-services/what-cios-need-to-know-about-licensing-models

Image Credit

Siraphol Siricharattakul via Vecteezy

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