SAManage IT Management Blog

Now you can get updates on changes to your assets, inventory, help desk tickets or new risks in your account using the new RSS feeds feature. Each module (such as Inventory, Contracts, Risks and Helpdesk) fully supports output via RSS feeds to make it easy on you to take your information and use it in your favorite feed reader.

Subscribe to your RSS feeds

To activate the new feature and subscribe to an RSS feed for any of the modules in your account, simply click on the RSS icon on the upper right corner of each view (located together with the CSV/PDF/Print icons) or click on the RSS icon in your browser’s URL address. Your browser will redirect you to the default RSS reader and let you add that feed to your reader.

Some ideas to get you started

1. Audit – create a feed of audit events in your inventory – makes it easy to review the audit log and track changes across your inventory. Note this feed is quite large and frequently updated.
2. Risks - view new risks detected in your inventory.
3. New computers/software – activate the RSS feed on the “New computers/software” view to get a listing of new computers/software across your network in the last week.
4. New tickets - view new tickets in your help desk and always stay on top of new support requests.
5. Search phrases – run a search query and get the results as a feed – a great way to create custom alerts on changes to your assets.

Got more ideas or questions about the new capabilities? let us know!

Industry experts predict that the number of involuntary software audits will continue to rise, as solution providers attempt to combat declining revenues and shrinking profit margins caused by the current economic crisis.  One of the best ways to prepare yourself is to know exactly what to expect if and when a software audit does occur.  In this post, we will highlight some of the activities that typically take place during a software audit.

A software audit is usually prompted by “whistle blowing” from within the organization or by the software vendor themselves.  The Business Software Alliance (BSA) and other similar organizations are quite aggressive when it comes to soliciting tips, and have even gone so far as to offer rewards for information regarding illegal software use.  When a software audits is triggered by the software vendor, they will usually have a clause in their software agreement (or enterprise agreement) that allow them to audit customer software licenses, and demand immediate additional payment together with fines due to in-compliance if the client is found to be under-licensed.

In most cases, a formal notice will be send by an attorney (representing a smaller software publisher that does not have in-house legal resources) or a third-party anti-piracy organization – such as the BSA or the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA) – to your company’s executives.  This notice will indicate which software titles are in question, and will provide a defined period of time (usually 30 to 45 days) in which your company must respond to the allegations.

Before the software audit begins, the auditing body must provide you with:

• Details of all activities that will take place, and who will perform them
• A clear explanation of how software license compliance will be measured
• An estimate of the type and amount of assistance the auditors will need from your company’s employees
• An overview and description of any technologies, such as software asset management tools, that will be used during the auditing process

At the start of the software audit, you will likely be asked to deliver:

• Copies of all related license documentation – purchase orders, packing slips, invoices, etc.
• A report that clearly outlines the details of all installations of that specific software across all company’s computer.

In order to ensure that you are treated fairly throughout the process, it is best to seek professional help as soon as you receive a notice of a pending audit.  Hiring an expert will help protect your interests throughout all phases of the software audit.

Be advised that software audits are time-consuming and disruptive to normal business activities.  Records must be collected, research must be conducted, and facts must be checked and double-checked.  Additionally, because some software contracts can be vague in nature, there may be ongoing debate and discussion among your company and its auditors – even before software license compliance, or lack thereof, is determined.

What happens if you are found to be under-licensed during a software audit?  The risks can be tremendous.  There can be fines and monetary penalties imposed by regulatory bodies, as well as the large one-time payments that must be made to vendors to account for copies of software being used illegally.  And, there is damage to reputation and poor goodwill that can result if those incidents of non-compliance are made public.

One of the best ways to combat those risks is to proactively manage software licenses internally using an automated software asset management tool (sorry, but excel was not designed to track licenses).  By keeping software records up to date at all times, and accurately reconciling software applications being used with those allowed by sales contracts and purchase agreements, you can help your company avoid any problems, and successfully demonstrate full compliance if an audit does occur.

What is Software Asset Management?

Learn how companies can improve IT efficiency and ensure license compliance with Software Asset Management.

Download our quantifying the value of software asset management white paper.

