“Excellent automated reporting features create fast high-level overviews of software usage and deep, granular data on software titles”

Software Usage is monitored at a very high level of accuracy that starts with a sampling process that records the identity of each desktop’s active window every 10 seconds. Simply recording application start and close times, as with many other asset management products, can never provide an adequate picture of real software usage. The sampled data is compacted by a simple, non-intensive process at each desktop before being relayed to a data collection location through either the LAN/WAN infrastructure or through an internet connection when it is available. The data is then analyzed in two passes by routine tasks run by the Vector Asset Management task scheduler.

The Administrator Console and the Asset Reporting Portal both provide standard reports which summarize applications usage on a per-application basis and on a per-PC basis. A special family of reports, the Microsoft Office Optimization Reports, provides in depth analysis of the use of the main components of the MS Office Standard and Professional suites, identifying situations where it may be beneficial to adopt single product licensing, or move from Pro to Standard. At the very least, the information should be useful in supporting negotiation with your Microsoft software supplier.

Accurate software usage information collected over extended periods provides firm information to support projects to harvest and reallocate unused application licenses.

In discussion with customers, Vector finds that a universal starting point for discussion of whether to virtualize desktops is an understanding of the nature of the organization’s use of its applications software. A high level of usage of CPU and graphic intensive applications may suggest that a given group of PCs would be better left running installed applications natively, or using a streaming technology to ensure frequent updates are easily administered.