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Asset Management software?

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by emj65 1 view

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I'm looking for asset management software the polls domains for networked hardware (that doesn't cost a fortune). We have under 1,000 devices, and do not currently have an asset management procedure in place, which we need for obvious reasons. What does everyone else use for this purpose, and how much did you pay for it initially, and what maintenance costs have you incurred over the time you've used it? I am doing research on my own, but it's always good to hear from those actually using the software. Any information will be appreciated. Thank you.

33 replies

by fitnut

Track-It (now owned by Inuit) includes an asset management feature in addition to the core helpdesk management piece. We've been pretty happy with it.

by ubergeek

We're currently using Altiris. We haven't gotten the asset management implemented yet, but will be doing so over the next year.

by emj65

We are actually already using helpdesk software (ProjecTrak), but I didn't like their Asset Management module. Theirs called for a piece of software be installed on each device, as opposed to polling the network to get the info. So what I'm really looking for is purely an asset management software, not something that works with a helpdesk. Thank you for your responses.

by techrepublic

You can try it out for free. No need for a new server, no professional services or installation required.

It is a turn key business application which also includes an online inventory scanner.

http://www.myCMDB.com

by tech exec

Well, I've tried several times to get to this site and have been unable. Sometimes, it seems, we get what we pay for.

by einius

Hi!

We consider trying freeware:
1. Intergrated Resource Management (http://sourceforge.net/projects/irm/
). It also serves as Helpdesk solution, but based on LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP)
2. Open Computer and Software Inventory (http://sourceforge.net/projects/ocsinventory/
). Simple .exe in login script which can write data to MS SQL or Access.

The are more solutions on SourceForge.net but these are often upgraded so I hope will not die in few years.

Sorry, but no live system yet and no real experiences. Better look at websites of those products.

by monkibutt

I have been doing asset management at a company of 500 plus employees for about 4 years now. The biggest problem I have with most asset management software is that they only track networked items, such as desktops and laptops, but do nothing to track the other asset items such as monitors, desktop printers, etc. (More than half of what I track.) They also don't do the second part of management, which is tell you where they are. The only advantage to asset management software I have been able to use is license tracking.

My lower tech solution is bar-coded asset tags and an Access database with a few thousand line items in it, and that has worked so far. I am also looking into getting RFID tags to make collecting data easier.

by techrepublic

Do you then relate the items together, to tie a monitor to a desktop to a printer?

The next big wave is going to be service management, like your email service is made up of these email servers, this network backbone ... so if any of the components is damaged the email service is impacted. That's often more important for businesses than to know which monitor is attached to a desktop.

Jim Davis
myCMDB.com Sales
Network Inventory and Configuration Management

by nanotechsoftware

Our solution discovers everything on the network faster than any other poroduct in existance today (over 250 devices per second) but also picks up monitors etc ie all attached devices and also allows you to add non networked devices such as desks and chairs etc and assign them all to users and keep track of total value/cost of the users and depreciation

by bsoydal

We currently testing CAs Asset Management tools...We have more than 30000 devices...finished test show us CA Asset Management easy to use and dont know to much about the price but let me say good to try!!!

by travism

I have recently implemented a very simple inventory scanning solution that will deploy an agent on to each end point within your network (ie, laptop, desktop and server), which will perform a periodic scan and return all data to a central repository for reporting purposes. A recently, highly customised deployment with a huge scope (30000 end points) cost $250,000.

A standard implementation should cost no more than $50,000 including the capital spend, or $20-30,000 with only the appplicatio, database and software.

The product is known as Asset Depot or ISIC (IBM service information centre).

more than happy to provide some assitance.

by nanotechsoftware

We have an agentless solution that can do pretty much any thing an agent based solution can do and much more. it can audit your 30000 boxes/nodes within 5-10 minutes from download. Thats results aquired and reports ready to print. It has a minimal network hit and can run constantly building up trend statistics.

by gurnmonster

We use NetSupport DNA. It has asset management, help desk and remote control so we can support field offices as well.

by mmcdonal

I use an Access/SQL solution that I made for an agency with 1000 knowledge workers and up to 2500 total workers at any time. We track desktops (discovery script I also wrote) servers, cell phones, PDAs, monitors, printers, etc. but not generally consumables like toner/ink, mice, keyboards, speakers, etc.

We researched solutions and they were all expensive and only worked with DMI compliant hardware anyway (Basically desktops and servers only.) So I built ours. I am not sure why they COTS cost so much.

I have tied asset management (inventory control) in with our help desk database, and we can pull up a ticket, check a user's desktop configuration, drive mappings, installed printers, installed software, software license keys, etc, from one interface. And we don't even have single sign on.

