Robert Plant, a writer for the HBR is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.  His Six Rules for Finding the Right IT Vendor can be key to the success of your next outsourced IT project.  Like Robert, I’ve broken these rules a few times – sometimes painfully… (more…)

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…)