Topic relevant selected content from the highest rated entries, typeset, printed and shipped.

Transcription

1 Topic relevant selected content from the highest rated entries, typeset, printed and shipped. Combine the advantages of up-to-date and in-depth knowledge with the convenience of printed books. A portion of the proceeds of each book will be donated to the Wikimedia Foundation to support their mission: to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally. The content within this book was generated collaboratively by volunteers. Please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by people with the expertise required to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information. Some information in this book maybe misleading or simply wrong. The publisher does not guarantee the validity of the information found here. If you need specific advice (for example, medical, legal, financial, or risk management) please seek a professional who is licensed or knowledgeable in that area. Sources, licenses and contributors of the articles and images are listed in the section entitled References. Parts of the books may be licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. A copy of this license is included in the section entitled GNU Free Documentation License All used third-party trademarks belong to their respective owners.

2 Contents Articles IT asset management 1 Software Asset Management 2 Maximo (MRO) 4 Information Technology Infrastructure Library 5 ManageEngine AssetExplorer 20 SAManage 22 Certified Software Manager 23 Numara Software 24 Express Metrix 26 Centennial Discovery 27 Federation Against Software Theft 28 Belarc 29 Asset Point 30 Axios Systems 31 Altiris 32 Staff&Line 34 Efecte 36 Absolute Manage 37 Align (company) 40 Certified Information Technology Professional 41 Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México 48 ERP for IT 55 KACE Networks 57 Information technology operations 61 IP-guard 61 Faronics 63 XIO Strategies 69 Computer Aid International 72 OCS Inventory 76 References Article Sources and Contributors 78 Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 80

3 Article Licenses License 81

4 IT asset management 1 IT asset management IT asset management (ITAM) is the set of business practices that join financial, contractual and inventory functions to support life cycle management and strategic decision making for the IT environment. Assets include all elements of software and hardware that are found in the business environment. Hardware asset management Hardware asset management entails the management of the physical components of computers and computer networks, from acquisition through disposal. Common business practices include request and approval process, procurement management, life cycle management, redeployment and disposal management. A key component is capturing the financial information about the hardware life cycle which aids the organization in making business decisions based on meaningful and measurable financial objectives. Software Asset Management is a similar process, focusing on software assets, including licenses, versions and installed endpoints. Role of IT asset management in an organization The IT Asset Management function is the primary point of accountability for the life-cycle management of information technology assets throughout the organization. Included in this responsibility are development and maintenance of policies, standards, processes, systems and measurements that enable the organization to manage the IT Asset Portfolio with respect to risk, cost, control, IT Governance, compliance and business performance objectives as established by the business. IT Asset Management uses integrated software solutions that works with all departments that are involved in the procurement, deployment, management and expense reporting of IT assets. Goals of ITAM ITAM business practices have a common set of goals: Uncover savings through process improvement and support for strategic decision making Gain control of the inventory Increase accountability to ensure compliance Enhance performance of assets and the life cycle management Risk reduction through standardization, proper documentation, loss detection Process ITAM business practices are process-driven and matured through iterative and focused improvements. Most successful ITAM programs are invasive to the organization, involving everyone at some level, such as end users (educating on compliance), budget managers (redeployment as a choice), IT service departments (providing information on warranties), and finance (invoice reconciliation, updates for fixed asset inventories). IT asset management generally uses automation to manage the discovery of assets, so inventory can be compared to ownership information. Full business management of IT assets requires a repository of multiple types of information about the asset, as well as integration with other systems such as supply chain, help desk, procurement and HR systems.

5 IT asset management 2 External links International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers IAITAM [1] References [1] / www. iaitam. org/ Software Asset Management Software Asset Management (SAM) is a business practice that involves managing and optimizing the purchase, deployment, maintenance, utilization, and disposal of software applications within an organization. According to the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), SAM is defined as all of the infrastructure and processes necessary for the effective management, control and protection of the software assets throughout all stages of their lifecycle. [1] Fundamentally intended to be part of an organization s information technology business strategy, the goals of SAM are to reduce information technology (IT) costs and limit business and legal risk related to the ownership and use of software, while maximizing IT responsiveness and end-user productivity. [2] SAM is one facet of a broader business discipline known as IT asset management, which includes overseeing both software and hardware that comprise an organization s computers and network. Role within organizations SAM can serve many different functions within organizations, depending on their software portfolios, IT infrastructures, resource availability, and business goals. For many organizations, the goal of implementing a SAM program is very tactical in nature, focused specifically on balancing the number of software licenses purchased with the number of actual copies installed. In doing so, organizations can minimize liabilities associated with software piracy in the event of an audit by a software vendor or a third party such as the Business Software Alliance (BSA). SAM, according to this interpretation, involves conducting detailed software inventories on a periodic basis to determine the exact number of software installations, comparing this information with the number of licenses purchased, and establishing controls to ensure that proper licensing practices are maintained on an ongoing basis. This can be accomplished through a combination of IT processes, purchasing policies and procedures, and technology solutions such as software inventory tools. [3] More broadly defined, the strategic goals of SAM often include (but are not limited to) the following: Reduce software and support costs by negotiating volume contract agreements and eliminating or reallocating underutilized software licenses [2] Enforce compliance with corporate security policies and desktop standards [4] Improve worker productivity by deploying the right kinds of technology more quickly and reliably [2] Limit overhead associated with managing and supporting software by streamlining and/or automating IT processes (such as inventory tracking, software deployment, issue tracking, and patch management) [5] Establish ongoing policies and procedures surrounding the acquisition, documentation, deployment, usage and retirement of software in an effort to recognize long-term benefits of SAM [6]

