With the recent release of Express Software Manager v9.5, we developed a pretty slick Flash demonstration to show potential end-users of the product its key features and capabilities related to IT asset management.  The demo is jammed with reports, so it’s a great way to get a quick look under the hood of the product without downloading and installing the full-featured evaluation.

The demo is comprised of six modules, each of which are a couple of minutes in length.  Here’s what you’ll see: (more…)

We recently announced the availability of Express Software Manager Version 9.5, with the introduction of a brand new IT purchasing system.  Now, in addition to tracking the inventory and usage of your IT assets, you can manage all the details related to your hardware and software purchases—and abandon those Excel spreadsheets once and for all!

Please join me for either of the two live product demonstrations held via LiveMeeting on Thursday, July 29 for North America and Wednesday, August 11 for Europe, Middle East and Africa. 

I’ll demonstrate Express Software Manager’s PC inventory and software usage tracking capabilities, along with the new IT purchasing system, which will transform your ability to manage your hardware and software assets, stay compliant with license agreements, identify areas where your organization has purchased too many licenses, and more. 

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Finding the right software license management technology is hard enough. It’s even more challenging if your network environment includes servers running Citrix or Windows Terminal Server (WTS), as precious few tools provide usage statistics or management capabilities for applications delivered through these platforms.

To manage software in a Citrix or WTS environment, you need technology that collects software usage data not only at the server level, but also at the end-user and machine level.  And in order to effectively manage license compliance, you’ll want to explore capabilities that allow you to control in an automated fashion which end users and/or machines can run those licensed applications.

There are three software license types you need to consider in Citrix or WTS environments, each of which requires a different approach to license management. (more…)

Very nice blog post by Jenny Schuchert of the International Association of IT Asset Managers (IAITAM) concerning how to build the business case for IT asset management (ITAM).  In particular, I agree with her philosophy regarding the two general approaches to selling ITAM most likely to succeed. 

The first approach is to link ITAM to a particular event or known issue, and build the business case around resolving the issue or preventing such an event from happening again in the future.  Schuchert remarks that while this approach may not necessarily target areas where the most significant savings may be obtained, it may be the most politically savvy—and therefore practical—approach for obtaining buy-in from skeptics.  Plus, once a successful program is in place, the additional savings generally speak for themselves and will likely lead to subsequent reprioritization of program goals and emphasis. 

The second approach Schuchert mentions is to focus the business case on the multitude of ways a well-structured ITAM program can lead to cost savings, presented in terms of potential return on investment. This approach, if presented as a strategic initiative, is more likely to succeed among executive stakeholders that have demonstrated a commitment to exploring ways of uncovering long-term organizational savings. 

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We’re deep in the final throes of shipping Express Software Manager Version 9.5 (so I’ll keep this short!), but I wanted to post a link to a very strong review we got from Martin Thompson of the ITAM Review. 

We demo’ed an early release of the product to him a couple of weeks ago, with a primary focus on the new IT purchasing system that will now ship with Express Software Manager. 

Read the Express Software Manager 9.5 Preview

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