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Presidents Letter
Dear IAITAM 2009 Conference & Exhibition Participants
By: Barbara Rembiesa, President of IAITAM
Welcome to our 7th Annual Conference & Exhibition and the 4th annual Conference Edition of ITAK! Many of you have made great strides in advancing your ITAM program since the organization first began as evident in the continued support and content in this industry focused magazine.
This year we followed the IBPL best practice format, and it has proven successful in framing the editorial content that is best suited for the industry’s needs by addressing the “how to’s” in each of the Key Process Areas along with educational content on a range of topics. I want to thank you all for embracing this design and your support of the organization’s efforts to establish ITAK as the IT Asset Management profession’s monthly publication. Read More...
Cover Story
ITAM is Green - The Benefits and Staying Power of Greening IT
By: Jenny Schuchert, Education Specialist for IAITAM
Environmental Stewardship and IT Asset Management
This year’s conference theme is Bringing Green Together, highlighting the business trend of environmental stewardship (Greening) that has changed outlooks, plans and strategies for business processes over the last few years. The Greening trend draws attention to environmental issues and how they relate to business activities. Greening is part of the larger corporate responsibility termed sustainability. Sustainability has been defined as “[the] policies and processes that enhance the financial, environmental, societal, human and other resources on which the company involved depends for its long-term health.”1 The Greening trend is the most well-known component of sustainability and has had the largest trickle-down impact on how business is conducted. While Greening has been a corporate concern for many years, the responsibility crept slowly to IT, with few CIOs identifying Green as a strategic priority as late as 2006.2 Read More...
Feature Article
Is Your Software Code Unique? - KOALA in Depth: Ownership - Litigating Copyright Infringement Claims Related to Competing Software Applications
By: Robert J. Scott, Managing Partner of and Christopher C. Barnett, Associate Attorney for Scott & Scott, LLP
Introduction
Software copyright infringement litigation, frequently called software anti-piracy claims, involve disputes between software publishers and their end-user customers1. Suits by one software publisher against another over trade secrets and copyright ownership generally involve competing works. However, “competing works litigation” typically requires substantially more effort from the parties and the tribunal than either of the above types of disputes. In these cases, the developer or owner of one program complains that a different product created or distributed by the defendant consists, in whole or in part, of the work in which the plaintiff holds the copyright. These cases on average involve significantly higher stakes than other software copyright disputes. The legal analyses and factual development in such matters can approach the level of complexity usually associated with patent disputes, and, indeed, many of the judicial frameworks regarding infringement analysis are similar to patent jurisprudence. Read More...
SKU License Management - The Key to Producing Business Value: Make the Software-License Connection
By: Dr. Christian Seeling, Software Developer for Aspera GmbH
In the software asset management (SAM) business it’s not uncommon to run into the “Yes, but…” syndrome in organizations preparing to negotiate enterprise-wide agreements.
Fear of expensive and business hindering audits leads most organizations to participate in voluntary true-ups. It’s a passive and extremely inefficient approach to license management. It’s also the best indicator of whether or not a company can sufficiently answer the following questions:
1. Do you know what licenses the company owns?
2. Do you know what software is deployed?
3. Do you understand the vendor’s licensing model?
4. Do you know the company’s licensing needs now and in the future?
Read More...
Compliance Equals Savings - Maximize Software Cost Savings by License Reharvesting, Recycling & Applying Product Use Rights
By: John Emmit, Director of Business Development for and Jill Powell, Director of Compliance and Content for ManageSoft Corporation
Software asset management (SAM) is a complex process that enables organizations to gain control of their software estate from both a license compliance and financial standpoint. In many organizations, SAM represents one of the few remaining ways that substantial IT savings can be realized. Analysts estimate that 30% or more of IT budgets are consumed by software license and maintenance costs. By optimizing the SAM process, organizations can maximize software utilization, reduce the risk of non-compliance (audits, fees, penalties), and reduce software costs by as much as 15 to 30% per year. But, where do these cost savings come from? Re-harvesting unused licenses and recycling licenses from retired hardware are techniques that yield significant savings. Another approach that is frequently overlooked is the application of product use rights (PUR). Read More...
