So as not to cloud the issue, software management is not to be confused with management software. Management software is for organizing business activities. نرم افزار اتوماسیون اداری management is a broader and more variable concept.
What is it then? One of the more straightforward types of software management is for managing the software assets and acquisitions within companies that have larger Information Technology departments. The need to do this involves keeping track of software licenses, scheduling software upgrades, and keeping software subscription renewals current.
Software makers have had policies in place, since software was first written for computers, that state when a program is purchased it is to be used on one computer and one computer only. To load a singular program onto more than its intended computer, against the policy, is called piracy. Software piracy carries stiff penalties and hefty fines for those who violate these standard software agreement terms. Software makers are also keenly aware that the multiple computers, business environment is optimal for potential violations to occur.
Proper Procedures = No Trouble Long ago companies were put on high alert that the software makers would be checking up on them, so it is now a routine part of the IT function to avoid any trouble by adhering to proper licensing procedures. For a company with a lot of computers this is a big task. Software management in this vein involves (of all things!) software that aids the IT department in organizing their companies software licenses, scheduling of upgrades, and acquisitions.
Along different lines, software management can involve the actual development and testing used in the process of producing new, or updated software products. Managing multiple programmers, organizing debugging tests and results, programming rework and beta testing are some of the goals. However, this can also expand to production, packaging, and marketing functions as well, when a software product is scheduled for release.
What else does it do? There is more still to the mysterious realm of software management. In larger businesses they do what they do best, that is sell the products, or provide the services that they are in business to do. Often software management comes in the form of hiring a software product provider to install business software. From that the software provider trains the businesses employees in the use of the software, may maintain data backup systems, supply ongoing technical support, or install regular updates and add-ons. In other words, they provide management for the software they sell, hence software management. This type of management may be permanent, long-term or short-term depending on the situation and the needs of the purchasing company.
In the last use of the term, “software management,” we go back to the cloudy management software issue first mentioned. Undeniably the phrases are used interchangeably in that software management can mean, “management via software,” as opposed to management via less efficient paper record keeping. While it would be the rare business that still operates sans computerization of some sort, the phrase still applies from the reference to times gone by.
Management via software encompasses a huge variety of applications for businesses large and small. Inventories, customer data, order processing, invoicing, and those IT assets can all be streamlined for efficiency and accuracy using management software. Within those broader business functions, industry and task specific software have been developed. These are custom tailored programs that cater to the little nuances that every different business has for the products and services they sell.
