Device Lifecycle Management: Software Management

While many IT organizations try to control costs in the device lifecycle, efficient software management is equally important to both cost optimization and lifecycle management.


Spending on enterprise software is growing faster than any other category in IT, with a forecasted spend of $431 billion worldwide. Managing your organization’s software is a pivotal portion of lifecycle and cost management, regardless of platforms. Here’s how FileWave helps you ensure you are optimizing your software spend.

Plan: Control budgets with data-based planning

You can’t afford to discover surprise expenses during software rollouts: target computers that don’t meet the application’s hardware requirements, don’t have the prior version already installed (for upgrades), or require an OS update before installing. At best, these things will delay the rollout. At worst, they will result in “shelfware,” because your budget simply can’t cover the unplanned expenses.

Decentralized software purchasing can also lead to budget bloat, with individual users or departments purchasing the same or similar software. This process leads to duplicate costs, higher costs per license (versus volume purchasing), unused licenses – not to mention the risks of Shadow IT.

How to Control your Software Budget

Centralized Purchasing with Empowered Self-Service

Software provided to employees in a self-service kiosk can be vetted, purchased, and managed by IT to control costs and visibility, but delivered in a way that supports employee productivity.

Detailed inventory

Easy-to-use filters in FileWave make it easy for you to plan for your hardware or OS upgrades before you purchase your software. Fully informed planning optimizes your spending and your staff’s time.

Rollout: Software distribution that’s efficient and effective

For Global organizations or organizations with a large number of remote or travelling employees, software distribution can be a complex problem. Failures in distribution often lead to frustration when employees do not have what they need to be productive. A failure to distribute or update critical security layers can leave organizations vulnerable. FileWave Booster technology helps to ensure that applications are installed even on highly distributed networks or unreliable connections, with failsafes that ensure devices on a distribution list are not missed.

Managed distribution via FileWave helps organizations target software distribution based on criteria the admin determines, including, for example, departments, user roles, devices types, and self-service or mandatory installation. Once an imaged device is assigned to a user, automation can take over, installing applications where they are needed. With FileWave to manage Apple’s zero-touch deployment, the unboxing and installation of these customized configurations can be made seamless – for IT and for the users.

For simple rollouts, FileWave supports standard software packages, such as Windows MSI or Apple PKG files. To take full advantage of FileWave’s patented File-level Distribution, Fileset Magic lets you easily create your own packages, reducing the need to rely on end-user interactions to install.

Insight: Manage Volume Purchasing

When you’re centrally managing your application purchasing, you can take advantage of volume purchasing programs such as Apple VPP or Microsoft’s Volume Licensing. When buying software licenses in volume, it’s important that licenses are distributed to where they are needed and revoked when unnecessary.

Leveraging FileWave for VPP, you can distribute apps directly to managed devices or authorized users in any country where the app is available, keeping track of what has been assigned to each user or device. FileWave provides instant insight into your deployment, helping you identify when VPP licenses are running low, detecting unused licenses, and revoking and re-assigning licenses as needed.

Leveraging SmartGroups, you can target software and licenses directly to only those use groups that need it. In the case of K12 customers, this may include targeting distribution by grade or classroom with licenses switching to new user groups as a class or lesson plan completes.

With managed distribution, you have complete control over the entire license process, retaining full ownership of apps, even if they are distributed to BYOD devices. When a user no longer needs an app or they leave the organization, you can revoke or reassign apps to different users in your organization.

Maintain: Keep applications running where they belong

It’s one thing to install software, it’s another to keep it running where it belongs. Whether it’s inadvertent or malicious, applications are sometimes removed or altered on devices. FileWave’s patented self-healing reduces help desk calls and keeps mission-critical applications in place by automatically repairing corrupted files, or reinstalling missing software. Of course, it’s just as important to patch and remediate devices with software that may be out of date.

Just as you want to keep applications where they belong, you also want to remove unnecessary software bloat to improve device performance and optimize your license management. From a security standpoint, you also need a way to remove software that does not meet minimum compliance standards for your organization. Your inventory process in FileWave can help you find and uninstall software without ever having to touch the device.

As we’ll explore next, the final step in your lifecycle management is to streamline how you manage end of life for your devices.

Want to see how FileWave can transform your software management capabilities? Click here to attend a free demo of our software.

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