Posts Tagged ‘Desktop Management’

5 Tips for Eliminating Hidden Software Costs

Posted in Asset Management, IT Asset Management, License Management, Software Asset Management on June 25th, 2009 by Jodi – Be the first to comment

As technology budgets continue to remain stagnant (IDC expects only a 2.6 percent increase in spending this year), companies need to find – and eliminate – the hidden software costs that can drain IT funds.

What are some of the best ways to reduce hidden software costs?

Eliminate Extra Licenses
Gartner believes that US businesses overbuy licenses for 60 percent of their software portfolio. This creates hidden software costs in the form of excess vendor fees, as well as unnecessary property taxes. By using a software asset management system to better organize software licenses and IT contracts, companies can more precisely identify and discard extra licenses, saving as much as two percent of their annual operating budget.

Remove Unused Application Modules
During the software sales cycle, many vendors have a way of talking buyers into purchasing modules they don’t need, or bundles that include components that really aren’t necessary. Additionally, many companies continue to maintain software that, although valuable at one time, is no longer required by end users.

With an IT asset management solution in place, organizations can readily identify which applications are being used, and more importantly, which ones aren’t. By getting rid of those that are sitting idle, companies can avoid paying for maintenance – or even for the solution itself – by canceling in advance of an invoice. Gartner estimates that, by doing so, firms can reduce their annual technology operating budgets by as much as one percent.

Improve the Accuracy of Software Depreciation
Incorrect depreciation processes are a leading cause of hidden software costs. When organizations overvalue their software, they lose valuable tax write-offs. With a software asset management solution in place, businesses can improve the accuracy of software valuation, which – according to Gartner – can yield a one-time reduction of up to 10 to 20 percent of depreciable software assets.

Stop Unnecessary Software Acquisition
Companies often waste money on software they simply don’t need. A request comes in from an end user, and a new package is purchased – even though there is already a similar solution, perhaps with available licenses, in house. By using an automated tool to maintain an up-to-date inventory of all software assets, companies can stay fully aware of what they already own at all times. This can reduce hidden software costs by avoiding unnecessary software acquisitions.

Minimize “Renegade” Purchasing
By helping companies create, define, and enforce formal IT purchasing procedures, IT asset management solutions can put the proper controls in place to prevent unauthorized buyers from acquiring software without adherence to corporate policies and budgets.

Find out how you can eliminate hidden software costs at your company. Learn more about powerful, SaaS IT asset management solutions today.

Asset Management Software Helps Eliminate IT Resource Abuse

Posted in Asset Management on May 8th, 2009 by Eran – Be the first to comment

Recent studies demonstrate just how big the problem of IT resource abuse by end users has become. In fact, IT managers claim that employee misuse of IT systems is even more worrisome that potential attacks by hackers and other outside threats.

IT asset management solutions can help businesses of all types and sizes to detect – and proactively prevent – abuse of their IT systems.

What exactly constitutes IT resource abuse?

Most firms will agree that using technology assets in a way that will negatively impact the performance and reliability of that particular system – as well as other systems across the business – would clearly be considered IT resource abuse. This can include downloading unauthorized programs, such as games, that could introduce spyware, viruses, or other risks into the environment, as well as any activities, such as peer-to-peer file sharing, that would waste valuable network bandwidth.

It can also mean using illegal or unlicensed copies of authorized software, which can increase the company’s exposure to potential fines and penalties for vendor non-compliance. Or, the download of music, videos, and other forms of entertainment that can put a business at risk of copyright infringement.

But, nowadays, many companies strongly believe that any use of IT assets for non-work purposes should be viewed as resource abuse, since it can dramatically slow down workforce productivity. This could include something as obviously unacceptable as storing offensive or pornographic photos on a desktop, to something as seemingly harmless as chatting with friends via IM on company time.

With IT asset management solutions, companies can better control how their assets are utilized – and put a stop to IT resource abuse – by effectively implementing and enforcing a broad-reaching hardware and software usage policy. IT teams can define such guidelines as:

  • What software, hardware, and other components are allowed/authorized
  • How assets should be requested and purchased
  • What steps should be followed for installation, upgrades, and maintenance
  • What is considered acceptable/unacceptable utilization of each asset

With IT asset management in place, organizations can identify which employees are accessing which IT systems, and track how each user is utilizing each asset. As a result, IT staff can ensure adherence to the company’s hardware and software usage policy at all times, and take immediate corrective action when users are found to be breaking the rules.This valuable, timely insight can help companies fight IT resource abuse – which in turn will reduce risk, increase productivity, and preserve the integrity and security of the IT architecture.