When it comes to IT asset management (ITAM), there are two approaches you can take.  There’s reactive IT asset management, where issues are discovered and handled after they have already occurred – a virus that is located and removed after it has damaged systems, software licenses that are reconciled with contracts after unauthorized usage has been detected during an IT audit, or asset disposal and acquisition decisions that are not in line with asset utilization.

Legacy IT asset management systems only allow companies to manage assets in this way.  They’re little more than advanced reporting engines that deliver raw, historical asset information as-is.  This data is only valuable if the user knows exactly what to look for, and how to interpret it, and what action to take.  For example, a software inventory report may also include drivers, patches, service packs, and updates (which can account for as much as 50 percent of all software assets).  This makes it challenging to distinguish between those and the actual titles owned, which can hinder effective software asset management. The reactive approach relays on the user to interpret the data and make a decision or take action.

Proactive IT Asset Management

With Proactive IT asset management, asset inventory is constantly analyzed by the system in an effort to “make sense” out of all the data and come up with recommendations on ways to optimize asset utilization and reduce risks to the business. With the proactive approach, threats and risks are detected and flagged long before they cause problems.  Many of the next-generation IT asset management solutions, particularly those that are software-as-a-service (SaaS) based like SAManage, enable truly proactive tracking and management of technologies throughout their lifecycle.

What makes proactive IT asset management so much more effective?  Moving from legacy enterprise software tools to a more proactive approach through the use of SaaS ITAM can:

• Increase IT staff productivity by dynamically transforming raw asset data into the intelligence they need to maximize asset ROI
• Reduce the total cost of technology ownership by providing insight that can help optimize asset performance, allocation, and utilization
• Eliminate the extensive administration and maintenance required to support legacy IT asset management solutions

Unlike legacy IT asset management systems, which lack the needed functionality, next-generation IT asset management software such as SAManage can help IT professionals make sense of the massive volumes of asset inventory that exist across their network.  So, they can focus on important issues, and the actions required to resolve them.

For example, next-generation IT asset management software will:

• Dynamically analyze computer inventory and software inventory and exclude system files and other irrelevant information from software reports, enabling more precise software license compliance by showing only actual applications installed on end user PCs.
• Provide asset audit reports including a history of all modifications and changes to the asset, making it easier to troubleshoot and repair support requests.
• Deliver in-depth analysis of asset inventory, so potential problems can be immediate detected and brought to the attention of the appropriate stakeholders.
• Detect risks and illegal software existing in the asset inventory and provide tools to mitigate these risks from the network.

Visit our web site to learn more about the advantages of next-generation IT asset management, and how SaaS based ITAM from SAManage is the ideal solution to help you more proactively manage your IT systems.

The Business Case for IT Asset Management

This paper outlines the steps needed to create a compelling business case for an IT Asset Management solution.
Download our building the business case for IT Asset Management white paper.

IT professionals know the value that a software asset management (SAM) system can provide – increased visibility into software applications and related activities can result in accelerated return on software investment, reduced total cost of ownership, and minimized risk.  But, in today’s tough economy, where IT budgets are shrinking fast, convincing senior executives of the need for software asset management may not be so easy.  That’s why IT teams must build a compelling business case for software asset management.

According to Christopher Germann of Gartner Group, “organizations can realize cost savings of between 5 percent and 35 percent by implementing focused software asset management practices.”

However, analyst research and other third-party validation may not be enough.  Benefits in the form of tangible and quantifiable cost savings must be presented to upper level management in order to successfully make the business case for a software asset management system.

Software asset management can deliver significant savings in a variety of forms, including:

• Increased IT efficiency. Some companies have saved as much as $16,000 annually by reducing the length of support calls. SAM enables this by making it faster and easier for help desk staff to determine a PCs configuration.
• Accelerated IT audits. By eliminating manual processes, firms can conduct software audits more rapidly and more precisely, cutting costs through improved utilization of IT staff resources.
• Improved end user productivity. The ability to better detect and prevent the use of IM, games, and other unauthorized programs can spare businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars in employee waste and downtime each year.
• Enhanced software license management. Vendor license audits are on the rise, and companies must protect themselves.  With software asset management, license compliance is made easy, as firms can more effectively track contract terms and software license allocation.  This can save hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential fines, as well as immeasurable damage to corporate reputation.

