Computer asset management, using automatic hardware and software systems, can simplify administration and save money
Salvatore Salamone
You're planning a big vacation trip, so you call Human Resources to see how many vacation days you have. "Well, we don't know exactly--somewhere between 10 and 20." Makes it somewhat hard to plan, wouldn't you say?
Strangely enough, IS managers trying to support end users are in a similar situation. They often lack accurate--and essential--information about the quantity and types of hardware and software their users are working with.
The vendor community has responded to the demand for such inventory information with a multipronged approach. Some software utility vendors, such as Frye Computer Systems (recently acquired by Seagate), Horizons Technology, McAfee Associate
s, Microsoft, Microsystems Software, Saber Software, Symantec, and Tally Systems, offer asset management software that performs hardware and software inventory of network-attached PCs, Macs, workstations, and servers.
The DMTF (Desktop Management Task Force), which is an industry consortium of hardware and software vendors, has developed a specification that provides a standard way to inventory computer equipment over a network. Today, DMTF-compliant products are finding their way to market.
Server and PC manufacturers, such as AST, Compaq, Dell, and NEC, are beefing up their products by adding firmware that performs a hardware inventory and makes this information available to network management programs.
Finally, if you don't want to do it yourself, outsourcing firms that specialize in network management, such as NetSolve and Hewlett-Packard's service organization, shrewdly offer configuration and asset management services as well.
Counting the Beans
All t
hese alternatives aim for the same goal: a more accurate picture of the hardware and software throughout an organization, based on the detailed inventory information they collect. Traditionally, such inventories have been performed by hand--with a screwdriver--going from desktop to desktop. But such manual inventories have countless drawbacks.
Labor is required to perform an inventory, typically half an hour per PC, according to the PC Asset Management Institute. For one or two PCs, that's OK. But for a less modest collection of 2000 PCs, that means 1000 hours, or half a year for a full-time IS staffer doing nothing but inventory. Major snore, major expense.
A second disadvantage to manual inventory is that the information collected quickly becomes outdated. The once-a-year inventory becomes obsolete as soon as a user installs a sound card.
It's little wonder that most organizations either have no inventory or use an outdated one. As a result, they are constantly performing ad hoc invento
ries every time they need accurate information--whether buying memory to upgrade PCs or merely troubleshooting a problem on a single PC.
Whatever the reason, according to a survey of 106 network managers conducted by Infonetics Research (San Jose, CA), companies spend an average of 40 hours per month performing asset and inventory management. Put another way, a week's salary is spent every month for such impromptu inventories.
Enter the Robot
For these reasons, it makes sense to automate as much of the inventory process as possible. That's most often what the products from software utility vendors do. Typically, asset management programs, such as Norton Administrator for Networks 2.0 from Symantec and NetCensus from Tally Systems, automatically collect detailed hardware and software inventory from servers and nodes on a network.
These products run in different networking environments (see the table
"Asset Management Software"
). Some are NLMs
(NetWare loadable modules) and run only on Novell NetWare LANs. Others are NOS-independent (network operating system).
Programs that inventory hardware collect information about a wide range of hardware components (
see the screen
). This includes processor type, disk drives, BIOS, serial and parallel ports, installed RAM--even the network adapter card, and whether a mouse or game port is installed.
Programs that inventory software collect information about the system files, drivers, and applications installed on machines, including version number and the date and time applications were created.
Automatically collecting hardware and software inventory information has typically required proprietary approaches. Often, hardware inventory programs use a custom-developed TSR program running on each PC that queries the machine's hardware and passes this information to a server-based inventory program.
For software inventory information, most vendors take a brute-forc
e approach and simply compile lists of hundreds to thousands of common programs, typically including the name of each executable file as well as its size and date. The inventory program simply looks for executable files and compares the name, size, and date to the list to determine what versions of what programs are installed. A number of tricks make sure the version number is correct, including checking the time stamp, because many applications set that time to the version number. For example, the executable files for Norton Desktop for Windows 3.0 carry a time stamp of 3:00 a.m.
While these techniques instantly inventory equipment attached to a network, laptops and stand-alone computers typically run a separate program. It saves inventory information on a floppy disk that can be sneakernetted and incorporated into the corporate inventory database.
Stand and Deliver
These methods for taking inventories of hardware and software work fine to a point. If only these product
s would become more assertive and tell asset management systems more about themselves. For example, hardware components should be able to identify themselves to an asset management system, rather than having to run a TSR on every machine.
Two industry initiatives are tackling this goal. For software inventory, LSAPI (Licensing Service API) includes program calls that provide a common way for applications to pass licensing information to an inventory or metering function. The inventory function itself can be either part of a NOS or a third-party utility program.
Microsoft and Novell plan to include LSAPI in their OSes. Other interested vendors include Apple Computer (Cupertino, CA), Banyan Systems (Westborough, MA), Digital Equipment (Maynard, MA), Lotus Development (Cambridge, MA), McAfee Associates (Santa Clara, CA), Oracle (Redwood Shores, CA), and WordPerfect (Orem, UT). As with most standards, adoption of LSAPI has been a slow process. However, once LSAPI is commonly deployed in applications
, it will be easy for administrators to identify software on their networks.
On the hardware inventory front, the DMTF is leading the way with the DMI, which specifies a common way of accessing the hardware and software components in a desktop PC. DMI lets management systems access the information about a PC's internal components. The DMTF's CAPI (Common API) will simplify writing applications that access information about a machine's innards (see the sidebar "Looking Under the Hood").
