9-Apr
2010
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Using K2 - KeyAuditor & KeyServer for Software License Compliance, Security, and Cost reduction
Three critically important topics to any IT Asset Manager are software license compliance, security, and hardware/software cost reduction. Our customers have proven that K2 is extremely effective at addressing these important issues in one common, well-integrated interface. Read this paper for some examples of their experiences.

30-Oct
2009
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Software Asset Management in Economically Sensitive Times - Open Forum Discussion
At the IAITAM 2009 Annual Conference in Henderson, NV, four Software Asset Management (SAM) subject matter experts joined forces to present an open forum discussion aimed at helping SAM Practitioners to learn how to use economically sensitive times as leverage to reinvent their SAM vision. The outline and complete presentation notes are included in this 8-page paper. The presenters were; John Tomeny, Sassafras Software Inc.; Paul ‘Doc’ Burnham, Textron; Scott Lemm, Ciber, Inc.; and Jonathan Naseath, KPMG.

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Five Steps to Software License Compliance
In a recent case study presentation at the annual meeting of the International Association of IT Asset Managers, Jenny Hartfelder of Bob Jones University referred to a white paper which provided the foundation of her University’s Software Asset Management (SAM) program. This is an updated version of that early paper.

Before you can effectively manage software license compliance, you must first become familiar with the essential steps of identifying proofs of ownership, auditing installed software, and reconciling software against licensing entitlements. Read this paper to discover the important steps to compliance.

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Asset-centric vs. Entitlement-centric Software Asset Management (SAM)
The software industry has always struggled with two conflicting streams of thought on software licensing. Software publishers’ primary interests are intellectual property protection, piracy prevention, and revenue generation. While SAM practitioners simply want to get useful software into the hands of users. To do this, they need appropriate, affordable entitlements which can be easily managed.

One approach holds our companies back with the tedium of counting and recounting files, while the other offers the promise of opening new frontiers of entitlement management for desktop, mobile, and virtualized computing environments. Read Sassafras’ vision for Entitlement-centric Software Asset Management.

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From Software Cost Control to Cost Reduction: The Power of Usage Tracking
This White Paper on the “power of usage data” was first presented at the IATAM Annual Conference in October 2008, Marco Island, Fl. While many IT Asset Managers (ITAM’s) use SAM practices for compliance management, others achieve cost reduction and operational efficiency through the integration of Software License Services into their SAM programs.

This dual-case study demonstrates how two savvy ITAM’s accomplish the twin objectives of compliance to reduce legal exposure and cost-reduction to eliminate over-spending. Software auditing alone never provides the full picture necessary for effective compliance management, cost reduction, and appropriate software spending. Participants learned how to integrate usage tracking and license management services with auditing to satisfy software publisher demands while simultaneously achieving organizational goals for cost reduction.

9-Sep
2008
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ISO/IEC 19770-3 “OWG” is Convened for Software Entitlement Tag Standard
Sassafras is an enthusiastic participant in the active standards development work of ISO/IEC 19770-2 and 19770-3 which promises to facilitate an evolution toward entitlement centric software licensing. The ISO/IEC 19770-3 Other Working Group (“OWG”) was convened on September 9, 2008. Over thirty Software Asset Management (SAM) industry participants had joined the work as of that date and more are continuing to join. The Working Group has been tasked with drafting an international data standard for software license entitlement tags. Details of the OWG’s work and an invitation to join the effort are included in this article.