While these benefits are substantial, organizations can realize even greater monetary advantages by choosing a software-as-a-service (SaaS) based software asset management system over an on-premise one.

The specific savings that can be achieved with software asset management will vary greatly from one company to the next, based on a variety of factors such as the number of end users, the number of PCs, and the average salary of IT staff members.  Unique information about your business will need to be applied, to ensure the accuracy of your estimated ROI when building your business case for software asset management.

What is Software Asset Management?

Learn how companies can improve IT efficiency and ensure license compliance with Software Asset Management.

Download our quantifying the value of software asset management white paper.

Today, we are excited to announce a major milestone for SAManage, our customers, and partners—the release of the SAManage API.

With the rapidly increasing demand for SAManage among enterprise customers, one of the most common requests we were getting was to provide easy access to the asset information in SAManage and enable integration with other corporate systems.

The new API makes all of the SAManage data easily-accessible for integration by customers and partners (please note that the API is only available in the premium version of SAManage). It allows users to create, retrieve, update, and delete asset information related to all types of assets such as computers, software, and printers. The information accessible through the API includes inventory, contracts, risks, and help desk tickets related to these assets.

The API enables bi-directional integration of information that can help organizations facilitate cross-application business processes.  Some examples include:

• Enable internal help desk systems to utilize the most up-to-date asset information provided by SAManage
• Notify internal stakeholders of new risks and license compliance gaps
• Trigger new asset purchase requests based on information in SAManage help desk tickets
• Automate asset maintenance and disposal processes
• Synchronize asset tracking with internal RFID systems
• Populate the SAManage user tracking based on LDAP user records
• Automate the creation of contracts and licenses in SAManage based on information from a procurement system or reseller records

Maintaining the spirit of simplifying IT Management, using the API is straightforward and easy. The SAManage API is RESTful and uses XML and JSON for output. There are no special accounts to sign up to and no special users to activate. Users of the premium plan can simply point their browser to the API request URL or curl requests from the command-line, as all authentication is done through the existing HTTP Digest authentication system using current account credentials and encrypted using SSL.

While this is a beta release, updates to the API will be made in a manner that guarantees your integrations will continue to work through using versions. Look for updates on new features and capabilities of the API, as well as sample integrations that are already being created by customers and partners.

We are very excited to see how the API is used, so please let us know what you come up with. You can follow SAManage on Twitter for updates or subscribe to our blog to stay up to date.

As the economy continues to falter, the importance of software license compliance is greater than ever before.  Because both customers and vendors are facing their own unique struggles during these tough economic times, the number of software audits is expected to rise significantly.

What is causing this trend?  On the one hand, clients are experiencing IT budget cuts, and are more frequently installing unauthorized copies of software applications as a means of containing costs.  Yet vendors are combating shrinking profit margins, and as a result, are aggressively seeking to recoup any lost or potential revenues from companies using their software illegally.

“The Business Software Alliance (BSA) recognizes that the current economic climate could have an impact on companies cutting corners and using unlicensed software to save perceived-costs,” said Sarah Coombes, the organization’s Senior Director for Legal Affairs in EMEA.

In response to these concerns, the BSA has indicated that it plans to step up enforcement efforts throughout 2009.  In other words, they’ll likely be conducting a higher number of IT audits than in previous years.

Late last year, leading analysts like IDC began noting a sharp rise in the number of companies going through software license audits.  And, according to the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST), that pattern continues today.  FAST research shows that approximately 30 percent of companies have been inspected for license compliance so far this year, up from just 20 percent in 2008.

Experts concur that the most effective way to protect your company from the pitfalls associated with poor software license compliance is through the implementation of formal software and IT asset management (ITAM) policies, supported by advanced audit software and IT audit tools.  The BSA agrees, with Michael Murphy, Chairman of its Canadian Committee, advising, ” With so many cost-cutting measures taking place these days, it’s critical for companies to manage their software license compliance properly.  Cutting corners in the short term can ultimately prove costly in the long run.”

How can IT and software asset management solutions enhance software license management?  By enabling businesses to capture, track, and report on all critical information related to IT contracts and licenses, including proofs of purchase, agreement terms and conditions, and current inventory.  By centralizing this data and dynamically analyzing it, firms can more easily detect and correct license compliance issues, before they result in fines, penalties, and damage to corporate reputation. This will improve your chances of successfully passing software license audits.

