Dell Software has introduced the latest version of the Dell KACE K1000 Management Appliance, which now includes integrated software asset management to boost software license compliance, while helping lower IT costs. A flagship product in Dell Software’s endpoint systems management portfolio, the K1000 adds automated software asset identification, tracking and optimization to its comprehensive list of capabilities for managing the deployment, operation and retirement of an organization’s critical software assets.
The need for the appliance is being fueled by a range of factors, including the influx of new technologies such as cloud computing, virtualization, and BYOD, which are adding complexity in terms of systems management in general. The situation is being exacerbated by a licensing landscape that is becoming much more complex as well, Lisa Richardson, senior product marketing manager for Endpoint Systems Management, Dell Software, tells 5 Minute Briefing. Added to this picture are additional market changes such as mergers, acquisitions and product end of life announcements that can increase an organization’s risk of either exposure to non-compliance fines or software overspending.
Many organizations actually do not have an accurate picture of how software is being used, says Richardson, who cites an Ernst & Young statistic that 60% of their customers not monitor software usage and usage patterns. In addition, according to Dell, BSA - The Software Alliance, an advocate for the software industry, has settled unlicensed software cases with 12 different companies from January 2012 to May 2013. The settlements, valued at an estimated $3.3 million, reflect the costly consequences of non-compliance, says Dell.
“Software license compliance really is a legal imperative. We feel that by combining compliance and optimization with the KACE K1000, along with all the other feature sets that we offer, provides organizations with the ability to not only make sure that they can avoid software license breaches but also to make sure that they are not wasting any software,” Richardson notes.
The K1000 simplifies the task of responding to software audits by tracking, assessing and ensuring software license compliance across multiple versions, as well as inconsistent package and component names. Additionally, the K1000 eases the burden of determining software usage, which is difficult due to complex software licensing structures. As a result, organizations can identify software licenses with great accuracy while making it easy to reclaim and reallocate underutilized software.
The Dell KACE K1000 Management Appliance is a fully integrated appliance, says Richardson. “It is a plug and play solution. We offer a physical appliance and we also offer a virtual appliance and it is up to an organization to decide which type of an appliance they want to deploy in their infrastructure.”
In addition to its software asset management enhancements, the new release of the K1000 enables IT administrators to capture and report new hardware characteristics to better gauge organizational readiness for OS and application migrations and upgrades. The latest version of the K1000 will be available Aug. 5.
More information is available about Dell KACE K1000 Management Appliance.