With the help of Phoenix Software, Jewel & Esk College takes its already successful Software Asset Management programme to another level

With an average of 10,000 students attending courses in any one year, Jewel & Esk is one of Scotland's largest Colleges which succeeds in offering flexible learning opportunities for all. The wide range of courses provided is largely in response to local employers' requirements in Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian. The £53.5m 'evolve project' which has recently been completed, delivers state-of-the-art facilities for a 21st century learning experience.

Jewel & Esk College was already in control of their software assets, having successfully completed a Software Asset Management (SAM) project. They approached Phoenix Software for assistance with taking this to another level - to enable them to achieve true licence management moving forward.

The SAM solution proposed was based on Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 as a network discovery tool. This was to be used in conjunction with Licence Dashboard™, to provide a true licence management solution.

For most environments, there is a need for multiple tools to be implemented to ensure a thorough SAM process is achieved - these should include both network discovery and licence management tools.

Organisations attempting to manage software licences with a discovery tool only run the risk of true licence management becoming a manual process which is prone to error, complacency and which will ultimately lead to regression.

The choice of Licence Dashboard has enabled Jewel & Esk College to achieve a licence management solution based on the ISO 19770-1 Standard for Software Asset Management. Phoenix Software was instrumental in creating the ISO 19770-1 standard and our Licence Dashboard product is based wholly on its principles. Although Licence Dashboard is 'tool agnostic' and can be used in conjunction with any asset discovery tool, we recommended Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager to Jewel & Esk College as this was already present within their environment.

It was proposed, therefore, that Jewel & Esk College implement Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager in parallel with Licence Dashboard, the UK's leading Software Asset Management tool. Licence Dashboard ensures that solution tools are successfully deployed and that IT assets are reconciled in adherence with best practice methodology.

KEY OBJECTIVES
Although Jewel & Esk College was confident that the correct software licences had been purchased, they were unable to demonstrate this easily, via a single report. It seemed appropriate, therefore, for the College to:

• Undertake a software audit which would give them clarity as to their licensing position
  
• Install an easy-to-use tool which could demonstrate their licensing position moving forward

Licence Dashboard not only provides the visibility required, but also the tools to enable ongoing effective management of software assets. With an interface that simplifies the management of software and hardware assets, Licence Dashboard helps organisations of all sizes to reduce operational risks and make more informed purchase decisions.

The key objectives of the project were to ensure that all servers, PCs and laptops owned by Jewel & Esk College, regardless of location, were fully audited. A full hardware, software and licence inventory was to be made available, thereby enabling continuous maintenance of software assets.

In addition, the project was to simplify and streamline the management of software assets allowing Jewel & Esk College to manage them more effectively, reduce exposure to illegal software usage and identify areas of licence shortfalls or over-licensing.

BENEFITS
Providing real-time information, Licence Dashboard now equips Jewel & Esk College with the facility to make better informed purchasing decisions. All in all, the College has now gained the ability to better plan, manage and deploy IT projects - and thus reduce the Total Cost of Ownership of their IT assets.

Scott Newton, ICT Systems Manager, Jewel & Esk College concluded:

"Phoenix Software has enabled us to take our Software Asset Management one step further. Using Licence Dashboard and Phoenix Consultancy Services, we have been able to realise our ambition of achieving true software licence management on an ongoing basis. We were always confident that we were compliant - now, at the click of a mouse, we can prove it."