I’ve been reviewing help desk products for a client the past couple weeks and it (continues to) surprise me that vendors don’t recognize a difference between asset management and license management.  A couple years ago, when evaluating MSP software, I went through the same frustration (and pulled lots of hair out). 

Most help desk products focus solely on asset management.  They claim they manage software as well, but what they’re really doing is listing what software is installed on a computer, not what’s licensed for the computer. That’s only half of the job.  When it comes time to self-assessment of computers (you should be spot-checking/auditing on a regular basis) or when Microsoft comes a’knocking, you need record of what’s in use (installed) and what you legally own.  (more…)

The IT department is in chaos. There’s so much to do that it doesn’t seem like anyone is getting anything done, much less staying ahead. Balls are being dropped and nobody is showing leadership to the company. 

Welcome to the sad state of many IT departments around the world. All of your time is spent thrashing on day-to-day tasks, rarely even with the opportunity to look up, much less look ahead. 

Transitioning from firefighting mode to proactive support and planning is a big jump for any IT department.  In a perfect world, you could make this jump in one big leap – change everything now and start working in an all new way – but that’s not realistic. Changing from reactive to proactive, and no plan to short and long term planning is a major cultural change for both IT and the departments it services.  It takes time. 

Thankfully improvement like this is a process, not a destination.  That means we can take it in steps.  (more…)