Some of the issues we have encountered may be affecting you:

• Software installed, but user does not know or need it
• Project canceled, software may be available for redeployment
• New hardware frees up licenses which may be available for reallocation

The Assessment provides a report of findings, recommendations of a go-forward strategy, and makes recommendations on ways to make some quick wins and organizational savings. A typical Assessment provides:

1. Using automated inventory tools, an accurate hardware and software baseline
2. Comprehensive report of findings
3. Recommendations for a solid software asset management strategy

An Assessment will provide a Software Asset Management roadmap highlighting industry "best" recommendations supporting on-going compliance and improvement to customer problem areas. Some of our recommendations include:

• Inventory tool implementation
• Software asset management training for employees
• Wall-to-wall audit
• License management program

A typical Software Asset Management Assessment is a 10-day engagement.

1. Hardware
   • What is installed?
   • Will it support future requirements?
2. Productivity
   • Is asset being used to its capacity?
   • How much spare capacity is available?
   • Any potential for server consolidation?
3. Software
   • What is installed?
   • Is all software properly licensed

UMS delivers a complete solution that gives full visibility of IT assets throughout the enterprise. We have a good working knowledge base of the asset discovery tools. With our years of working with the available tools, we decided to develop licenseITall. knowITall is a quick, inexpensive, easy way to obtain knowledge of what is in your environment.

Industry statistics suggest that an on-going auto-discovery solution needs to be in place to maintain a comprehensive and accurate inventory of hardware and software products. However, we must acknowledge that only systems connected to the network can be monitored.

A UMS project team will collect all the data for identifying each asset: what is it? where is it? who uses it? who owns it? This information is collected and consolidated from multiple sources.

Project Plan:  coordinate with internal organizations to ensure minimal impact to daily operations.

Data Requirements:  analysis of processes and systems to identify the data necessary to generate the required reports. Knowing the required data elements, we build a pre-populated catalog of allowable values.

On-Site Data Collection:  one location to many geographically dispersed sites, we take inventory by visiting every asset: server, desktop, fax, PDA, sc anner, telecom — any fixed asset.

An asset tracking solution is composed of:

1. Software Auto-Discovery
2. Wall-to-Wall Audit
3. IMAC (install, move, add, and change) Tracking Technology
4. Asset Tracking Repository

Asset data is in continual flux. There is significant turnover of the asset base as assets are acquired, moved, changed, redeployed, or retired. As a result, asset information is typically inaccurate and incomplete. Industry data shows that as much as 20% of an organization's assets experience an IMAC activity each year. Often, these changes are not captured. IMAC is often called the "Achilles heel" of most asset management systems.

In order to make strategic decisions, the asset data must be accurate. The objective is to track every change made to every asset throughout its entire lifecycle. Tracking assets is not a one-time project; it is an on-going business control initiative. The UMS solution addresses all the weak points of traditional IMAC processes and tools.

Using handheld technology, a set of simple processes is customized for your environment. UMS has developed reference tables to present "pick lists." With rare exception, data is scanned or picked. Our solution is quick and accurate and can be linked to Software Auto-Discovery.

Our solution can also be web-based.

As an organization builds its IT asset management program, this necessitates an asset repository tool be implemented. An asset tracking repository is an organized, reportable database. It allows the collection of all required data in one place:

• Hardware descriptions:  vendor, brand, model, configuration, supplier, price, depreciation
• Software licensing information:  vendor, licensing metrics, licenses owned; deployed, capacity on demand terms, if applicable, licensing redeployment
• Financials:  track budgets - pricing, leases, and maintenance costs
• Contracts:  electronic copies, warranty start/end dates, renewal dates, terms and conditions, suppliers, contacts, and service level agreements
• Project and sub-project:  rules-based chargeback

How does an organization manage its vendors without the critical data being captured, tracked and reviewed on an on-going basis?

An organization must equip their team with resources required to be successful. A thorough training curriculum focused on software asset management responsibility is key. UMS offers comprehensive on-site education for IT, procurement, financial and contracts staff. Our training curriculum is customized to meet each client's requirements. A typical engagement's duration may be from one to three days.