While there are many constants in Software Asset Management (SAM) and Software License Optimization (SLO) best practices, knowing specifics about the licensing schemes of your individual software publishers is essential.

In August 2015 we published a blog commenting on the impact of the newly available Oracle Database 12c Standard Edition 2 (SE2) for existing Oracle Standard Edition (SE) and Standard Edition 1 (SE1) customers. This is the second edition expanding on what was touched upon in the previous blog.

A CMDB that can deliver speed and agility to the organization it reflects: that’s the dream. But according to multiple research projects, the majority of organizations fail to achieve that dream, usually due to poor data.

December 31 is fast approaching, and not only is it the end of the calendar year for most people across the globe, it also marks the fiscal year end for a number of major software vendors- including SAP, IBM, VMware and Citrix. 

Ask any organization if it grants local admin rights to users for their machines, the response is likely to be mixed. Knowing the damage it can cause, some may respond in horror – a reaction that is often based on previous experience. Or, simply that IT policy has always reserved admin rights for the Service Desk.

Autodesk is a large software vendor that provides over two hundred different software titles to many different industry segments including architecture, engineering, and media and entertainment. Autodesk’s flagship is AutoCAD, a family of products used, for example, in the animation engines for popular PC and console computer games.

Crowded and mature, that’s today’s market for smartphones and mobile devices. Apple and Samsung are assured leaders but others such as Sony and Microsoft have equally good brand recognition and strong offerings. Giving consumers and businesses the choice between handsets and operating systems leads to healthy competition and continual development of features and functionality.

The evolution to Cloud is changing, or I would even go as far to say that it has changed the way vendors deliver software and services. The model has shifted the cost of software from the balance sheet to profit and loss. 

In part one we focused on the initial steps required when responding to a software audit demand. In part two we explain how you can effectively manage a vendor review and what you should do at the conclusion of a vendor audit.

Software Audits have been a challenge for organizations for years – whether from software publishers themselves, through their auditing partners such as Deloitte and KPMG, or the number of industry watchdogs around the world such as the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) or the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).