6 Software Asset Management 3 SAM Technology A number of technologies are available to support key SAM processes: Software inventory tools intelligently discover software installed across the computer network, and collect software file information such as title, product ID, size, date, path, and version. Some inventory tools compare software inventory data with purchasing information to reveal license deficits and ensure that organizations remain compliant with their licensing agreements. Software metering tools monitor the utilization of software applications across a network. They can also provide real-time enforcement of compliance for applications licensed based on usage. Application control tools restrict what and by whom particular software can be run on a computer as a means of avoiding security and other risks. [7] Software deployment tools automate and regulate the deployment of new software. Patch management tools automate the deployment of software patches to ensure that computers are up-to-date and meet applicable security and efficiency standards. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) In 2006, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) began working with the SAM industry to develop a standard of best practices for software asset management programs. Standard ISO/IEC :2006, Information technology software asset management Part 1, was published by the ISO and IEC in May Part 1 of the standard details SAM processes including control environment, planning and implementation, inventory, verification and compliance, operations management and life cycle. [8] ISO/IEC : Part 2: Software identification tag [9] ; establishes specifications for tagging software to optimize its identification and management. Using Software Identification Tags or SWID Tags makes discovery a simpler and more accurate process that can be verified by software vendors if they audit an organisations entire estate. Issues with scalability An example of issues faced when scaling up discovery tools is with Microsoft's System Centre Configuration Manager (SCCM). Using metering rules to monitor software deployment and usage across a small estate is relatively easy and reliable given the total number of unique executables (.exe files) and the number of instances of each executable. If you try turning on metering rules for every packaged application and every executable in a large estate the volume of data generated quickly becomes unmanageable and expensive to maintain. References Reference Number 4 is no longer valid (missing link). [1] ITIL s Guide to Software Asset Management [2] "Information technology Software asset management-- Part 1: Processes". International Standard. International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission pp. 5 [3] "What is SAM?" ( www. microsoft. com/ resources/ sam/ what. mspx). Microsoft.. Retrieved [4] Dunn, Ian; Daniel Dresner (2004). "SAM Best Practice" ( www. fast. org. uk/ groups/ AMG-FASTtalkArticleSAMBestPractice. pdf) (PDF). Federation Against Software Theft.. Retrieved [5] "Information technology Software asset management-- Part 1: Processes". International Standard. International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission pp. 19 [6] "Microsoft Software Asset Management: Step-by-Step Training - Step 4" ( www. microsoft. com/ resources/ sam/ sbs_4. mspx). Microsoft.. Retrieved [7] Ogren, Eric ( ). "Application control coming your way" ( blogs. computerworld. com/ node/ 3890). ComputerWorld.. Retrieved

7 Software Asset Management 4 [8] "Information technology Software asset management-- Part 1: Processes". International Standard. International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission [9] / www. iso. org/ iso/ catalogue_detail. htm?csnumber=53670 External links Business Software Alliance (BSA) ( www. bsa. org) Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) ( www. fastiis. org) :2006 ( www. iso. org/ iso/ iso_catalogue/ catalogue_tc/ catalogue_detail. htm?csnumber=33908) ISO/IEC Information Centre ( www. standardsinfo. net/ info/ livelink/ fetch/ 2000/ / / index. html) International Business Software Managers Association (IBSMA ( www. ecpmedia. com/ index. html) International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers (IAITAM) ( www. iaitam. org) Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) ( www. siia. net) Maximo (MRO) IBM Maximo Asset Management software provides asset lifecycle and maintenance management for all asset types on a single platform. It is used to help maximize the value of critical business and IT assets over their lifecycles with workflows by enforcing best practices that yield benefits for all types of assets, including transportation, production, delivery, facilities, communications and IT. Industry-tailored solutions are available for utilities, nuclear power, transportation, government, telecommunications, life sciences, and oil & gas. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] MRO Software, the provider of Maximo, was acquired by IBM in August The current release, IBM Maximo Asset Management 7.1, is the third release built upon a J2EE Service Oriented Architecture. It is an Enterprise Asset Management, Service Management and IT asset management suite of applications that are scalable and easily integrated into existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Maximo is also the basis of Tivoli Process Automation Engine, which is the central part of Tivoli Service Automation Manager. References [1] IBM ( www. IBM. com/ ) [2] IBM Maximo User Groups ( www. tivoli-ug. org/ groups. php?ugtype=maximo) [3] IBM Asset Management Community ( www-950. ibm. com/ communities/ service/ html/ communityview?communityuuid=1f062ee8-a76e-4e2b f3b) [4] IBM Asset Management LinkedIn Group ( www. linkedin. com/ groups?about=& gid= & trk=anet_ug_grppro) [5] Maximo users group ( tech. groups. yahoo. com/ group/ MAXIMO/ ) - Run by Christopher Wanko and Wes Williams since 1999; largest independent user group for Maximo, very high signal/noise ratio. Technical support found here is recommended by MRO specifically. [6] IBM Maximo Enterprise Suite ( www-01. ibm. com/ software/ tivoli/ solutions/ asset-management/ index. html) - Asset and Service Management Software [7] IBM Maximo Asset Management - Product Support ( www-947. ibm. com/ support/ entry/ portal/ Overview/ Software/ Tivoli/ Maximo_Asset_Management)

