Last week, Wisdom EMEA was back in person and with a bang. It’s excellent agenda filled with interesting sessions (lead by a wide range of ITAM industry experts) made it hard at times to choose which breakout room to enter.
Below are six of our top takeaways from Wisdom EMEA. We tried to keep this list to five, but there simply was too much good information.
Reinventing ITAM for the Future:
Shadi Khoshab from SoftwareOne addressed what ITAM needs to manage (thinks Saas and FinOps), how it needs to operate (think value-driven), and what it needs to cover (think closer relationships with IT Service Management, Operations Management, Infosecurity and Sustainability – “Who better than ITAM to help avoid wastage.”). Furthermore, with the technology landscape evolving at an incredibly fast pace, there’s a real opportunity for ITAM to step up and evolve. Oh no, no, no…ITAM is certainly no longer just about license management.
Transforming your ITAD to Sustainable ITAD
Roger Greive from SERI (a non-profit organisation that administers the R2 standard) challenged ITAM professionals to think differently when it comes to an assets’ end of life. As Roger said, ‘end of life’ really should be ‘end of usefulness to us’. The question everyone should be asking is, “Can this IT asset be used by anyone else?”. Can you donate the asset? What about offering it to employees? Or extending the warranty? With 80% of carbon emissions occurring in the manufacturing phase, asking the question, ‘when to retire?’, is very important.
Women in ITAM
The ‘Women in ITAM’ session covered a lot of ground with a panel of experts from across the ITAM industry. Rachel Ryan and Rica Weller touched on how many women suffer from the ‘imposter syndrome’. Rica suggested that we should view job descriptions as a wish list rather than a list of must-have skills. Rachel rebutted the ‘fake it until I make it’ saying, stating that more than likely, you’ve already made it…you just need the confidence to realise it. And, Rebecca Horton rightfully suggested, “Take ownership of your own development. Invest in you. This will give you the greatest return.”
Experience as a CIO
Jeff Seltzer from SHI delivered a very personal session about his experience as a CIO with little (at the time) understanding of SAM and software audits. “I was focused on other priorities – things I knew and enjoyed.” Jeff suggests that if you’re having trouble getting your CIO’s attention when it comes to ITAM, try to win over other stakeholders – find people who can help you – and explain the financial impact of doing and not doing the thing you’re recommending. And, remember to weave in how ITAM can help to find money, money that can help to enable digital transformation.
What does your CIO want from your ITAM team?
While we are on the topic of CIOs, Alastair Pooley and Rosalie Freeman from Snow Software, covered some interesting points in their session, ‘What does your CIO wants from the ITAM team?’. With prices increasing – we are all feeling that pinch – CIOs are challenged to find the funds for growth and innovation. Well, ITAM to the rescue. As Alastair said, “There are always opportunities to find waste.” ITAM understands consumption and should therefore be looking at wasted spend. And, as Alastair suggests, “You don’t need to wait for a renewal.”
How to understand your stakeholders and speak their language
During the closing keynote session, ‘How to understand your stakeholders and speak their language’, Rob Geraghty from Presenting Virtually encouraged everyone to understand and flex their influencing style. There are four main influencing styles: analytical, expressive, amiable, and driver. Which one are you? What about the person you’re trying to influence? Knowing the answer to these questions is key to being successful with influencing others. Another key tip from Rob is, “You need to use the language and style of your stakeholder…and be clear on the outcome you want.”