Accenture, a multinational professional services firm, has announced that it has conducted its first distributed ledger technology (DLT) based transactions.
Improving Software Asset Management
According to the announcement’s press release, Accenture has developed an application which utilizes DLT to provide “enhanced enterprise software asset management capabilities.”
Accenture’s new application reportedly uses a proprietary smart contract language called DAML – which was created by Digital Asset, a DLT-enabled software solutions provider.
As described in the press release, DAML is used by the application to “model and enforce software license events throughout their lifecycle, from origination to purchase, which simplifies tracking, usage and audit functions.”
“Significant Operational Efficiencies”, Potential “Use Cases Beyond Financial Services”
Commenting on the successful launch of the application, Chris Church, the chief business development officer at Digital Asset, noted:
The delivery of this application also represents a tremendous milestone for us since this is the first application built for a non-financial use case to go into production on the Digital Asset Platform. This new software asset management application shows that DAML and DLT can deliver significant operational efficiencies to use cases beyond financial services.
Melanie Cutlan, the senior principal and Accenture Operations blockchain lead, remarked:
We manage a significant portfolio of software licenses across businesses, clients and geographies, which demands relevant policies and procedures supported with the right technology. While software asset tracking and management tools have evolved, it can still be a daunting task for any large organization to manage.
Cultan added that DLT-based systems have the potential to make it a lot easier to manage a diverse set of software licenses – which should help in conducting audits.
She also thinks DLT-enabled software may be able to “save organizations millions of dollars per year” that they have to spend to manage their software licenses.
Per the announcement, Accenture’s application features a “patent-pending capability” and it was developed by the company’s in-house DLT-focused operations team.
Not Keeping Track Of Licenses Can Be Costly
Moreover, the application uses the Digital Asset (DA) platform and integrates “seamlessly” with Accenture’s “best-in-class” software asset management (SAM) capabilities. DA uses distributed ledgers and cryptography to “execute complex, multi-party” business processes.
Companies that do not properly manage their software licenses may be in violation of use rights – which can result in heavy fines and also negatively affect their brand image and reputation. According to Accenture, its software will help firms “reduce the risks” of failing to comply with software license requirements.
The next release of the software license application will reportedly incorporate “new functionality and capabilities.”
