The following blog post, written by Mari Petersen (Express Metrix Director of Business Development), is in reference to the Software Identification Summit, which was held in Washington D.C. on May4th.  Two Express Metrix executives, Mari Petersen (Director of Business Development) and Kris Barker (Co-Founder & CEO) attended the conference.  According to TagVault, the event sponsor, “The software identification summit is designed to provide a forum for all software ecosystem members to discuss the future of software identification and discuss how these issues can be addressed in an authoritative fashion today with existing tools and technology.”

Kudos to Steve Klos for organizing a terrific conference last week!  I was especially impressed by the diversity of attendees: software publishers, tool providers, government agencies, SAM practitioners and other industry experts.  Each presentation was interesting in its own right, and on the whole, the sessions offered a variety of perspectives that complimented and reinforced one another.   

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When asked about our company’s products, most people immediately think of Express Software Manager^®, our flagship product offered to businesses for IT asset inventory, software usage, and license reporting.  What many (including our long-standing customers) don’t realize is that we also separately license our software catalog, one of the key components of Express Software Manager, to a very different “customer”—asset management vendors themselves. 

Today we are proud to add Numara Software to a growing list of OEM partners, which includes IBM, LANDesk, New Boundary, BMC, and Amando Software.   The Express Software Identification Database (ESID)^® will power the software recognition for Numara’s Asset Management Platform, strengthening the accuracy and reliability of its existing capabilities such as asset inventory, software deployment, patch management, and license tracking.  Read the press release here.

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Exciting news:  We just inked an OEM deal with UK-based FAST Ltd, who will now offer its own “private label” version of our flagship product, Express Software Manager. 

FAST Ltd, owned by British software giant, IRIS, is recognized to be the United Kingdom’s leading authority on Software Asset Management (SAM) and IT Compliance, having provided software, education, consulting and managed services for over 24 years.  FAST Express Software Manager will become available in the Spring of 2011, equipping FAST’s clients with the same terrific IT asset reporting enjoyed by our own customers, and maximizing the value FAST Ltd can offer through its portfolio of asset management services.  This allows FAST to focus its own resources on its primary business: helping customers with their software license management and compliance initiatives.

FAST Ltd is the latest to join an expansive list of OEM partners who license our technology for use within their own asset management products or services solutions.  Besides FAST Ltd, licensees of Express Metrix’s technology include: IBM, BMC, Numara Software, Adlon, New Boundary, LANDesk, and amando software GmbH.

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A lot of folks must be rubbing their eyes in disbelief: Microsoft has actually introduced a licensing option that makes life easier for businesses that lease or “rent” Microsoft Windows and Office software to their customers on a per-use basis.  Companies that will theoretically benefit from Microsoft’s new “Rental Rights” include internet cafes, print shops, kiosk companies, and office equipment leasing firms that allow customers to pay a fee to use their machines.  Previously, such companies were required to purchase a Service Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA), a licensing scheme that can be prohibitively costly and complicated for small businesses.  Evidently (and not surprisingly), the lack of flexible licensing options led to an increased piracy rate among businesses that offer equipment rental services to its customers.  Microsoft first piloted the program in countries where the per capita piracy rate is unusually high, such as Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Japan, China, Russia, and Thailand. 

According to Eric Ligman, Global Partner Experience Lead with the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group, “Rental Rights licenses are one-time licenses that are valid for the term of the underlying software agreement or the life of the PC.  These rental rights are available as an additive license to Microsoft Open License, Select License, and Select Plus Volume Licensing agreements.”

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For anyone in the UK, the Software Industry Research Board (SIRB) has scheduled next year’s UK Software Management and Licensing Conference to take place on 21^st April 2010 at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, Berkshire.  They are conducting some advance research among end-user organizations to guide the content of the workshops.  Whether you plan on attending or not, the conference organizers would appreciate any participation in their software asset management survey that’s representative of likely attendees (those responsible for the commercial and operational management of software licenses).  The deadline for responses is 24^th December 09.ng, Berkshire. 

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