If you can answer “true” with complete confidence, you’re in a small minority. Well done. For those who have to say “false” – or worse, “I don’t know” – it may be of some comfort to know that you’re not alone. By most estimates, 80 percent or more of South Africa’s corporates don’t know exactly what software is deployed in their organisations (and the number is even higher in government departments).

This is not what people usually think about when they hear “IT asset management”. We’re far more used to reserving the label “IT asset” for hardware. And yet, software is the most expensive IT asset most organisations own.