The ITAM Roundup: 12/8/24

roundup Dec 8, 2024

📰 News

Intel CEO Forced Out by Board Frustrated With Slow Progress

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger was forced to step down after the board lost confidence in his turnaround plans amid Intel's struggles to regain its competitive edge in the semiconductor industry. During his tenure, Gelsinger pursued ambitious manufacturing expansions and aimed to make Intel a leader in AI computing, but these efforts failed to deliver the necessary market gains. With interim co-CEOs now in place, Intel faces significant challenges, including competition from Nvidia and TSMC, mounting debt, and industry disruption driven by artificial intelligence.

Kyndryl's consulting business may be less than it seems

Kyndryl, spun off from IBM, claims to be shifting towards a consulting-led model, but insiders suggest much of the consulting revenue is mislabeled managed service work or small-scale IT projects. Significant layoffs and poor resource planning have left the company struggling to execute deals, with some regions, particularly the U.S., reportedly underperforming compared to others like Europe. While some areas of the business remain strong, skepticism about Kyndryl's overall strategy and leadership persists.

Broadcom makes U-turn on plan to serve top 2,000 VMware customers itself

Broadcom has scaled back its plan to directly serve VMware’s top 2,000 customers, opting instead to focus on 500 while relying more on partners to retain clients amid licensing cost hikes and potential migrations to alternatives. The move, described as a "U-turn," aims to strengthen customer ROI by leveraging private cloud bundles and channel support. While migration momentum remains modest, Dell and others note growing customer interest in hybrid models and alternative solutions to avoid vendor lock-in, creating opportunities for service providers.

SAP legacy ERP users wise to ignore offer of single leap to the cloud

SAP users with legacy on-prem ERP systems are cautious about migrating directly to the cloud with SAP’s RISE offering, preferring a multi-step journey to mitigate business risks. The SAP UK and Ireland user group chair, Conor Riordan, emphasized that large organizations, in particular, will likely upgrade to S/4HANA on-prem before moving to the cloud. While SAP faces criticism for its communication around cloud-based AI, users are negotiating hard on pricing as they approach the end of their RISE contracts, with some companies now reconsidering their cloud adoption plans.

AWS re:Invent 2024: Builder ethos embraces simplicity

At AWS re:Invent 2024, AWS focused on simplifying AI, data, and analytics workflows, with major updates to SageMaker aimed at unifying machine learning and analytics tools into a cohesive platform. AWS CEO Matt Garman emphasized core infrastructure enhancements, while Amazon's AI efforts included new large language models and the introduction of a harmonization layer to integrate disparate enterprise systems into a predictive, interconnected framework. Despite AWS’s legacy focus on "primitives," the event highlighted its shift toward more user-friendly, integrated solutions, with future innovations anticipated to improve enterprise automation and productivity over the next decade.

For IT pros, the CrowdStrike crisis was a ‘call to arms’

The July 2024 CrowdStrike security update outage, which disrupted millions of Windows systems globally and caused significant financial losses, highlighted the need for stronger IT resilience. In response, organizations began investing in people, processes, and technologies to improve preparedness and recovery, with many overhauling software engineering practices and strengthening security measures. The event served as a "call to arms" for executives, especially in industries like airlines, prompting more focus on robust recovery plans, incident response training, and safe update practices to prevent future disruptions.

https://www.ciodive.com/news/it-systems-resilience-crowdstrike-microsoft-windows/734783/

Oracle's Java price hikes push CIOs to brew new licensing strategies

Oracle's shift to a per-employee pricing model for Java in 2023 has led to steep cost increases for many users, prompting CIOs to reconsider their licensing strategies. Software asset management expert Martin Thompson suggests that organizations could save up to 50% by switching to open-source alternatives like OpenJDK, a move that requires careful discovery and risk management. With mission-critical applications often relying on Java, the decision to migrate away from Oracle has become a top-level consideration for CIOs, balancing costs, risks, and benefits.

📖 Tips

Common Triggers for Microsoft Licensing Audits

Microsoft licensing audits are often triggered by unreported software usage, exceeding license limits, or failing to comply with licensing terms. Primary triggers include voluntary Software Asset Management engagements, reseller reports, and business changes like mergers or acquisitions. Organizations can mitigate audit risks by implementing robust Software Asset Management processes, conducting regular compliance reviews, and leveraging licensing experts or automation tools to track software usage and maintain proper documentation.

Common Triggers for Microsoft Licensing Audits

Common Triggers for Microsoft Licensing Audits can include unreported software usage and license overuse, leading to potential compliance issues.

Redress Compliance - Just another WordPress siteMicrosoftLicensingExpert

What is Intune Endpoint Privilege Management?

Microsoft Intune Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM) helps organizations securely manage user privileges on Windows devices by allowing standard users to perform specific admin tasks without full admin rights. This feature reduces attack surfaces, protects against insider threats, and supports compliance with governance standards like GDPR and HIPAA by enforcing least-privilege policies and providing audit trails. Part of the Microsoft Intune Suite add-on, EPM enables secure privilege elevation through predefined policies and multiple elevation methods, such as on-demand actions or admin-approved processes.

https://petri.com/what-is-intune-endpoint-privilege-management/

Your New Year’s resolution: confidently tackle your SaaS portfolio

Managing your SaaS portfolio starts with small, actionable steps like identifying your existing SaaS footprint, understanding procurement practices, and prioritizing manageable goals. Focus on rationalizing applications, consolidating renewals, and securing executive sponsorship to streamline operations, reduce redundancies, and achieve savings. SaaS management requires collaboration and persistence, but with a structured approach, you can transform your portfolio into an efficient, cost-effective system.

Streamline Your IT Service Management With Top-Tier CMDB Tools

A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) serves as a centralized repository that tracks IT assets, configurations, and their interdependencies, providing a comprehensive view of an organization's IT environment. By automating data collection, integrating with ITSM processes, and supporting incident and change management, CMDB tools enhance operational efficiency, reduce downtime, and improve decision-making. Real-world examples from organizations like IBM, Shiseido, and DHS highlight the transformative potential of CMDBs in streamlining operations, ensuring compliance, and driving IT governance.

ITAM or CMDB? Why You Need Both

ITAM and CMDB serve distinct but complementary purposes, with ITAM focusing on financial aspects of asset management and CMDB emphasizing operational and support perspectives. While CMDBs can be customized to include ITAM data, this approach often results in complexity, higher costs, and challenges maintaining data accuracy, making separate tools for each more efficient. Integrating ITAM and CMDB solutions ensures streamlined operations, avoiding data duplication while leveraging the strengths of both systems for better decision-making and risk management.

🐛Bugs & Exploits

New Windows zero-day exposes NTLM credentials, gets unofficial patch

A new zero-day vulnerability in Windows allows attackers to capture NTLM credentials by tricking users into viewing a malicious file in Windows Explorer, without needing to open it. The flaw, discovered by the 0patch team, affects all Windows versions from Windows 7 to Windows 11 24H2 and has not yet received an official patch from Microsoft. Until a fix is released, 0patch offers a free micropatch to mitigate the issue, though users can also disable NTLM authentication as an alternative.