Managing software usage, risk, and cost has never been more critical for enterprises, and the role for IT Asset Management (ITAM) and Software Asset Management (SAM) is expanding to meet those risks. We wanted to know what ITAM/SAM leaders are seeing in their organizations and what they’re most concerned about. Together with the ITAM Forum, we surveyed 500 ITAM/SAM leaders who manage open-source software and Java governance, and we published the findings in a new report co-written with the ITAM Forum. This blog post gives a preview of the findings.
In this post you will learn:
- 29% of organizations say tracking software use across environments is difficult
- 27% spend over $500,000 a year on resolving licensing issues including audits, additional licenses, and penalties for non-compliance.
- Only 4% of organizations are not at all concerned about Oracle Java pricing and licensing.
We wanted to know what ITAM/SAM leaders are seeing in their organizations and what they’re most concerned about. Who better to partner with than the ITAM Forum, a global trade body for the advancement of the IT Asset Management industry and a not-for-profit membership organization led by ITAM professionals. Together with the ITAM Forum, we surveyed 500 ITAM/SAM leaders who use open-source software and Java, and published the findings in a new report co-written with the ITAM Forum. Three major themes emerged from the survey findings:
- Many organizations lack the asset management automation and processes to track software use and licensing terms and conditions
- The resulting non-compliance with licensing terms and conditions costs organizations hundreds of thousands of dollars a year
- Organizations are highly motivated to move off Oracle Java to an open-source alternative
Organizations are trying to comply with software licensing terms and conditions manually
Enterprises use an incredible volume of software, which creates an overwhelming web of license terms and vendors to comply with. At a minimum, compliance managers must know where software is installed, what is running, and where information is stored. ITAM and SAM professionals report that their organizations struggle to harness this information, especially when tracking software usage across teams or between on-premises and cloud platforms.
ITAM and SAM professionals in this survey indicated that organizations just can’t keep up with the high volume of assets they need to track. Teams struggle with complexity for a few reasons:
- They are resource-constrained
- Licensing rules and vendor policies evolve
- They lack automation for both tracking licenses and reporting compliance
Non-compliance with software terms and conditions is expensive
Without real-time automated tools, complying with licensing terms can become difficult, putting organizations at risk of violating vendor licensing. Most organizations in this survey perform all or most license discovery and software audits themselves, even though many lack the resources to do so effectively.
On top of the effort involved responding to vendor audits and ongoing license changes, non-compliance is expensive. 27% of survey participants say their organizations spend more than $500,000 a year resolving licensing issues for non-compliance, including audits, additional licenses, and penalties for non-compliance.
Organizations remain motivated to move off Oracle Java to an open-source alternative
When organizations contemplate moving away from Oracle Java to an open-source alternative, ITAM and SAM professionals often need to create a complete JDK usage inventory to discover where Java is used and how to address Oracle’s evolving and alarming Java pricing. Many are motivated to migrate off Oracle Java entirely.
When asked about the cost of Oracle Java, only 4% said they are not at all concerned about Oracle’s pricing and licensing policies. 56% are either very concerned or extremely concerned.
Those concerns continue to spur action, in line with previous Azul research. Only 14% of survey participants plan to continue using Oracle Java. 79% have already migrated from Oracle Java, are actively doing so, or are planning to migrate to open-source alternatives.
Read the survey of ITAM/SAM leaders
The web of licensing terms in enterprises has become too complex for most humans to manage. Most organizations are still trying to conduct software audits on their own, but they are experiencing costly challenges. More than a quarter of the participants in this survey spend more than $500,000 a year on resolving licensing issues.
Oracle Java compliance has escalated in recent years as one of the most pressing priorities for organizations. Java is nearly ubiquitous in business-critical enterprise applications, and many organizations are deeply troubled by Oracle’s pricing and licensing model for a programming language that was free just over five years ago.
ITAM and SAM professionals are experts in software organization and cross-departmental licensing compliance. By overseeing broader software usage, application licensing and vendor compliance, particularly as these relationships become more complex, ITAM/SAM frees up other departments to perform more strategic priorities. With ITAM/SAM support, companies can successfully optimize costs and strengthen compliance—without disrupting critical departmental priorities. Read the ITAM & SAM Survey & Report for complete survey results.