Heavyweight members of the DMTF include Digital, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Novell, and SunConnect. Most major PC manufacturers, including AST, Compaq, Dell, and NEC, are incorporating DMI-compliant components into their PCs.
The fourth inventory method, as mentioned above, involves outsourcing vendors who are gearing up to provide inventory and asset management services. Such companies say they will charge between $3 to $8 per box per month for inventory services. For an organization with 2500 PCs, that tr
anslates to $90,000 to $240,000 per year.
Benefits Aplenty
That's a lot of money to pay outsiders just to take inventory. Why would anyone pay so much for something that simple? Probably to save money in the long run. After all, a typical PC's purchase price accounts for only about 12 percent of the total cost of ownership over its lifetime, according to the Gartner Group. The other 88 percent covers administrative factors, such as inventory, training, and auditing costs. A 1994 survey of the Help Desk Institute found that 82 percent didn't know how much each support call cost them. Guesses ranged from $1 to $75. According to a survey of 180 large user organizations conducted by Business Research Group (Newton, MA), LAN support costs $778 per user per year on NetWare LANs. A Forrester Research (Cambridge, MA) study found that, for a 5000-user network, it costs three times more to support LAN users than it would to support those same users on an SNA (Systems Network Architecture
) network.
Only within the last few years have such recurring management costs become an issue. Before that, the true costs of managing PCs and LANs were hopelessly scattered among numerous departmental operating budgets. But as organizations have recently tried to regain control of departmental LANs, these costs have been consolidated into one operating budget, and the magnitude of the expense has become horrifyingly apparent.
Many companies can also reduce support expenses by ensuring that products still covered by warranties are serviced by their vendors. And warranty information can easily be stored in a company hardware inventory database.
Asset management information can identify trends and head off problems before they occur. For example, by using equipment service histories (stored in an asset management database) to become proactive in preventive maintenance, a company can cut costs for emergency repairs.
So, what's an effective asset manager to do? First, it is to your ad
vantage to buy DMI-compliant products (and insist that vendors offer them). Second, you can simplify many lives by looking for inventory programs that link into help-desk systems or higher-level management systems. Third, despite the overt expense, consider outsourcing the process if your staffing levels are low.
The bottom line is that costs to support computer software and hardware dwarf the purchase price. Asset management can provide information that is key to reducing those costs, and maybe make that vacation happen after all.
COMPANY PRODUCT NOS SUPPORT CLIENTS INTEGRATED WITH
SUPPORTED UPPER-LEVEL
MGMT. SYSTEM?
==============================================================================
Frye Computer Smart NetWare DOS, Windows, Yes
Systems, Inc.
OS/2, Macintosh
Horizons LANauditor NOS-independent DOS, Windows, No
Technology, Inc. OS/2, Macintosh
McAfee LAN Inventory NetWare DOS, Windows, Yes
Associates, Inc. OS/2, Macintosh
Microsoft Corp. Systems NT, NetWare DOS, Windows, Yes
Management OS/2, Macintosh
Server
Microsystems Software NOS-independent DOS, Windows No
Software, Inc. Sentry
Novell Managewise NetWare DOS, Windows Yes
and Intel
Saber Saber NetWare DOS, Windows, Yes
Software Corp. Enterprise OS/2, Macintosh
Application
Manager and
LAN Workstation
Symantec Corp. Norton NOS-independent DOS, Windows Yes
Administrator
for Networks
Tally NetCensus NOS-independent DOS, Windows No
Systems Corp.
Product Information
LANauditor
$495 for 50 users
Horizons Technology, Inc.
San Diego, CA
(800) 828-3808
(619) 277-7100
fax: (619) 292-9439
LAN Inventory
$699 for 100 users;
$999 for 250 users
McAfee Associates, Inc.
Santa Clara, CA
(800) 866-6585
(408) 988-3832
fax: (408) 970-9727
Managewise
$795 for five-user license;
$6975 for 250 users (combines Novell's NetWare
Management System and Intel's
LANdesk Manager)
Novell, Inc.
Provo, UT
(800) 453-1267
(801) 429-7000
fax: (801) 429-5155
Intel Corp.
Santa Clara, CA
(800) 548-4725
(408) 765-8080
fax: (408) 765-1821
NetCensus
$10 to $20 per PC depending on the number of licenses
Tally Systems Corp.
Hanover, NH
(800) 262-3877
(603) 643-1300
fax:
(603) 643-9366
Norton Administrator for Networks 2.0
$58 per node for 100-user license;
$44 per node for 1000-user license
Symantec Corp.
Cupertino, CA
(800) 441-7234
(408) 253-9600
fax: (408) 252-4694
Saber Enterprise Application Manager
$695 per server
Saber Software Corp.
Dallas, TX
(800) 338-8754
(214) 361-8086
fax: (214) 361-1882
Smart
$495 for 100 users;
$3795 for 1000 users
Frye Computer Systems, Inc.
Boston, MA
(800) 234-3793
(617) 451-5400
fax: (617) 451-6711
Software Sentry
$595 for 250 users
Microsystems Software, Inc.
Framingham, MA
(800) 489-2001
(508) 879-9000
fax: (508) 626-8515
Systems Management Server
$649 per server
Microsoft Corp.
Redmond, WA
(800) 426-9400
(206) 882-8080
fax: (206) 936-7329
screen_link (28 Kbytes)
Asset management programs, such as Saber's LAN Workstation (shown here), typically display a wide variety of configuration information.
Salvatore Salamone is a BYTE news editor based in New York and author of Reducing the Cost of LAN Ownership (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1995). You can reach him on the Internet or BIX at
ssalamone@bix.com
.
Assets on the Line