Establish Strategic Value - Enhancing ITAM’s Value Through Strategic IT Vendor Audits
By: Larry Shoup, IAITAM Fellow and President & CEO of Silver Tree Solutions Inc.
How Relevant is ITAM?
The ITAM Career Ceiling
The ITAM profession is very rewarding and at the same time very frustrating. It is rewarding because we make a significant and tangible contribution to our organization’s bottom line. It is frustrating because that contribution doesn’t seem to be valued highly enough by executive management. This under-valuation shows up most clearly in the ITAM career ceiling. The ITAM career path in most organizations stops at the manager and sometimes director level. There are very few ITAM vice presidents. There are no ITAM officers and ITAM does not have a seat by itself at the executive level. It usually falls under the CIO or CFO. As a result, ITAM professionals that want to advance in the management ranks are forced to leave ITAM.
Read More...
Make Your Assets Sweat – Managing IT Costs: Making Macroeconomic Improvements to Your Cost Structure by Reducing Capital Expenditures
By: Dominic Schiavello, Vice President, EITM Solution Strategy for CA Inc.
Introduction
Though it's obvious that reducing costs and doing more with less is important in the current economic climate, gaining a better understanding of your cost structures can also affect how IT is perceived within the business. By connecting the revenue streams that are associated with a business service to the total cost to IT for supplying this service, you can readily determine ROI for IT services. And once you understand the economic value of the services, you can start changing the perception that IT is simply a cost center and help the business understand that it is supporting critical revenue streams. Additionally, understanding the cost structures over the life of the service can help you determine when a service is no longer valuable to the business and should be retired. Read More...
IT’s Financial Amnesty – Collaborating on Cost Savings
By: Mark Miller, VP of Sales for Scalable Software, Inc.
Executive Summary
As a financially oriented individual, you are at the very forefront of decisions that affect the viability of your company. As the recessionary forces gather strength around us, a daily fight for survival based on cash-flow predictions and capital availability must be deeply wearing. I’m sure you are doing everything in your power to instill a sense of fiscal discipline among the various support divisions within the company, and ensuring they feel part of the solution rather than the problem. However, how would you feel if it became apparent that those same actions and words used to contain expenditures were perpetuating a critical expense crisis at the heart of your organization? Read More...
Who Owns Your Assets? - KOALA in Depth: Ownership - Foundation for Cost Accounting and Strategic Steering (Part 2 in a 6 part series)
By: Scott Parkin, VP of Information Technology for LANDesk an Avocent Company
Asset ownership (as distinct from either accountability or assignment) is often overlooked because the fact itself has limited utility. Ultimately, though, ownership is the key vector that enables effective use analysis and strategic prioritization across the different responsible entities within the organization.
The value of effective asset ownership tracking comes in understanding the asset in each of its primary contexts—financial, operational, and as a component of an IT-delivered business service—and helping each of those stakeholders understand how their independent lifecycles for the asset intertwine to define a separate strategic lifecycle for the asset. Read More...
IT’s Tough Out There - Open Forum Discussion on SAM in Economically Challenging Times
By: John Tomeny, IAITAM Fellow/Convener of the ISO/IEC 19770-3 SAM Standards Working Group on Software Entitlements/VP of Business Development for Sassafras Software
In April of this year, I was invited by IAITAM to present a talk on “Software Asset Management in Economically Challenging Times”. Being a SAM tool vendor, I knew that I brought certain perspectives to a very multi-faceted topic. So I invited ‘Doc’ Burnham from Textron, an experienced SAM practitioner, to co-present with me. Read More...
Many Happy Returns - Celebrating the Benefits & ROI of ITAM
By: Robert Houghton, President of Redemtech Inc.
In a recent research note, Gartner analyst Patricia Adams seemed pleased with an awful truth: enterprise ITAM adoption has increased 15 percent in five years to more than 40 percent of all companies surveyed. Such numbers should inspire thoughtful ITAM professionals with fear and doubt. We believe that our discipline is critical to managing cost of ownership, that ITAM is a security must-have, and that it’s essential for SARBOX and privacy compliance. How could we have botched the sale with six out of 10 companies? Read More...
