Independent IT solutions provider First Technology, which specialises in software licensing solutions, has launched an innovative system designed to enable companies to track and manage their software licences.
The system complements First Technology`s locally developed online/offline e-business solution, E-Procure.
E-Procure is an integrated, affordable, cost-effective end-to-end B2B solution with full, multilevel workflow and electronic document management used to facilitate an organisation`s entire procurement process.
The new software management solution, E-Procure Asset Tracking, is available either as a standalone solution, an add-on module to E-Procure, or as a component of an outsourced software management service provided by First Technology Software`s Licensing Management and Audits division.
Clark Coetzee, MD of First Technology Software and Consulting Division, says companies can also obtain E-Procure Asset Tracking in an ASP version via a dedicated Web site www.softwarebank.co.za.
"The solution works in the same way, regardless of how the organisation chooses to implement it. Every time a company purchases a software licence, details of that licence are stored in a software bank. An administrator allocates that licence from the bank to a specific PC or server.
"Should that machine be made redundant, the software licence is transferred to the bank, thereby making it available for reallocation to another PC or server. Usually, when hardware equipment is made redundant or is lost or stolen, the software licence is forgotten and it too becomes `redundant`.
"The result is that when the company purchases new hardware, it invariably purchases new software as well to avoid the risk of utilising pirated or illegal software. This is an expensive and wasteful oversight which could be avoided if the company had a well-managed software licence bank," he says.
According to Coetzee, First Technology`s i-Development division, which is responsible for the development of the E-Procure suite, has also modified E-Procure Asset Tracker to enable it to accommodate a business` need to track and manage all its assets.
"Everything from chairs and desks to PCs to telephone units and photocopiers, form part of a company`s assets. Management should be able to locate every one of these assets at any time. E-Procure Asset Tracking offers an affordable, easy-to-use solution to achieve this," he concludes.
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First Technology is one of SA`s largest, independent IT solutions providers, offering customers solutions and services that maximise business productivity, reduce the risk associated with deploying new technologies and minimise the total cost of IT ownership. The company has fully-fledged branches in every major business node across SA and maintains one of the largest teams of highly skilled technical personnel in the country.
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