Within the IT asset management (ITAM) and procurement discipline, three core topics establish Gartner's research framework for 2009:
- ITAM
- Software asset management
- IT procurement
Several Gartner Key Issues are established for each of the core topics to guide our research efforts and recognize the most pressing issues that our clients face. Here, we highlight the Key Issues that Gartner's research will focus on during 2009 for each of the three core topics. 
- What are the best practices associated with ITAM programs?
- What business financial and technology trends will affect the ITAM discipline?
- What are the best practices in acquiring, leasing/financing and disposing of IT assets?
The current economic climate absolutely requires better asset management to understand and control the costs in investments in hardware, software and the facilities to maintain them. ITAM has needed to evolve from an ad hoc "project" often run on the back of a help desk or configuration management database initiative to a full-scale management discipline and has more recently extended to incorporate or support IT financial management. Financial management is key, because those organizations that do this well are well-positioned to show their worth not only by knowing where it is possible to reduce costs and by how much, but also by having a better insight on what effects those costs will have on IT and the business. Furthermore, a sound ITAM program can help organizations understand what costs can really be cut and which costs they are locked into. Experienced managers in these disciplines know that long-term costs are difficult to control, and often, the best opportunity to control costs is when a relationship is started (sourcing and procurement). Moving on through the life cycle, IT operations groups are always looking for efficiencies to improve how their organizations perform and are looking for what costs will be incurred to not only identify efficiency projects, but also to help explain costs. ITAM programs manage the life cycle of the asset and provide much-needed cost information to guide investment decisions on when assets need to be refreshed and what the impact of postponing an asset refresh may be. In addition to IT asset costs, this research area will focus on facilities management. For most enterprises, facilities' costs are second only to personnel costs as the largest opportunity for savings. Even small-percentage savings can represent substantial bottom-line cost reductions. Gartner research in this area will focus on the issues and opportunities of scaling down long-term investments in facilities as well as how integrated workplace management system (IWMS) products can be used to address space and energy management issues.
Organizations that are committed to ITAM processes have demonstrated significant total cost of ownership (TCO) savings; however, the challenges in this area continue to grow and change. In the current economic climate, the TCO of IT assets is of particular concern to organizations. Our research underscores best practices targeted to optimize TCO and provides a framework for organizations to better understand a wide range of components that can positively or negatively affect life cycle cost. However, beyond this, increasingly successful ITAM programs are able to clearly identify the costs of the complete asset position and all business implications at a budgetary level, In successful organizations, this information can be provided to the IT budget holders in support of cost reduction, as well as value creation throughout the organization.
Research Planned for 2009
- Analysis of cost optimization strategies for ITAM and pragmatic approaches for navigating the economic realities facing organizations in 2009 and beyond
- Analysis of the variety of evolving standards related to ITAM to inform and advise enterprises on how it can be used to advance ITAM programs
- Best practices and case studies on how IT asset managers deal with challenges such as asset disposition and equipment replacement
- Update of our ongoing research into e-waste legislation in the U.S. and how that will affect asset management strategies and policies
- Perspectives on how savings can be ensured by cost management initiatives, such as establishing correct software inventory and improving the ability to count and charge back cost
- Coverage of IWMS and whether the discipline will merge with ITAM and equipment asset management
- Analysis of top issues facing facilities' senior managers
- Exploration of a wide range of external forces that can affect IT asset negotiations and management, such as accounting rules, regulatory rulings and trends, data security, and vendor policies and market conditions
Software Asset Management
- What are the trends in software licensing and maintenance?
- How will new technologies affect software licensing?
- What are the best practices in software negotiations?
Software constitutes a significant group of technology assets for most organizations and must be properly licensed. It is essential that contracted usage rights be negotiated carefully and managed consistently. Given the economic downturn, it is even more vital to ensure that contracts include the flexibility to reduce software licenses and the related maintenance, a provision that, generally, is not standard without prior negotiation. The economic climate will also drive vendors to extract more revenue from an increasingly smaller group of buyers, which will lead to more high-pressure sales techniques. In light of this, our research for this topic will include best practices for negotiating pricing and terms and conditions, with particular emphasis on cost containment and cost and risk avoidance. We will also explore a myriad of issues related to maintaining software-licensing compliance. Gartner continues to see increasing incidents of software vendor audits, making it critical that customers negotiate with an understanding of how license compliance can be accomplished consistently and cost-effectively.
The economic downturn has put software costs under the microscope, because they typically constitute 20% of the IT budget. However, unless contracts have flexible terms and conditions, it is often harder than anticipated to meaningfully reduce this category of cost because such a large percentage of it is dedicated to amounts that are tied to multiyear contracts. Additionally, other initiatives to contain costs, such as virtualization, often result in additional, unexpected costs unless contract language explicitly provides for what the customer intends to make happen. Even those companies not buying new software will need software asset management disciplines, because vendors suffering from declines in deal volumes are conducting more audits. Our research highlights where savings typically are possible and, in the case of virtualization and software as a service (SaaS), of what magnitude and what contract flexibility needs to be in place. We also provide frameworks to assist in managing software assets to minimize the risk of audits and, beyond that, to quantitatively assess the true cost of software assets when running the business. As many organizations spend significant amounts of budgets with a small number of strategic software vendors, we will be explaining how to make the best licensing choices and minimize cost with key vendors such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP.
Research Planned for 2009
- Cost optimization strategies and pragmatic approaches for reducing costs in software and maintenance contracts in 2009 and beyond
- Dealing with the increased likelihood of software audits, improving asset management capability, reducing the risk of noncompliance if a software audit occurs and how to manage software audits
- Best practices for dealing with vendors in financial trouble from a contractual perspective — from existing agreements to escrow clauses
- Publication of a TCO model for virtualization to enable an understanding of the true cost savings of virtualization and how to optimize software costs with specific vendors
- Specific detailed coverage of open-source license agreements establishing which agreements are most suitable for which kinds of application deployments, as well as looking at how to manage these licenses
- Analysis of the contracting behind emerging alternative delivery models, such as SaaS, to inform and advise enterprises on how these emerging-market dynamics will affect software sourcing strategies
- Continuing strategic and tactical advice on negotiating with major software vendors, including IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP
- Comprehensive and definitional research notes, foundational guidelines and how-to Toolkits for establishing software asset management structures and disciplines
- Case studies providing lessons learned, critical success factors and business outcomes that are achieved by developing or evolving software asset management policies, processes and tools
- How are IT procurement departments staffed, organized and measured to deliver optimal services?
- What are IT procurement process best practices?
- How will future technology trends affect IT procurement strategies?
The capability of procurement departments to keep abreast of changing trends is critical to meeting senior executives' expectations. Procurement departments are challenged to understand new issues, such as multiple service delivery models, multisourcing and other technology developments in the context of their day-to-day activities. This Key Issue looks at how changes in the larger IT environment need to be incorporated into procurement activities to prevent purchasing suboptimization. A critical value proposition that procurement departments bring to IT is the capability to implement procurement strategy closely in line with IT and business strategy, despite the diverse demands of IT departments, the enterprise, the market and the vendors. One important component of delivering effective procurement services is to have the most-current information available with respect to contract trends, vendor pricing and market forces.
The combined impact of lower budgets and rapidly changing vendor policies has increased the importance of being able to approach the IT procurement process, skills and competencies in a strategic, analytic and methodical way. As Gartner clients are realizing, big dollars hide in the details of how the procurement process is approached.
Research Planned for 2009
- Definitional research notes on strategic IT product procurement, including a maturity model outlining the key stages and how to move from one to another
- Best-practice research on moving from tactical product purchasing to strategic sourcing as a capability from an organizational perspective
- Best practices, guidelines and how-to Toolkits for executing the key processes and structures for strategic IT product sourcing
- Perspectives and case studies on international procurement, how to do it effectively and how to manage fluctuating exchange rates
- Analysis of alternative delivery models and how to decide which delivery model to use when acquiring IT products
- An online self-assessment tool to establish the level of an organization's IT procurement maturity and help plan the development of its capabilities
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