Becoming an ITAD Hero - Are You Getting Measurable Payback and True Value From Your Disposal Process
By: Paul Baum, CEO of PlanITROI Inc.
It’s a fact – being an IT Asset Manager rarely gets the recognition it deserves. The rewards may be limited, the risks of the position may be greater than other IT positions, and when there is recognition, it generally only comes after something goes wrong. With “job security” being at the forefront of everyone’s mind, maintaining the status quo may seem like a smart strategy.
But, what if you could find a way to be recognized for your efforts and do so without jeopardizing your position? What if you had detailed IT asset disposition reports that supported your organization’s “green” initiatives and proved that a financial return could be realized from your retired IT assets? Could you actually make your IT department feel proud to be greener, and also be financially independent? Read More...
The EPA Wades In - Responsible Recycling (R2) Practices
By: Lane Epperson, Co-Founder of HiTech Assets, Inc.
“Are they EPA certified?”
This question is sometimes asked by people attempting to verify the professional practices of an IT disposal vendor. It is a very understandable inquiry since one could reasonably assume that a stamp of approval by the EPA would mean that such a vendor had been tested and proven compliant with environmental regulations. An ITAD company certified by the EPA would be an environmentally safe vendor choice to handle end-of-life electronics for any organization needing to dispose of their used computer equipment. It would be a very convenient and simple solution. Read More...
Choose a Qualified End-of-Life Partner - Standards & Certification in IT Asset Retirement
By: Rike Sandlin, Director of Marketing & Communications for Intechra Group, LLC
IT asset management – along with the service providers that support it – has been an industry in transition for the past several years. Once a fledgling role in just a few organizations, we are now excited to see enterprises around the world establishing IT asset management teams to realize the benefits of professional accountability for IT assets. Service providers have emerged or adapted to support the needs of asset managers for every stage of the asset lifecycle. Read More...
Disowning Your IT Assets - Rethinking Cost of Ownership
By: Chris Adam, Vice President of Converge
Businesses with a strategic approach to purchasing and managing technology know the importance of cost-of-ownership planning. The financial impact of hardware, software, training and support goes far beyond the initial purchase price. Computing these “all in” costs is crucial to making IT an enabler for business success.
Now there’s a new piece of “ownership” calculus that directly affects your bottom line and your company’s reputation.
Read More...
Don’t Forget the Data - Recycling Computers is Good, But What About Your Data
By: Bekah Alexander, SVP/ General Manager for IATRDD
More and more companies realize the need to implement a recycling program of some kind to deal with their outdated computer and technology-related equipment. Programs and Service Providers abound to take technology equipment away, disassemble it, thus reducing it to components that can be recycled into new products. But the question remains – what about your data? Read More...
Hands Free Asset ID - An Asset Management Best Practice: Completely Automating Asset Tracking
By: Joan Osleeb, VP of Marketing for RF Code
At a recent gathering of government, corporate and educational asset managers and IT asset managers, we surveyed attendees about the biggest obstacle they faced in managing their asset inventories.
Sometimes survey data can surprise. Other times, it’s just an affirmation of the obvious. Read More...
Lost and Found - Near Perfect Tracking Accuracy Can be Achieved
By: Geoff Glave, Senior Product Manager for Absolute Software Corporation
For some, the idea of knowing exactly where every computer is located and what's on them is a far-off goal. But at Grant Thornton, they've been able to achieve nearly 100% accuracy in tracking their IT asset inventory. Grant Thornton LLP oversees a widely-distributed computer fleet, providing laptops and desktops to thousands of employees across 49 locations. On a daily basis, their IT must effectively transfer computer assets between numerous employees and locales, contending with leasing expenses, licensing and regulatory compliance, and security measures along the way. As most IT managers are painfully aware, this movement can be incredibly difficult to track with traditional tools and can lead to unbudgeted costs. Read More...
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