While decentralisation has much to offer an organisation in terms of innovation and speed of reaction to market conditions when it comes to purchasing and managing multiple software licenses across large numbers of users, branch offices and geographic locations it makes the entire process far more complex. It is difficult to track who has the responsibility for software purchases or implement a consistent approach to dealing with software within your organisation. It can act as a serious impediment to effective software asset management.

Practical evidence suggests that software management yields the greatest benefits when a business function can be centralised to represent the company as a whole. Business areas that should be centralised include:

• Sourcing, purchase and negotiation for software requirements
• Strategic IT planning and risk management

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