Software Asset Management (SAM) Blog

FrontRange Solutions (which acquired SAM solutions vendor Centennial Software in 2008) has launched its online “SAM Analyzer“, a quick self-assessment tool designed to help individuals and organizations understand if they are ahead of - or perhaps behind - the curve when it comes to Software Asset Management.

The SAM Analyzer comprises 10 simple questions to establish an organization’s current practices and attitudes. The answers are then collated, scored and used to create a tailored report for each participant.

It’s not exactly scientific, but if you’re interested to see how your organization fares, it’s worth a look!

www.frontrange.com/analyzer

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has revealed that more UK companies have settled out of court following allegations of software piracy. Companies in London, South Yorkshire and East Yorkshire have each paid undisclosed-but “significant settlements running into tens of thousands of pounds” for using unlicensed software.

Licensing infringements included the illegal use of software from Adobe, Autodesk, Microsoft and Quark as well as the mis-use of ‘OEM’ and ’student’ versions of both operating systems and business applications.

Sarah Coombes of the BSA told reporters: “The BSA takes a firm line against the disregard of software licensing regulations.”

The BSA has recently targeted firms in Manchester and Glasgow and is committed to ramping-up anti-piracy efforts through 2008.

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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Despite fears of a recession, analyst firm Gartner is predicting an 8.2% rise in software revenues for 2008. However, Gartner’s latest report does indicate that customer organizations will be in the driving seat - and better able to negotiate advantageous licensing and support deals from vendors eager to secure their business.

What’s not clear from the research is how much of the 8.2% increase is made up from compliance programs. With nearly ever major software vendor now publicly admitting that they are pursuing customers for non-compliance, it is a safe bet that many of these will be relying more than ever on audits to drive revenues over the next 12-18 months.