To learn more about stopping IT resource abuse at your organization, and how SAManage IT Management suite can help, visit www.samanage.com.

Preventing Asset Theft with Automated Asset Management Software

Posted in Asset Management, Tips on May 1st, 2009 by Eran – Be the first to comment

The potential costs associated with IT asset theft are astonishing. For example, a 2007 report published by DataMonitor claims that the average laptop holds commercially sensitive content and intellectual property valued at approximately $972,000. Therefore, companies need to take aggressive measures to secure their technology components and proactively prevent incidents asset theft.

Many experts believe that the key to securing laptops, PCs, handheld devices, and other assets is through the implementation and use of automated asset management software solutions. While many companies still perform asset tracking manually – a process that is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but inaccurate and error-prone as well – those that use software applications to streamline asset tracking activities can reap significant benefits. In fact, the Ponemon Institute states that the cost of preventative measures is as much as four times less than the cost of asset theft.

Automated IT asset management and asset tracking software from SAManage empower organizations to manage and track their hardware inventory throughout its life-cycle. Companies can achieve full visibility into all servers, workstations, laptops, printers and other hardware components that exist in their environment. As a result, they can:

  • Create and maintain a detailed log of all hardware inventory
  • Identify the location, configuration, and primary user(s) of all computers and peripheral devices
  • Account for all assets at all times
  • Uncover changes that may indicate possible asset theft, such as new passwords

No matter how complex or geographically dispersed a technology infrastructure is, automated asset tracking solutions can provide a greater understanding of what exists, and where it is located, helping companies dramatically minimize their risk of IT asset theft.

Learn more about IT audit and asset tracking solutions from SAManage, and how they can help businesses proactively prevent asset theft.

5 Tips for Effective IT Inventory Management

Posted in Asset Management, IT Management on April 24th, 2009 by Eran – Be the first to comment

When it comes to successful, broad-reaching IT inventory management, nothing is more important than visibility. Knowing what you have, where it is, what is connected to it, who is using it, and how it is being used is the key to preserving the integrity of your infrastructure, and maximizing the value of your technology investments.

But, there are other factors to consider when outlining your IT inventory management strategy. Below are five steps for more effectively controlling your inventory of PCs, software, hardware, peripherals, and other components.

Conduct a Preliminary Audit

An initial IT audit will provide you with a current and accurate log of what you have, and related characteristics. In addition to the physical location of each asset, you’ll need to collect and record information such as its model and vendor, as well as its configuration, primary user(s), and any applications installed on it, peripherals connected to it, networks it interacts with, etc.

Schedule Frequent Reviews

Technology environments change rapidly, so frequent reviews of your inventory to identify new assets or changes to existing ones will be required to keep inventory and related records up-to-date. Most experts recommend that your IT inventory management plan include at least one audit each quarter.

Implement Usage Policies – And Enforce Them

A complete inventory management plan must provide for end-to-end control over all related assets – including how they are utilized. Be sure to create and document formal policies and rules related to technology usage. And, make it clear what action will be taken if policy violations are detected.

Be Proactive

The key to keeping your inventory of IT assets protected from threats is to proactively assess risks, and eliminate them before they create a problem. During your audits, be on the lookout for unauthorized downloads, unlicensed software packages, or anything else that can put your company in jeopardy of data or financial loss.

Select a Comprehensive Automated Tool

Manually auditing, logging, and tracking your technology inventory can be highly error prone, and can pose a huge strain on your IT resources. A comprehensive automated asset management software will increase both the accuracy and efficiency of your IT inventory management processes.

IT Asset Management solutions from SAManage empower you to gain complete, unhindered visibility into the IT assets that exist throughout your enterprise. With SAManage, you can better control your environment, and improve inventory management processes across your entire technology landscape.

Desktop Management Software helps control your enterprise

Posted in Tips on April 2nd, 2009 by SAManage – Be the first to comment

PCs and laptops, as well as the peripherals that are attached to them, are more technologically advanced than ever before. Additionally, the number of software applications installed on them has grown exponentially, and the way they are used by employees has become far more sophisticated. Add to the fact that some desktops are physically moving between departments and locations, and you can see why it has become increasingly difficult for IT teams to effectively track and control the desktop environment – particularly when many of those desktops reside in remote or off-site locations.

The emergence of virtualization has both helped and hindered desktop management processes. By consolidating and centralizing resources, virtualization can help make enterprise asset management easier than ever. However, this approach has created new needs when it comes to software distribution, patch management, and other activities, making the need for a formal desktop management strategy even more critical. “Going virtual” does not excuse you from managing your desktop assets.