Visit our Web site to learn more about robust, comprehensive on-demand IT asset management and audit software solutions from SAManage, and how they can help you improve adherence to all your software license agreements and related IT contracts.

What is Software Asset Management?

Learn how companies can improve IT efficiency and ensure license compliance with Software Asset Management.

Download our quantifying the value of software asset management white paper.

SAManage online help desk software provides you with powerful customization capabilities, including the ability to create unique ticket types.  So you can adjust your new it help desk software to conform to your existing business process and procedures.

Streamline Support Requests Across Your Company

IT help desk handles different types of requests from various types of users.  For example, a user may request the acquisition of a new software package, while an executive may have a problem operating a certain desktop application.  Each type of request is often best handled by a specific individual on the customer service team.  In an ideal world, these requests would automatically be routed to the right person for processing and follow-up. This would provide significant benefits, such as:

• Allowing help desk professionals to focus on their specialties, and work on those issues most closely related to their skill and experience
• Eliminating the need to cross-train staff members
• Increasing efficiency by reducing the amount of time spent routing and forwarding requests, and providing for faster issue resolution

Different Types of Support Requests

In any business, there are many different types of service desk requests, each of which must be handled in a specific way.  For example, when a new asset acquisition request comes in, it may need to be routed directly to the procurement department. Implementing this process in your SAManage IT help desk software is easy.  Simply create a new custom ticket type called “acquisition“, and auto assign any tickets of that type to a certain individual, such as your purchasing officer. When your users select “acquisition” as the type when submitting a new support request, the ticket will be automatically assigned to the purchasing officer.

Your purchasing officer can then login to  your SAManage helpdesk software to review these requests, leave any comments or ask for additional information from the ticket originator, and update the ticket status to “resolved” once the request has been processed.

Implementing Custom Ticket Types

To further extend your new SAManage help desk solution across your company, and to ensure full support for your existing business processes, you can use the ticket types capability with the new email-to-ticket feature.  For example, you can receive new  acquisition or software installation requests to a unique email addresses.  This will ensure that these types of requests are automatically assigned to the right stakeholders within your company. As a result, you can streamline your help desk processes and completely integrate your new SAManage system with your current way of doing business.

Tip: you can setup dedicated mailboxes in your email system (for example acquisition@acme.com) and create auto-forwarding rules to your SAManage email dropbox address. When your users email new acquisition requests to acquisition@acme.com they will appear in your SAManage help desk as new tickets, and will get assigned to the default dropbox assignee.

Improve Direct Collaboration

With your SAManage help desk system, help desk teams can instantly collaborate with requesters.  When a new ticket is opened, they can ask for additional information or further clarification on the issue directly from the requesters themselves, without going through a intermediary or third-party.  This not only improves communication between help desk teams and the users they support, it enhances service levels by shortening request handling and response times.

Learn more about SAManage online IT Management suite or signup for your free 30-days trial account today!

SaaS-based IT Management and Help Desk Software

Discover how on-demand IT Asset Management and Help Desk software from SAManage can help you gain instant visibility into your assets and improve your service levels.

Sign up for a free trial of SAManage.

Why have network management software systems become such a critical part of an organization’s technology arsenal?  Because today’s companies invest more heavily in enterprise network infrastructure than in any other type of IT solution.  In fact, IDC has claimed that enterprise network spending has historically outpaced IT spending in general, accounting for as much as seven percent of a corporation’s total IT budget.  And, the analyst firm expects this trend to continue for at least the next five years.

Network management software is designed to enhanced the operation, administration, and provisioning of networks and related assets within the network.  These powerful, comprehensive applications allow businesses to better control and maintain their IT networks by centralizing and automating all activities related to tracking, monitoring, servicing, and fine-tuning its components.

