UK software industry losses from software theft in 2004 were £1 billion.

The Asset Management Group was formed at the end of 2003 to tackle head-on the issue of organisations wasting money through poor management of their software assets.

Asset Management Group Members
Press release - Are you wasting money on excess licenses?
Press release - Company cars (£400k) vs. software (£900k)
FASTtalk Article - 7 Point guide to application software recognition
FASTtalk Article - SAM Best Practice
FASTtalk Article - Accurate Software Recognition

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

The Federation’s Asset Management Group held the latest in their series of events for Corporate Members at Silverstone Race Circuit on the 21st May 2008. Despite the roar of the Ferraris in the background Martin Callinan of Centennial held everyone’s attention in his keynote presentation which outlined the relationship between Software Asset Management (SAM) and Compliance. Martin’s presentation explained the differences between the two and highlighted the areas of overlap which led neatly into the four interactive workshop sessions which were focused around:

• Desktop Licensing (Download handout)
• SAM and ITIL (Download handout)
• Server Licensing (Download handout)
• SAM and PC Lifecycle Management (Download handout)

with each delegate being able to elect to attend two of the four sessions.

Each session was facilitated by 2-3 members of the Asset Management Group and delegates were invited to raise questions or reveal their own experiences for the benefit of the discussions.

Workshop facilitators were Hugh Skingley of Liken Limited and Martin Callinan of Centennial Software Limited for the Desktop sessions and Graham Dawe of RMS Services Limited, Constant Fischer of FrontRange Systems Limited and Christophe Marcelin of Dell/ASAP.

Details of the members of the Asset Management Group may be found at http://www.fast.org.uk

Data Loss - Don't get caught out
Lord's Cricket Ground - 6th March 2008

The Asset Management Group (http://www.fast.org.uk/assetgroup.asp) and IT Security Group’s (http://www.fast.org.uk/itsgroup.asp) latest joint event got off to a lively and intriguing start with a keynote speech by Lord Erroll, a Cross Bench Peer and champion of IT in the House of Lords.

Presentations followed from four Federation members covering all aspects of data leakage from assessing how to balance the need for access against the prevention of intrusion, assessing risk and how to use a combination of processes, people and technology to develop best practice and what to do if a data leakage incident occurs.

Click on the links to download the session slides

Data Loss in the Real World by Paul Davie of Secerno Limited
Data Leakage - The Importance of Risk Assessment by Martin Smith of Ultima Risk Management
Minimising the Risk of Exposure by Mark Murtagh of Websense Limited
Dealing with Data Loss Incidents by Simon Janes of Computer Forensic Alliance

--- For Your Eyes Only ---

Pinewood Studios, 17th October 2007
The Asset Management Group (http://www.fast.org.uk/assetgroup.asp) and the Information Technology Security Group (http://www.fast.org.uk/itsgroup.asp) put on their first joint event at Pinewood Studios. Taking advantage of the fact that Pinewood is the home of James Bond, the Groups produced a film which followed an IT Manager (Basil Bond (!)) on his first day at a new company. Meetings with his own deputy, the MD, Sales & Marketing Director and FD were shown, and after each meeting the issues raised were examined by the presenters.

Click on the links to download the session slides;

Asset Management was presented Roger Mallet of Hewlett Packard.
Instant Messaging and the Benefits of Remote Working was presented by Mike Smart of Secure Computing International Ltd and Ian Moyse of Email Systems Ltd
Data Leakage was presented by Tatiana Kruse of Salans and Grant Taylor of Wick Hill
Managing Information Risk was presented by Ralph O’Brien of Ultima Risk Management

Finding the right formula - 5th April 2006
The Asset Management Group once again found a winning formula for their event on the 5th April which was held at the Williams F1 Conference Centre in Wantage, Oxfordshire. Speakers from Liken Ltd., CA plc and Monactive took the 100+ delegates through the various stages of an asset management project right from the initial set-up through to ongoing management. This provided a good insight into why companies firstly need to understand their goals and then how to put effective risk management strategies into place and how to maintain success.

Shock tactics were also employed by one of the speakers when he highlighted the risks that companies lay themselves open to by not managing their software, stressing that software asset management is not the exclusive responsibility of the IT Department.

After the presentations a panel session gave delegates the opportunity to ask questions not only about the scenarios raised by the speakers but also their own work-related issues and these conversations continued throughout lunch.

Before leaving, delegates were able to enjoy a visit to the Williams F1 Grand Prix Collection which spans the years from 1977 to the present.

Download event slides (Zipped PowerPoint, 7MB)

Secure a greater return on your IT Assets and make your Financial Directors day - 22nd of September 05
Issue 3 of FASTtalk promised a great day out at the Café Royal in London for those of you interested in Asset Management and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

The event was hosted by the Federation’s Asset Management Group (AMG) who were on hand to talk solutions and products. The AMG was established earlier this year to increase awareness of the benefits delivered by effective asset management.

Speakers highlighted that whilst compliance can be seen as a cost to the business, it actually creates a wealth of business benefits.

It is estimated that most organisations are subject to excessive spending by 30%, refusing to see software as a valuable corporate asset. With many companies purchasing under the wrong agreements it comes as no surprise that accurate software maintenance is changing the face of licence management.

The most consistent message expressed by speakers throughout the seminar was the importance of senior management buy-in to help you with your project both for asset management and compliance.

Peter Hubbard from Yell, who gave a very valuable case study, told the group that he highlighted key issues to his board of directors each month by email detailing how much he had saved them so far. He said that by keeping this communication hard hitting and to the point it certainly got their attention!

For details on the AMG members visit the Federation Groups section and go to Asset Management Group section. For details of more seminars like this please keep an eye on the events section.

Download event slides (PDF, 2MB)

State of Software Licensing Compliance & Piracy/b>
29th July, London.