8 Information Technology Infrastructure Library 5 Information Technology Infrastructure Library The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and practices for Information Technology Services Management (ITSM), Information Technology (IT) development and IT operations. ITIL gives detailed descriptions of a number of important IT practices and provides comprehensive checklists, tasks and procedures that any IT organisation can tailor to its needs. ITIL is published in a series of books, each of which covers an IT management topic. The names ITIL and IT Infrastructure Library are registered trademarks of the United Kingdom's Office of Government Commerce (OGC). History Responding to growing dependence on IT, the UK Government's Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency in the 1980s developed a set of recommendations. It recognised that without standard practices, government agencies and private sector contracts were independently creating their own IT management practices. The IT Infrastructure Library originated as a collection of books, each covering a specific practice within IT Service Management. ITIL was built around a process-model based view of controlling and managing operations often credited to W. Edwards Deming and his plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle. [1] After the initial publication in , the number of books quickly grew within ITIL v1 to over 30 volumes. In 2000/2001, to make ITIL more accessible (and affordable), ITIL v2 consolidated the publications into 8 logical "sets" that grouped related process-guidelines to match different aspects of IT management, applications, and services. However, the main focus was known as the Service Management sets (Service Support and Service Delivery) which were by far the most widely used, circulated, and understood of ITIL v2 publications. In April 2001 the CCTA was merged into the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), an office of the UK Treasury. [2] In 2006, the ITIL v2 glossary was published. In May 2007, this organisation issued the version 3 of ITIL (also known as the ITIL Refresh Project) consisting of 26 processes and functions, now grouped under only 5 volumes, arranged around the concept of Service lifecycle structure. In 2009, the OGC officially announced that ITIL v2 certification would be withdrawn and launched a major consultation as per how to proceed. [3] Overview of the ITIL v2 library The eight ITIL version 2 books and their disciplines are: The IT Service Management sets 1. Service Support 2. Service Delivery Other operational guidance 3. ICT Infrastructure Management 4. Security Management 5. The Business Perspective 6. Application Management 7. Software Asset Management To assist with the implementation of ITIL practices a further book was published (Apr 9, 2002) providing guidance on implementation (mainly of Service Management):

9 Information Technology Infrastructure Library 6 8. Planning to Implement Service Management And this has more recently (Jan 26, 2006) been supplemented with guidelines for smaller IT units, not included in the original eight publications: 9. ITIL Small-Scale Implementation Service Support The Service Support [4] ITIL discipline focuses on the User of the ICT services and is primarily concerned with ensuring that they have access to the appropriate services to support the business functions. To a business, customers and users are the entry point to the process model. They get involved in service support by: Asking for changes Needing communication, updates Having difficulties, queries Real process delivery The service desk functions as the single contact-point for end-users' incidents. Its first function is always to "create" an incident. If there is a direct solution, it attempts to resolve the incident at the first level. If the service desk cannot solve the incident then it is passed to a 2nd/3rd level group within the incident management system. Incidents can initiate a chain of processes: Incident Management, Problem Management, Change Management, Release Management and Configuration Management. This chain of processes is tracked using the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), which records each process, and creates output documents for traceability (Quality Management). Service Desk / Service Request Management Tasks include handling incidents and requests, and providing an interface for other ITSM processes. Features include: single point of contact (SPOC) and not necessarily the first point of contact (FPOC) single point of entry single point of exit easier for customers data integrity streamlined communication channel Primary functions of the Service Desk include: incident control: life-cycle management of all service requests communication: keeping the customer informed of progress and advising on workarounds The Service Desk function can have various names, such as: Call Center: main emphasis on professionally handling large call volumes of telephone-based transactions Help Desk: manage, co-ordinate and resolve incidents as quickly as possible at primary support level Service Desk: not only handles incidents, problems and questions but also provides an interface for other activities such as change requests, maintenance contracts, software licenses, service-level management, configuration management, availability management, financial management and IT services continuity management The three types of structure for consideration: Local Service Desk: to meet local business needs - practical only until multiple locations requiring support services are involved Central Service Desk: for organisations having multiple locations - reduces operational costs and improves usage of available resources