Just a quick note to get word out that the window of opportunity for providing feedback on the ISO/IEC 19770-1 revisions will close on the first of March.

Much discussion has circulated the ITAM media and blogosphere regarding the goals and substance of the ISO/IEC 19770-1 SAM Standard, as well as the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft of its four-tiered approach to SAM processes released last November.  For background on the topic see the press release issued by the SAM Standards Working Group. 

The survey itself can be accessed here:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7PX8RX5

The following article was authored by Grant Brierley, Express Metrix’s VP of EMEA Sales & Marketing, for GovToday, the UK’s premier online resource for the public sector.  The column relates to the UK National Health System’s (NHS) recent decision to abandon its massive Microsoft Enterprise License Agreement in favor of decentralized purchasing among individual agencies.  Mr. Brierley outlines five practical steps for the NHS to optimize its license agreements, and will be delivering a master class on this topic jointly with FAST Ltd at an NHS event on 15 February in Westminster.  We believe his advice can be applied to any organization looking to “right-size” its volume software purchases and implement an effective software asset management program.  Enjoy!

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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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I’m pretty sure everyone can agree that tracking software usage is an important element of any software asset management program.   However, end-user organizations considering software metering solutions are often unaware of the full scope of benefits that can be delivered by tracking application usage.  In addition, few realize that vendors tackle software metering in a variety of ways that may or may not match their specific environments and/or goals.

Join Jeff Kelsey, Express Metrix’s VP of Products, on Tuesday December 8 at 11am (Pacific) / 2pm (Eastern) for a special webinar discussing the ins and outs of application metering. 

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This is the second of two posts related to the challenges SMBs often encounter finding asset management software that matches their functional requirements, resource limitations, and budgets.  You can read the first post in the series here.

In this post I’ll explore five functional areas where SMBs have been underserved both by large, enterprise-oriented suites, as well as by the more basic, lower-cost computer inventory products.

1) License management capabilities

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