Vector Networks

PC Discovery and Inventory Software Network Discovery, Mapping Vector Networks

Creating the foundation for successful IT asset management

Vector’s PC and IT Asset Discovery, Inventory and Mapping solution is designed to generate a foundation of IT hardware and software asset information as a first stage of an ITAM implementation. All SNMP-enabled devices are discovered in addition to PCs and Servers, and maps can be exported in MS Visio format. The open and extendable SQL Server database supports integration with other tools such as help desks and license management, including Vector’s License Manager Pro.

Solution Deliverables

This solution is a sub-set of Asset Manager Pro, focused on creating a foundation of IT asset information to support all your IT management goals. It delivers -

  • A comprehensive database of your PC and network assets, shareable by asset management, PC and network management, service management and change management teams.
  • Mapping of your network, including inventory of SNMP-enabled network components.
  • Accurate software inventory, providing visibility and clarity of software licensing status, and ensuring consistency in application versions. This includes the detailed licensing and Serial Number information of the Microsoft Audit set of reports.
  • Web-accessible, drill down reporting, providing decision support for asset management projects such as desktop asset valuation, application maintenance cost analysis and upgrade budgeting.

Solution Highlights

  • Automated, schedulable PC discovery.
  • Automated, schedulable network device discovery and mapping, including association of individual PCs with specific physical network ports, navigable maps and export in Visio format.
  • Detailed hardware inventory and configuration details including a PC-PC compare function for diagnosis of configuration anomalies.
  • Software inventory with unique ‘Triple Pass’ technology, using file-based identification rules, VersionInfo header information and Add/Remove Programs registry information.
  • Database extension. We already provide some 30+ default additional asset types, such as scanners, printers, monitors, but you can easily define your own asset types to extend the Vector IT Asset Database even further.
  • The open format of the database enables powerful data access from SQL, for custom reporting and data sharing with other applications.
  • Drill-down, web-based reports, organized in sets around your business needs, and exploiting both current asset status and change history. The reports provide operational and strategic decision support information, and answer a wide range of practical and commercial software inventory and system configuration- related questions. Examples –
    • Do we have sufficient licenses for all our Microsoft/Oracle/Adobe/etc software?
    • Are all my installed copies of Application X of precisely the same version?
    • When was Application X last updated on the PCs in a particular department?
    • Which PCs and laptops can I upgrade to Windows 7 without additional memory?
    • Which of our Dell systems have had replacement hard drives in the last two years?
  • Supports LAN-connected and remote Web-connected PCs.
  • One-shot audit mode.

Solution Components in Vector Asset Discovery and Mapping

Follow these links to discover more about the power of Vector’s IT Asset Management solutions.

Complementary Solutions

The most commonly requested complementary solution is the Software License Compliance and Optimization solution. This solution shares the PC discovery and software inventory functions, but adds software usage monitoring to support license harvesting and reallocation, and the Application Package Policy Manager to support policy-based license requirement planning. Compliance and Optimization is tightly integrated with Asset Discovery and Mapping in Vector's flagship Asset Manager Pro solution. Integration with License Manager Pro will ease the burden of software license management and make it easier to achieve compliance without over-licensing. If efficient (re)deployment of applications and application updates is a separate problem, then we invite you to evaluate the combination of conventional software distribution and advanced application streaming in Vector's Software Provisioning Pro solution.

Further Information and Resources

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