xAssets Newsletter
Read our November 2010 Newsletter here
Read our August 2010 Newsletter here
Read our June 2010 Newsletter here
Click here to see our Industy Information Resource, a roundup of
news articles from around the web relating to cloud computing, asset management, compliance, financials, IFRS and asset systems.
IAITAM Conference 2010
Ed Cartier of xAssets presenting at the IAITAM conference, Nashville, TN, October 2010
See More Show Pictures Here.
White Papers
xAssets and Microsoft SAM Assist Audits
Microsoft sponsors SAM Assist audits through Microsoft Large Account Resellers. These audits serve to establish the licensing usage of MS products for the next term of the Microsoft agreement, and will also enable the customer to understand their licensing position on other products.
xAssets Software Discovery Service (SDS) is one of the preferred tools used by Microsoft Large Account Resellers to audit end customer software implementations. This is a hosted service which discovers the network for 30 days and then extends reporting and recognition fine tuning for an additional 30 days.
This is a low cost service, and any company can sign up direct with xAssets or through their LAR.
Red Carpet Support
xAssets has released a white paper setting out our customer intensive approach to support
The Right First Step
In March of this year the CIO of the United States of America, Vivek Kundra, mandated that government agencies and departments begin to develop plans to consolidate their data centers. With 1,200 data centers currently identified as being in operation, the mandated task will not be an easy one. However, a successful project outcome would bear real fruit. With software and file servers accounting for more than a quarter of the federal IT budget, and with server utilization estimated to be under 15% of total capacity, consolidation would result in real budgetary savings, likely measuring in the billions of dollars.
How to Write an RFP
In a recent interview, I was asked if knew of a good Request For Proposal (RFP) template that applied to the selection and acquisition of enterprise IT asset management systems. I told the interviewer that unless any number of companies or organizations have exactly the same needs, budgets and organizational structures, such a template would have no value. I was then asked if I could write an article on how to write an RFP, as it seems to be a task that a number of people struggle to accomplish. Having worked on more RFP’s than I care to remember, and having some thoughts on how to make the process more effective, I agreed.
Agentless Discovery versus Agent-based Discovery
The comparison between Agent-based Network Discovery and Agentless Network Discovery very much mirrors the comparison of staging an application on an internal network versus staging on a hosted network. Executed properly, any choice in both scenarios will provide the same very useful result, however, in both cases the remote solution greatly reduces overhead in both cost and manpower.
Considering Software-as-a-Service in the Asset Management World
Is Your Business Up In The Clouds?
The concept of providing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has been growing in interest within recent years, and has now reached a critical-mass of acceptance within the IT field, becoming a fully viable option for service and application provision.
Case Studies
Panasonic Electronic Devices Corporation of America (PEDCA) ®
PEDCA implemented xAssets Network Discovery and xAssets Service Management in May 2005 as a holistic IT Asset Management solution.
The system is used to manage Software Compliance, Help Desk, Hardware Assets and Contracts.
New Mexico Department of Health
New Mexico Department of Health implemented xAssets Network Discovery as a hosted service in May 2008. The system is used to manage Hardware and Software Assets
and covers over 4600 computers running Microsoft Windows and over 15,000 hardware assets in total.
Telos® Corporation
Telos implemented xAssets Service Management Software and Asset Management Software as a single, integrated solution,
in January 2009. They manage over 40,000 Assets and use the software for both Asset Management and delivery against
service contracts.
Qinetiq
Qinetiq implemented two distinct solutions from xAssets covering service management and technology asset management in 2003 and 2005.
Gloucester County Council, CTMS and Sungard
Gloucester County Council implemented a best of breed solution including xAssets Asset Management Software through their
service provider Sungard Vivista and xAssets UK Enterprise Partner CTMS.
This case study opens a link within the Sungard website.
Press Releases
xAssets Announces Industry Information Resource Service
xAssets announced today that it has launched an industry resources service on its website at www.xassets.com. Ed Cartier, the company's US Marketing Director, noted that, "It is our intent to provide individuals involved in the use, selection, and support of IT asset, fixed asset management tools and cloud-computing services with a place to go for news, information and discussions on topics that impact their professions..."
Read the press release here.
xAssets Hardware Discovery Service is Released - February 2010
xAssets Hardware Discovery Service is a hosted solution to enable customers to quickly
establish their Hardware Inventory.
The service runs for 60 days and is fast, affordable, agentless, low bandwidth, hosted and requires no expertise.
Click here for more information,
read the PDF press release here or get the
fact sheet here.
xAssets Network Discovery Receives SIIA Certification - January 2010
Wiltshire, United Kingdom January 5, 2010 - xAssets (www.xassets.com), a privately held developer of IT and software management,
fixed asset management software and helpdesk software tools, with offices in the United Kingdom, United States of America and Australia,
announced today that its IT asset and software discovery and reconciliation software has been certified by the Software & Information Industry
Association's (SIIA) as meeting its standards for accuracy, reliability, and ease of
use for performing software audits.
Read the full press release
xAssets Software Discovery Service is Released - October 2009
xAssets Software Discovery Service is a hosted solution to enable customers to quickly
establish their Software License Compliance position.
The service runs for 60 days and is fast, affordable, agentless, low bandwidth, hosted and requires no expertise.
Click here for more information or get the
fact sheet here.
The following Press Release was made public on the 29th October 2009:
Wiltshire, United Kingdom October 29, 2009 - xAssets (www.xassets.com), a privately held corporation with offices in the United Kingdom, United States of America and Australia, provides IT and software management, fixed asset management software and helpdesk software tools to medium and large scale enterprises, announced today that it is introducing a fully integrated automated hosted software compliance service.
xAssets hosted software discovery service provides organizations with the fastest and least complicated route to achieving software compliance. It requires no server acquisition, no software or agent deployment and minimal setup. A very small collection server tool is placed on the user's network and the system is typically up and running in minutes. The hosted service allows discovery for 30 consecutive days and reporting for an additional 30 days. Users can then choose to continue with the hosted service as needed.
Read the full press release
Learn More
xAssets Software has been nominated for a Codie award - October 2009
Wiltshire, United Kingdom October 19, 2009 - xAssets (www.xassets.com), a privately held corporation with offices in the United Kingdom, United States of America and Australia, provides IT and software management, fixed asset management software and helpdesk software tools to medium and large scale enterprises, announced today that it's flagship product suite has been nominated for the prestigious SIIA CODIE Award.
The CODiE Awards hold the distinction of being the industry's only peer-reviewed awards program, which provides member companies with a unique opportunity to earn praise from their competitors. Now in its twenty-fourth year, the CODiE Awards program has raised the standard for excellence and serves as prestigious representation of outstanding achievement and vision in the software and information industry.
Continued... Click Here
to read the full press release.
xAssets is sponsoring the IAITAM training program this year. This program allows companies to leverage their IT Asset Management
capabilities through ITAM training from industry experts. See this document for more information.