Most importantly, failure to properly manage desktops can be a costly mistake. Leading industry analyst firm Gartner estimates that a poorly managed Windows XP desktop has a four-year total cost of ownership of $4,455, compared with $2,850 for one that is well-managed.

IT professionals who need a more efficient, more effective, and more affordable way to manage company PCs are turning to desktop management software. These powerful solutions streamline, automate, and accelerate core desktop management tasks such as installing software updates and patches, administering end user privileges, monitoring system usage, gaining visibility into desktop configurations and associated changes, troubleshooting end user problems, or detecting spyware or viruses.

Desktop management software from SAManage is an easy to use software-as-a-service solution that provides organizations with all the tools they need to enhance the setup, administration, and monitoring of PCs and laptops throughout their lifecycle. With SAManage, IT professionals can precisely, productively, and economically:

  1. Maintain an accurate, up-to-date PC and software inventory
  2. Instantly identify the configuration of each desktop, which can reduce the time and cost of help desk or technical support calls
  3. Protect the desktop environment by tracking installed software on each PC, to uncover missing patches, or lack of security software
  4. Minimize license compliance risk by detecting the presence of any illegal applications
  5. Optimize employee productivity by finding and removing unauthorized programs that can drain productivity, such as games, instant messaging, or file sharing
  6. Audit changes to each desktop in real-time, to proactively identify the download of viruses, spyware, or malware before they cause damage

Learn more about SAManage Desktop Management services or sign up for a free 30-day trial.

IT Inventory Management with SAManage

Posted in Asset Management, Features on January 19th, 2009 by Eran – Be the first to comment

The SAManage IT Asset Management service includes a comprehensive, feature-rich module for IT Inventory Management. This module dramatically increases efficiency and accuracy by improving the way software, hardware, and other technology assets are identified and tracked throughout their life cycle. SAManage makes it easy to know which assets an organization have and keep track of their status and physical location.

Computer Inventory Management

Powerful, yet intuitive functionality make it easy for IT staff to manage assets from end to end. They can:

  1. Create an inventory of existing assets. In just a few clicks, IT staff can quickly generate a list of all assets, or assets by type (i.e. workstations). For more granular detail, lists can be further filtered using specific criteria such as “PC” or “laptop”.
  2. Track assets by vendor. By simply running a list of all PCs, sorted by vendor, then filtering by a specific provider (i.e. Lenovo), IT staff can identify which components were purchased from which supplier.
  3. Determine PC configurations. A computer’s hardware configuration can be viewed by clicking on the “inventory” tab and choosing a particular workstation from the list. The detailed PC configuration page as multiple tabs to choose from, such as the “software” tab that provides a list of all applications currently installed on that workstation or the “hardware” tab for detailed hardware configuration.
  4. Modify asset status. Authorized users can change the status of an asset at any time. For example, if a PC is currently being serviced, the status can be adjusted to reflect that it is “in repair”. Or, if an asset has been made obsolete or replaced, it can be marked as “disposed”. Lists of all assets by status can then be easily generated for further review.
  5. Change an asset’s location. This can be accomplished by selecting a specific component, then modifying its location using one of the locations configured in SAManage. Lists of assets by location can be created at any time, to accurately track where various assets reside and to further track a technical owner or the asset’s user.

IT Audit – Audit changes to your assets and network

The SAManage inventory management module also boosts audit productivity and helps easily audit changes to your assets and network. Users can rapidly generate an audit report by clicking on “Inventory”, then selecting “Audit”. This report can be filtered by any type of event and the related property, for example “Added Network Adapter”, and extracted to a CSV file. Using the same selections, IT staff can also view when a software application was installed or removed on any specific computer and at any time, making it easy to generate detailed audit reports and meet regulatory and audit requirements.

Software Inventory Management

SAManage also provides powerful capabilities for software inventory tracking that helps know what software you are using. Key features include the ability to:

  1. Track all software by vendor (i.e. Adobe) by simply running a list of all installed software, then filtering by the vendor’s name.
  2. View where an application is installed by entering the name of the software package in the search facility, or by selecting it from the list of assets.
  3. Monitor new software applications across the network by selecting “inventory”, then “software”, then applying the “new” filter by days.
  4. See a list of all drivers, patches, and other hidden software by selecting “inventory”, then “software”, then viewing “hidden”. SAManage automatically excludes all system files from your inventory, so you get a clean, actionable view of your assets.


To learn more about the SAManage inventory management software, and how it can help you better track and monitor your IT assets, visit www.SAManage.com.