The SAM Starter Kit The SAM Starter Kit by Sandi Conrad has been endorsed by Microsoft. Michael Beare, Worldwide Director for SAM, at Microsoft said: “Microsoft is fully supportive of the efforts of The ITAM Review to enhance customer SAM capabilities worldwide. The SAM Starter Kit is a big first step. “ This SAM Starter kit will provide you with a process to set up your SAM program, templates... 

The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK recently decided to end its Enterprise Agreement with Microsoft. The NHS employs over one million staff and is said to be the largest user of Microsoft technology and third largest organisation on the planet (The only other larger organisations are the Chinese Army and Indian State railway). The terminated agreement allowed NHS staff full access to the Microsoft... 

Belated congratulations to Concorde Solutions who picked up the Microsoft Software Asset Management Partner of the Year 2010 back in June. According to Microsoft: “The Software Asset Management Partner of the Year Award recognizes the partner that consistently seeks to innovate with its software asset management (SAM) solutions and services, and deliver superior experiences and value for their... 

Global reseller Insight are gaining traction with their Microsoft Cloud offering following a concerted effort across 22 countries in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Some interesting feedback here on adoption, customer profiles and market drivers from Stuart Fenton, President of EMEA and APAC at Insight: “We offer a range of cloud-based solutions for our clients but it is the launch of Microsoft Business... 

What is Microsoft AIS? Microsoft Asset Inventory Service (AIS) 2.0 : A hosted service provided by Microsoft Users install an agent on machines which reports back over the internet Microsoft’s servers store the inventory data and provide software recognition Users can compare inventory versus entitlement for Microsoft Software How is it different from Microsoft SCCM? Software recognition and reconciliation... 

Whilst at IAITAM I had the opportunity for a brief chat with Eliot Arlo Colon, President at Miro Consulting, Inc. With over 400 clients on retainers assisting clients with license management and 10 years negotiating/re-negotiating Oracle and Microsoft contracts, Miro knows a thing or two about license compliance. I asked Eliot about trends in license management. We discussed outsourcing or co-managing... 

Generally speaking, you can expect proactive software asset management initiatives from software vendors at the start of their financial year and more heavy-handed compliance enforcement towards the end. For example, Microsoft released the SAM Optimization model in July last year at the start of their financial year and those SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The Software Compliance Calendar", url: "http://www.itassetmanagement.net/2009/04/07/the-software-compliance-calendar/"... 

I spoke with Scott Braden and asked for his advice on helping companies negotiate better deals with Microsoft. Scott was formerly president of Microsoft Secrets, and is now SVP at Net (net) where he helps companies save money and optimize their IT Investments. Scott raised the following ten points to consider before signing your next Microsoft Agreement; SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "INTERVIEW: Scott... 

It has often been argued that Microsoft’s dominance in the software world might be attributed to their aggressive marketing strategy and laissez-faire approach to licensing. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Microsoft Metered Pay-As-You-Go = The end of license management?", url: "http://www.itassetmanagement.net/2009/01/07/microsoft-metered-pay-as-you-go-the-end-of-license-management/" }); Read More →

Microsoft has always led the field in software asset management and license compliance from a software vendor perspective and their latest offering consolidates this position. Their SAM Optimization Model, announced at their Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston this week, offers organisations an opportunity to benchmark themselves against a Software Asset Management maturity model. The SAM Optimization... 

Microsoft have released a new Software Asset Management case study for the Bowmer and Kirkland Group, a 1,600 employee construction and development company based in Belper, UK. The group has started to benefit from a clearer view of their licensing position, slicker processes and reduced risks from software assets. Microsoft validated their licensing position as true, which is always a good line in...