The ITAM Roundup: 12/10/23
Flexera announces intent to acquire Snow Software
The biggest news in ITAM this past 2 weeks has been Flexera's decision to buy its competitor, Snow Software.
This decision is designed to enhance their portfolio for technology value optimization and offer customers better insights into their IT environments, cost management, and risk reduction. On first blush, its likely that the combination of technology libraries and overlapping customer markets (Snow more established in Europe) are some of the main value adds. Not to mention they probably have complementary SaaS integration solutions, as well as discovery & inventory processes.
AWS Sets the Stage for Generative AI Models & 'Clean Rooms'
Amazon Web Services has announced new capabilities for sharing machine learning models and accessing cloud-hosted industry models via "AWS Clean Rooms", introduced at the re:Invent conference. This initiative, launched in March, allows organizations to share sensitive data in a secure manner, with Clean Rooms ML enabling training of models with data that is typically too confidential to share, thus enhancing collaborative efforts while maintaining data privacy.
Microsoft Licensing Updates Dec 2023
LicenseQ has provided a nice summary explaining the changes Microsoft has made to their product terms. This applies to things like Clipchamp, Bing, Fabric, Copilot, and more.
Floris Klaver
How to create an effective business continuity plan
A business continuity plan (BCP) is crucial for organizations to maintain or quickly resume functions in the face of disruptions like natural disasters, cyberattacks, or other threats. It involves detailed procedures and instructions, including a business impact analysis, recovery time objectives (RTO), recovery point objectives (RPO), and specific tasks and responsibilities for continuity. Regular testing, practicing, reviewing, and updating of the BCP is essential, along with strong management support and employee awareness, to ensure the organization's preparedness and resilience in the event of a crisis.
Mary K. Pratt, Ed Tittel, Kim Lindros
Everything We Know about SAP’s AI Strategy
SAP is heavily investing in AI, aiming to become a leader in "AI Built for Business" and enticing its On-Premise customers to move to the cloud, representing a $27.5 billion opportunity. Their AI strategy includes both current base AI capabilities, offered at no cost and focusing on efficiency and engagement, and upcoming premium AI capabilities, focusing on complex use cases and business insights. These premium enhancements, however, will be limited to SAP RISE and GROW program customers.
Michael Wesseler
Simplify your ServiceNow license management
In response to the complexity of ServiceNow's licensing model, a new release in 2023 from Flexera One SaaS Management introduces significant enhancements, including a user-friendly interface and Power BI reporting, to simplify and clarify licensing management. This update provides tools for reproducing ServiceNow audit reports, managing subscriptions, and gaining visibility into custom and standard roles, as well as user activities within ServiceNow groups.
Kevin Miller
Microsoft EA Negotiation Podcast Series: Negotiation Levers
In the recent episode of the Directions on Microsoft EA podcast, Dean Bedwell, a former Microsoft negotiator, gives key tactics for navigating Microsoft negotiation pitfalls and effective methods customers can employ for better outcomes in their EA renewals.
Mary Jo Foley
How to save money on Oracle Software License And Support Costs
Managing Oracle software licenses and support costs can be effectively streamlined to achieve significant savings with the right strategies and actions. Key steps include conducting a licensing assessment to ensure compliance and necessity, reassessing edition requirements to potentially utilize more cost-effective options, and optimizing deployment platforms to use resources efficiently. Experts like Redress Compliance can help an enterprise navigate this challenge:
Fredrik Filipsson
Microsoft confirms Windows 10 Extended Security Updates are coming in 2025
Windows 10 will no longer receive support from Microsoft after October 14, 2025, but customers unable or unwilling to upgrade to Windows 11 can subscribe to Extended Security Updates (ESUs) through 2028 for critical and important security fixes.
While Microsoft is also rumored to be releasing a new version of Windows, possibly "Windows 12," in 2024, the company recommends that customers should not rely on ESUs to extend the life of all devices indefinitely, but rather use them selectively for devices that cannot be upgraded due to specific circumstances.
Mary Jo Foley
Microsoft Copilot Certification - What do we know
Microsoft Copilot, a new addition to the Microsoft 365 suite, utilizes AI to enhance applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams, making them more intelligent and responsive to user needs. While there is currently no formal certification program for Microsoft Copilot, training modules are available for different roles including Administrators, Business Owners, and Business Users, focusing on practical application and ethical AI usage.
Fredrik FilipssonPrivilege elevation exploits used in over 50% of insider attacks
Privilege elevation exploits are used in over half of insider attacks, with corporate insiders leveraging these flaws for unauthorized activities or risky tool downloads, as detailed in a Crowdstrike report analyzing data from January 2021 to April 2023. Nearly half of the insider incidents are unintentional, resulting from mishandling of security tools or downloading unvetted code.
Click the image below to check out the summary on BleepingComputer:
