Feature Set Mapping: Enabling Effective Software License Management

Engineering and specialized software applications offer extensive feature sets, each representing unique functionalities critical to specific tasks. Managing these individual features across applications introduces substantial complexity, especially when tracking usage, maintaining compliance with licensing agreements, and ensuring billing accuracy.

Open iT, a pioneer in software license management, employs advanced data normalization techniques to streamline feature set mapping and usage tracking. Open iT’s feature mapping capabilities enable precise alignment between actual feature usage data and purchasing information, supporting accurate oversight and optimized license allocation. By consolidating and standardizing feature data, Open iT’s approach improves operational efficiency, mitigates compliance risks, and drives significant reductions in software expenditures.

Data Normalization and Feature Set Mapping

According to Gartner, poor data quality costs companies an average of $12.9 million annually, affecting everything from strategic decision-making to operational efficiency. In IT, low data quality can lead to ineffective decision-making, increased complexity, and rising costs, all of which are amplified in environments with expansive software portfolios and complex licensing structures.

Data normalization mitigates these challenges by delivering precise, consistent, and relevant insights across the organization. This clarity supports strategic decision-making, risk management, and cost control. In fact, improving data quality by as little as 60% can result in substantial reductions in operational risks and associated costs.

Software feature names are inherently cryptic, as developers typically employ technical jargon and abbreviations specific to the software’s architecture and codebase. Additionally, vendors often adhere to internal naming conventions that may not align with the more accessible terminology used in marketing materials or documentation, further complicating understanding for non-technical users.

Cryptic software feature names can obscure their functionality, making reports and dashboards difficult to interpret.

In complex software environments, a one-to-one match between licenses (or features) and specific applications often does not exist, as multiple applications can share a single license, complicating accurate usage attribution.

Feature set mapping addresses this challenge by linking licenses back to applications, or feature sets, with cost efficiency as a primary consideration. This method identifies the most economical combination of feature sets that encompass all features checked out at any given time, thereby optimizing resource allocation and ensuring transparent, cost-effective software usage.

Open iT’s Mapping Mechanisms

Open iT employs feature mapping to consolidate multiple software features into a unified, manageable feature set to enhance the clarity and interpretability of usage data. By systematically identifying and categorizing features across diverse licensing models, this process ensures compliance and operational efficiency. Feature mapping enables precise license tracking, mitigates the risk of overuse or underutilization, and drives cost optimization.

The process starts with configuring a mapping file that defines how features should be grouped using a specific syntax. Once set up, the mapping is automatically applied to the data, with the results reflected in the License Monitor Dashboard. This provides users a comprehensive view of feature usage, enabling better resource management across the enterprise.

Feature mapping undergoes multiple normalization processes to improve the precision and manageability of data. At Open iT, normalization is typically accomplished through three primary mechanisms:

Feature Renaming (1:1)

This process involves renaming individual features to improve their comprehensibility. For instance, a feature with a highly technical designation may be renamed to a more user-friendly term, ensuring that all stakeholders can readily understand its purpose.

Feature Mapping (N:1)

This mechanism consolidates multiple features into a single feature. It is particularly useful when several features serve a similar function or can be grouped for more efficient management. For example, if multiple features perform related tasks, they can be mapped to a single, unified feature.

  

Once software features are renamed and mapped, organizations can more efficiently identify usage patterns, enhance transparency, enable accurate billing, and improve overall software asset management.

Feature-to-Feature-Set Mapping (N:N)

This advanced mapping technique facilitates global aggregation and concurrency calculations by linking multiple features to multiple feature sets. This allows for the grouping of features into sets that can be analyzed collectively, providing a comprehensive overview of usage patterns, and enabling more precise calculations of concurrency and other key metrics.

Feature Mapping’s Impact to License Management

Through these mechanisms of feature mapping, organizations can enhance clarity, improve data analysis, and achieve more efficient management of their software assets. Below are the key benefits of each feature mapping technique:

Rename and Reclaim

Renaming features to more intuitive, user-friendly names reduces confusion and enhances user experience. This simplification helps users navigate the system more easily, leading to better engagement with the system’s features.

Clear naming also ensures consistency across documentation and training materials, making it easier to onboard new users and lowering support and training costs. Improved communication between teams is another benefit, as clear feature names reduce misunderstandings and facilitate collaboration.

Merge for Mastery

Consolidating multiple features into a single feature simplifies management by reducing complexity. This also streamlines data analysis, as grouping related features provides a clearer understanding of usage patterns and performance.

Feature mapping enhances resource allocation by reducing redundancy and ensuring efficient use of resources. The uniformity it brings across systems ensures better data synchronization and integration, ultimately lowering operational costs by simplifying feature management.

Fair Billing and Optimal Resource Allocation

Grouping features into sets enables comprehensive data analysis, offering a holistic view of feature usage and interaction. This approach allows for more accurate concurrency calculations,

which is crucial for billing in environments where multiple users access the same software simultaneously. This ensures that billing is based on actual usage rather than just the number of licenses purchased, leading to more fair and transparent cost allocation.

Feature-to-feature-set mapping also supports global data aggregation, which aids in analyzing large datasets and improving strategic decision-making. This allows them to optimize their license portfolio, reducing costs by eliminating unnecessary licenses and ensuring that they are only paying for what they actually use.

Map Software Features with Open iT

Feature mapping enhances software utilization and optimization by systematically organizing and tracking feature usage across applications, allowing for more precise license allocation. It identifies the most actively used features, enabling organizations to optimize license assignments and ensure that resources are aligned with actual needs.

By consolidating related features, feature mapping reduces redundancies and streamlines license management, leading to improved operational efficiency. This method provides detailed insights into real usage patterns, preventing over-provisioning and eliminating costs associated with underutilized licenses.

Key Takeaways

  • Handling individual software features across applications is complex due to cryptic names and technical designations, complicating license compliance and usage tracking.
  • Utilizing advanced feature mapping techniques to rename and consolidate software features into manageable sets simplifies license management, improves operational efficiency, and reduces costs.
  • Feature mapping enables accurate tracking of license usage, prevents overuse or underutilization, optimizes resources, and drives cost savings.

Map your software features and transform your licenses into powerful business assets. Contact Open iT and get started today.

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