Software Asset Management (SAM) Discussion

Centennial recently launched an initiative called Centennial SAM Academy which is a demonstration of our commitment to help customers to get the most out of their investment in Centennial technology for specific solutions in this case Software Asset Management.

Technology has a role to play in a SAM solution but any customer expecting technology to deliver them SAM will be disappointed. SAM is about technology, people and procesess. We now have technology in market that will automate a lot of the tasks required to understand an organization’s software compliance position and to manage software compliance as part of a SAM solution but without sound processes to complement the technology there is a risk our customers will believe our technology has not delivered.

Centennial SAM Academy should help customers understand what processes they should adopt to ensure success with a Centennial based SAM solution and what SAM Partner services may be required to achieve success.

Centennial SAM Academy is a set of courses aimed at building a customers knowledge of SAM in general but also to give specific guidance using Centennial products in a SAM or compliance project.

The cornerstone of the Centennial SAM Academy is Centennial SAM Essentials .
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Centennial Software has broadened its SAM solutions portfolio with the addition of Centennial SAM Essentials, a ‘tool’ which combines project management technology with documented best practices, processes and policies for implementing a SAM initiative.    In addition to the productized solution, SAM Essentials users also get access to online training, designed to help IT and business staff understand the key project requirements and criteria for SAM success.

SAM Essentials reflect Centennial’s belief that too many organizations are left to fend for themselves when starting a SAM project, without the key skills and knowledge necessary to ensure the initiative is effective.   The idea is to address this with tools and training specifically focused on how to manage the SAM project.

Read more about Centennial SAM Essentials.

According to a new survey, 70 percent of organizations are not currently ready to move to ITIL v3.  While 62 percent of respondents said they intended to adopt the new standard, onlty 17 percent of these had any sort of timeline in place.

ITIL v3 was launched in May 2007 and includes several critical requirements for the effective management of software assets.

Businesses are now adopting Windows Vista, says Microsoft.  Nearly a year after the operating system’s introduction, the vendor says that people have underestimated the appeal of Vista and that adoption rates are higher than many predicted.

For organizations, however, migrating to Vista is not an easy task.   Getting complete visibility of the hardware and software already installed on the network is critical to budgeting and managing any upgrade project.   Simply understanding which PCs on the network are capable of supporting Vista minimum requirements can be extremely labor-intensive without an automated solution to help with what-if planning.