Simplifying Asset and License Management

On the face of it, IT asset management is a pretty basic concept: IT organizations keep track of what systems are attached to the network and whether they are in compliance with all their software licenses.

In reality, the IT environment as a whole turns out to be pretty dynamic, so keeping track of everything on a practical level is pretty challenging unless the organization has access to some pretty high-end tools. Ipswitch, however, is trying to take the cost issue off the table with version 3.0 of WhatsConnected discovery tool.

According to Brian Kap, a development manager at Ipswitch, WhatsConnected leverages standard interfaces on the network to discover not only the systems on the network, but also what they are running. This gives IT organizations the ability to visually discover what systems they have and they can dynamically see if they are in continuous compliance with the terms of any software license.

Kap says that with WhatsConnected 3.0, Ipswitch is trying to give IT organizations access to an inexpensive Layer 2 asset management tool that combines discovery with compliance. Priced starting at $1,995 for a 25-device license, WhatsConnected also tells IT organizations what software isn’t being used even though it’s installed and being paid for.

So when you think about the cost of being fined for violating the terms of a software license, plus the cost of running software your company doesn’t need, WhatsConnected can probably pay for itself in a couple of weeks.