I would suggest taking the cash and spending it on an intermediate level developer. We are moving our interface to Sharepoint next. I think we have spent $0 to this point after 4 years.

by tech exec

While your approach will work for some organizations, I might suggest that four years of time for an intermediate developer is hardly a $0 cost.

For less than that amount of money, there are very decent and very reasonably priced products out there to help you find all of your network hardware (not just desktops and servers) as well as help you determine if you are compliant with your software licensing and show you how often your users are actually using the software installed on their machines.

The reality is that some software metering (usage monitoring) tools carry a heavy price for the client agent. But there are also some products that do not track to the minute, yet can show you the frequency of use (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.).

These products are often integratable with your Help Desk/Service Desk software, though this does sometimes require a consulting cost or a development cost on your part.

As I've noted in another post, the NetSource Discovery product meets virtually all of the challenges I've seen here. It finds your hardware, it detects your installed software as well as how often you use it, and it carries a relatively low price point.

You might want to take a look:
http://www.netsourceamerica.com

by mmcdonal

it depends on the environment of course. We use enterprise licensing and don't need to meter license usage, although we could do that as well.

$0 cost was for software since I suggested spending the money on a developer, not a COTS.

Asset Management solutions are dead simple, even if you add in cost accounting and reporting. Any competent shop with an apps branch should be able to roll something out pretty quickly.

Now if you have integration issues, such as Help Desk and cost accounting packages, that might add some complexity... might.

Most asset discovery tools, as I say, only do CPU's, not printers, monitors, cell phones, PDAs, and any other devices. To add a seat license per stock room is also gauling, as is the case with most COTS.

by dman02151

While I agree that certain usage products carry a heavy overhead the one we use is very light weight and provides "actual" usage data. The reason this is important is that users may have a tendency to open applications daily (or the application is opened for them by a script). This doesn't mean they are using it. We have used this type of tool for 5 years and have recovered a large number of licenses that have been redeployed to the people who actually use them. The tool records actual activity not just that the app is open. The type of information this tool provides is a big part of an overall asset management stragegy. I would recommend that any one looking to track licenses take the extra step and track usage. It will pay for itself in reduced maintenance and software purchase expenses.

by wayne m.

Unfortunately, "Asset Management" is a broadly used term with numerous definitions. What is appropriate for a particular situation depdends on the needs and definitions of each specific organization.

What you have developed may very well be satisfactory for your needs, though I might quibble about the $0 cost. Clearly, the information contained within "asset management" needs to be maintained by someone. I presume this is basically offloaded onto support personnel.

Full asset management covers the entire lifecycle of items, including purchasing, maintenance, and retirement. It can include financial information to and have ties to purchasing, personnel, helpdesk, and security. Clearly, what an organization needs and desires from asset management must precede and any recommendation for build versus buy or any particular product.

by tech exec

You are absolutely right on the issue of engaging the business in determining the needs of any asset management process, whether it is manual or automated. The needs of the business should drive the decision(s) to buy or build based on their requirements.

In addition, you are certainly on the money when you note that full lifecycle management should include purchasing, maintenance and retirement of the asset.

My perspective was based solely on the original intention (see origin of discussion) to use spreadsheets to track hardware and software for each end user.

All of the points you make are on target. Usually, once the requirements are clearly defined between IT and the business, processes and procedures should be clearly articulated and oftentimes, more than one software solution may come into play.

by tech exec

I agree that software usage is important. It is often the single most significant ROI benefit of an asset management tool.

How does any product determine the difference between an application that is opened by a user habitually as opposed to opened for "actual" use? What is the definition of "actual" use then? That the application gets a work out? How is this tracked?

I am intrigued by your distinction about actual use. Does the product you described also detect software usage from file types other than EXE or COM? How does it do this?

Regarding your final comment, I agree completely that anyone looking into asset management should address software usage. The product I mentioned does track usage, just not down to the minutes. It tracks how often an application creates a running process. Maybe I am missing the point, but I don't see the significance of "actual" usage by comparison.

by dman02151

The difference between "actual" usage and usage based on starting a running processes is the activity by the user when the application is in focus. If the user starts the process but spends only a couple of seconds with it in focus (meaning that it is the active window on the screen)means he/she probably is not using the app very much. In addition no keystroke or mouse activity is an indication that the user is not using it very much. Before making judgements there always needs to be input from the customer. The customer may be viewing something using the app as opposed to editing. I was involved in a review of a product that we were looking to upgrade. The current number of deployed users were surveyed and most of them said they used it alot. After reviewing the usage data it was discovered that only a few would be considered power users. The result was that most of the current users could use a "standard" version of the product as opposed to the "professional" version. The cost difference between the two was significant.

by tech exec

So... if I read this correctly, you're saying that a tool you have deployed watches keystrokes and/or mouse movement on an application that is in the foreground to ensure that someone is actually using the application. Is that correct?

