The practice of using special program for software asset management (SAM) is becoming more common. Such solutions can significantly reduce the cost of purchasing or renewing licenses. An accurate analysis of the programs used by the company makes the management of software licenses a simple and efficient process. Additionally, SAM solutions track license and key expiration dates, use rights, certificates, agreements, contracts, and accounting records.
For most companies, software licensing is an expensive but necessary process. Thanks to the use of systems for inventory and accounting of programs and licenses, you can significantly reduce costs by getting rid of unnecessary applications, plan purchases, and always have up-to-date data on all apps installed on the corporate network at hand.
Let us take a closer look at the most common utilities for accounting apps in networks available on the market in 2023.
The ultimate solution for any business. «Turns chaos into order» - this approach is preserved in the basis of the software’s functionality. TNI scans all computers on the network and collects information about installed software on Windows and macOS, as well as license keys for Windows, MS Office, Adobe, AutoCAD, Autodesk, and others. You can specify the date of purchase of licenses, expiration date, type of licensing, etc.
In addition, you can customize the licensing model, indicating how many installations a particular license is designed for, and how many keys exist at all, and add working documents, licensing agreements, purchase documents, and other necessary files.
The license status is kept up to date and reflects any changes. Software inventory with detailed reports and other useful functions is also available:
The cost of the license starts from $135 for a license for 25 devices.
Among the main advantages of the software are reduced costs for licensed products, modern GUI, and network inventory. The built-in license manager allows you to reduce the number of duplicate software products that perform almost the same functions, and replace them with other utilities.
Features of the program:
In total, Alloy Software is a basic app for managing licenses, but there is support for complex licenses and calculations for some of them.
License costs start at $70 per month for 500 devices.
Another inventory utility, the main feature of which is the display of reports in diagrams.
The standard set of functions includes a detailed system report on the status and PC specifications, network adapters, and servers.
And the following features:
In addition, Docusnap can email important reports on a regular basis.
License cost: from €614 for 50 devices with 1-year support.
A powerful solution with a wide variety of built-in functions. You can store different types of licenses, such as pool licenses, hardware licenses, desktop licenses, user licenses, subscription licenses, or maintenance licenses. Additional information can be saved for all keys, such as support expiration date, purchase price, annual costs, license manager, and other information that will be important to the administrator or manager.
Among other features:
The cost of a license for 100 devices starts at €1120. Updates are provided throughout the year.
The product from Manageengine is a – «heavyweight» among its rivals. It has a fairly large number of built-in modules and features, but at the same time, it is very complicated and is suitable only for experienced users.
Some work fields and tabs need to be filled in independently, which affects performance. But, nevertheless, this tool allows:
The developer has another module of a similar program, ManageEngine Desktop Central, which is positioned as a software inventory tool for Windows, Mac, and Linux. As for its SAM capabilities – they are much weaker than in ServiceDesk Plus.
For some, the high cost of Manageengine will be a disadvantage.
A powerful tool from Microsoft focused on security. Provides the ability to protect user devices from threats using Microsoft Zero Trust technology. In addition, leveraging Microsoft 365 cloud telemetry will allow you to take full advantage of modernizing the end-user experience, thereby maximizing your return on investment.
This tool is an ideal choice for organizations that use cloud-based technologies. In addition to security, the developers guarantee fast system deployment and easy management of all users, applications, and devices without disrupting any existing internal processes. Software license management is handled for all endpoints with Windows 10 end-to-end management.
It is worth noting that in order to effectively use this program, you will need a full-time employee to handle it.
In general, the program has good functionality, but a slightly outdated interface, which evokes nostalgia for Windows XP. Despite this peculiarity, it is in demand among many businesses.
10-Strike Pro allows you to manage program licenses by generating a detailed report on installed software and license keys.
Provides the following features to its users:
The cost of the license starts from 100$ for 50 devices.
This tool is mainly intended for hardware inventory, but it also has basic functionality for software auditing.
SAM functionality is presented with a limited set of features, but it is suitable for small organizations that do not have strict audit requirements.
Features of the application:
The disadvantages are limited functionality and an outdated interface.
Updates within the older version are available free of charge. The price starts at $89.00 (USD) for a 25-device license.
An excellent SAM utility for tracking and managing enterprise-wide software licenses from a single platform. The main feature of the tool is scalability for the needs of a particular organization. Separate work profiles are available for large vendors.
Tasks performed by ServiceNow IT Asset Management:
Freeware with standard functionality that allows you to structure information about an organization's network.
Spiceworks allows you to conduct a software inventory, and hardware audit (analysis of all equipment with a detailed report for each unit), create custom reports and export them at any time, collect and store Microsoft activation keys, as well as track network problems.
The feature of using and configuring contracts is available. The disadvantage of the software is that some data must be entered manually. No technical support from the developers is provided, and of course, there is advertising.
A lightweight version of TNI Pro, for those who just need to inventory all the software installed on the network without in-depth work with licenses.
This version allows you to: build reports on installed software, track changes, schedule the execution of these tasks, etc.
An important feature that will save you time is the built-in database of the popular software. It will sort all found programs in the network into categories, distribution models, select an application icon, and automatically combine all popular packages and versions of the same app into a single entry.
License cost starts from 90$ for 25 devices.
In this review, we examined the most popular and effective solutions that allow you to keep track of software installed on work computers or servers, conduct a competent network audit, and inventory equipment as soon as possible.
TNI 6 introduces two main innovations: collection of hardware sensor statistics and transition to 64-bit architecture.
Now you can customize their display for your workflow.