With network management tools in place, companies can monitor – in real-time – all aspects of their network assets, including bandwidth, storage space, software installation and usage, and anti-virus protection.  As a result, they can tap into the full potential of their infrastructures and maximize return on their network investments by:

• Performing network IT audits to accurately log and track all related inventory, and facilitate software license compliance
• Identifying the location and configuration of network components
• Diagnosing and troubleshooting problems and issues that may impact network performance
• Conducting ongoing monitoring of servers and other network assets – even from remote or off-site locations

How does network management software accomplish all this? With a broad array of robust features to enhance end-to-end network IT asset management, such as:

• Comprehensive network mapping, for in-depth insight into network structure
• Automated network auditing, for more precise hardware and software asset management
• Centralized monitoring of all network components
• A complete suite of network diagnostic tools
• Configuration and change management capabilities, to reduce the time and complexity of network-wide modifications
• Dynamic alerts that instantly notify network administrators when critical events occur

Additionally, many network management tools include fully-integrated IT help desk capabilities.  So, companies can not only better manage the individual components within their IT networks, as well as the infrastructure as a whole.  They can more efficiently and effectively address the problems and issues faced by the users who are connected to those networks.

Visit our Web site to learn more about the features and benefits of our SaaS IT asset management and network management software solutions.

Clackamas River Water solidifies asset tracking with SAManage

Clackamas River Water (CRW) is a domestic water supply district that serves Oregon’s Clackamas County, located in the southeastern part of the Portland metropolitan area. The CRW organization views excellent service as the core of its business. Its mission statement is to provide the highest quality water and services at the right time, the right place, and the right price.

With desktops, laptops, and server machines installed at the organization’s two office locations, real-time tracking of all hardware and software is imperative for ensuring effective management of these assets.

“The introductory training we received from SAManage was very good, and because configuration and setup were well-defined for tracking of IT Assets, I have been able to quickly move forward and start monitoring assets.” said Quincy Whitfield, Information Systems Manager.

Over the years, CRW has put in place a number of IT Asset Management solutions, ranging from Excel spreadsheet to a custom Microsoft Access application. “Excel was too rudimentary, and the Access application was too much work to maintain,” says Whitfield.

“SAManage gives us the visibility to see if any computers are running applications they are not supposed to, so we can work with the users to remove these risks.”

Read the complete report: Clackamas River Water solidifies asset tracking

Ready for next generation IT Management?

Discover how you can gain instant visibility into your assets, know exactly what you have and what risks exists in your network.

Get started today: Sign up for a free 30-days trial of SAManage IT Management service.

In today’s tough economy, companies of all types and sizes are tightening their belts.  As a result, IT budgets are shrinking – fast!  But, with fewer dollars to spend on technology, businesses must make wiser purchasing decisions, choosing those tools that will deliver the greatest value in the shortest time frame.  That’s why IT asset management should be at the top of your technology “wish list”.

If you want the fastest, highest return on a technology investment, then IT asset management is the way to go.  Unlike some other IT management applications, which have advantages that are hard to quantify, the benefits of IT asset management are tangible and measurable.  These include:

1. Better asset utilization by know what assets you have and how these assets are used.
2. Enhanced infrastructure performance through improved tracking of enhancements, upgrades, and repairs and service.
3. Reduced risk of fines due to software non-compliance through more effective software asset management.
4. Improved control over your network and changes to your assets and faster, more precise IT audits.
5. Optimized employee productivity through better detection and elimination of unauthorized software like games.

But, perhaps most importantly, unlike other tools that take a while to demonstrate their worth, the advantages of comprehensive hardware and software asset management with an IT asset management system can be realized almost immediately.  In fact, according to Pepperweed Consulting, the vast majority of organizations who implement IT asset management experience full ROI within the first year, as well as ongoing savings throughout the life of the solution.

And, those benefits are further magnified when you choose a hosted IT asset management system.  Without the high cost of maintenance and the high upfront expenditures typically associated with legacy, on-premise IT asset management solutions, SaaS IT management tools provides the potential for:

• Reduce deployment risk and shorter time to value
• Dramatically reduced total cost of ownership
• Accelerated return on investment
• Minimized burden on IT resources, since there is no hardware to install or maintain

Visit our web site to learn more about why SaaS IT asset management should be a top priority for your organization, and why solutions from SAManage are the ideal choice for all your IT management needs.

The Business Case for IT Asset Management

This paper outlines the steps needed to create a compelling business case for an IT Asset Management solution.

Download our building the business case for IT Asset Management white paper.