How does it derive what software is installed or is this monitoring only specific applications? Is it using file header information or a repository of known software or both? Or is it targeted to manage Office or other specific software products?

How much time is spent on analyzing the usage data to determine the difference between how often a product is used and how much someone is mousing or keying in it?

I'm very curious about this as it may be feature functionality that should be considered for future releases of other products I have seen on the market.

by tech exec

You're right that the environment will always have some influence on this discussion. Not every organization can afford to do site licensing, especially as they get larger and larger. Many of the large enterprises count on license management as a means of controlling costs.

Not all asset management solutions are alike. Perhaps some are "dead simple," but perhaps not all of the nuances are being considered. How involved was the business in designing your internal application? Or was this strictly an IT project?

Integration definitely complicates matters, but it would for Built -or- Bought. Sometimes, though, the bought products offer connectors to other systems.

The discovery tool I mentioned will find any IP addressable device (printers, routers, switches, hubs, IP phones, etc.) and then it will also detect monitors and drivers for many of the devices you mentioned. Though parallel, COMM, and USB attached devices are not directly discovered, they can be detected by polling the agent for the appropriate registry key(s).

I'm not sure what you meant by adding a seat license "per stock room." All agent managed devices (servers, PCs, Macs, etc.) would require a license, but all network components that will not have an agent deployed do not need one. The price per seat of the product I have used is only about $20.

by dman02151

While I doubt that the developer will want to disclose to potential competition how he does it, all I can say is that you are correct in your assumptions. The software will monitor any application that creates a window regardless of the manufactureer. My understanding is that the next version will combine usage with discovery. I think that the usage tool could be used with any discovery tool to give a complete software asset mangement picture. If you develop the inputs correctly the analysis of the deployments vs usage should become automatic. As a side note, taking this type of usage information into negotiations with vendors is powerful. They are not use to seeing a customer who understands how much their product is being used as opposed to deployed.

by tech exec

In recent years, the ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) movement has really gained momentum in the US. There are a number of very good products geared towards this set of IT Service Management best practices.

To see tools that are compliant with the ITIL framework, take a look here:

http://www.pinkelephant.com/en-US/PinkVerify/PinkVerifyToolset.htm

This is a very reasonable measure of the products on the market. But beware of embellishments on the part of the vendors. Take a look at each one carefully if you consider them at all.

I've reviewed many of these and have implemented and used a few. I certainly have my favorites. But I won't share them just yet. I'd rather hear feedback from others first.

Enjoy...

by bcecelija

We use Asset Management 2005 (http://www.assetmanagesoftware.com/) which doesn't track the assets automatically, but you can get someone to start inputting the data in for all your devices, especially new ones. It's kind of detailed, you can put in PO numbers, warranty details, images, assign it to a person in the organisation, all the serial/part number available etc. You can split the assets into locations, such as rooms etc. We use bar codes on each device, which can be scanned into the software if you use a bar code scanner, we don't bother with that since the bar codes are only 3 digits long.
I think the problem with asset management is that you need a person responsible for it, and it should be updated as often as there are changes, otherwise, you'll be scratching your head, buying things you already have etc. If you want automatic asseting via the network, this isn't for you, but if you want to manually input the data, then it may do the job, and it's cheap too.

by nanotechsoftware

We are manufacturers of a solution that does what you are looking for and at a very low cost. Our solution is agentless, unobtrusive and on a network your size will monitor your assets continuously every minute if you wish and send you emailed notifications of changes. natoechsoftware.co.uk

by nanotechsoftware

we have an agentless software usage monitoring product that due to its ability to scan at the rate of 250+ nodes per second builds up a usage profile. However it does only monitor running apps. We also monitor file activity in real time (also agentlessly)

by nanotechsoftware

We are looking for people with networks 500+ nodes to take part in trials of our agentless asset management solution. All participants get to keep the software for free and the first 50 applicants will be given free upgrades.

please respond to this post if you are interested.

by piyush.agrawal

Well, requirement is the most essential thing.
What you need to see in the free toll is that weather its meeting your requirements or not.
Asset management software is needed to List software installed on multiple workstations throughout the network, optimize software licenses, organize licenses, meet the software licences compliance and save money.

There are many free tools available in the market. You should be very keen on their features and report generation ability.

From my side i can suggest you : http://www.lepide.com/asset-management.html

Piyush

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