Communication is crucial and this also applies to a successful SAM policy!
12/01/2015
“The biggest single problem in communication is the illusion it has taken place” – George Bernard Shaw
Software Asset Management is not a standalone project or a temporary action! It is a strategic policy that has to be updated over and over again and revised to be of optimal value to an organisation.
To assure that this carefully implemented Software Asset Management policy will continue having full attention within the organisation, it is important that attention is paid from the very start to continuous and clear communication. As the above stated quote of Shaw already implies: it is not enough to assume that ‘everybody is aware that we have started the SAM project’ or that ‘the policy is a fact because everybody has received the memo’.
The changes that result from the implemented SAM policy affect the whole organisation, in all layers. Not only the SAM project team, but everybody has to be involved in Software Asset Management. No policy can survive without clearly defined and well communicated objectives and guidelines for the organisation.
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It is not enough to define the value of SAM and the costs and risks that are involved with incompliance. Everybody in the organisation has to be aware of his or her role and responsibilities and how they can contribute to the success of the SAM policy. Transparent communication on the importance of SAM generates commitment and ownership through all layers of the organisation.
It requires more than just a memo!
And this might be a truth well known, but nevertheless I would like to emphasize: communication is not a one-way street. To guarantee an effective SAM policy this policy has to be verified continuously with the reality, feasibility and workability. And this can only be achieved when the possibility is offered within the organisation to give input.
That leaves me with the final quote that perfectly expresses the importance of effective communication for a successful SAM policy: “The art of communication is the language of leadership” – James Humes