Ivanti Blog: Posts by

Five Security Priorities to Consider With a Remote Workforce

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 16:56:33 Z

Many organizations are prioritizing the health and well being of their workforce in the wake of the current global pandemic. Many threat actors are also taking advantage of this opportunity. I’ve seen recent examples of social engineering—with calculated phishing campaigns preying on those who seek information on the COVID-19. As noted by Security Researcher Brian Krebs, one hacker group even used a copy of a legitimate map of the impact of the virus to infect machines with malware.

The FBI is taking notice, warning users about the increase in these attacks and to be extra vigilant when sifting through their inbox, visiting a website or clicking on a link.

This is a new world when it comes to network security. It’s likely that quarantine, stay at home orders, etc., will have a permanent effect on how organizations do business. With that in mind, here are five recommendations from Ivanti CISO Phil Richards on how to make security a priority in these trying times:

1. Asset Management

Your network has just expanded. You have new devices and new networks. You need to be thinking in terms of these new assets, how to identify, track and manage them and how to make sure your users have access to what they need and nothing more.

I recommend a solution that can provide with remote asset discovery. It’s likely you’ve already encountered BYOD, but with a growing remote workforce, you may see new devices trying to access corporate systems.

It’s critical that corporate-owned assets are performing at peak, even though they’re not physically in your building. A good asset management solution can provide you with the insights to tell when a device might be having an issue, allowing you to get out ahead of any potential major problem.

2. Good Security Hygiene

Cyber criminals have been working from home forever. Your team is new to it. An employee’s home network is now the easiest access point to your environment.

Your IT team needs to be leading the push to preserve good security hygiene now that users are at home. It may be tempting for users to visit sites they wouldn’t normally access at the office, but hackers are counting on this. A little education campaign may be in order to make sure users aren’t taking liberties and visiting sites that have been known to infect devices with malware.

Users are still on the corporate network even if it’s via their own modem and router. Let this serve as a reminder to keep systems up to date and to take proactive defensive measures. This is particularly true if you are allowing employees to connect with their own devices.

3. Configuration Management

Your corporate VPN is your first line of defense. Use GPO policies and configuration settings to control the systems that attach to your network. Configure your VPN for allowed devices only. Ensure that vendors or customers accessing your network have the right security structure in place before connecting.

It’s never a good idea to have all employees attached to your VPN. This increased load puts a strain on your systems and could compromise performance and access for those who actually need it to do their job.

Now’s the time to identify and plan for configuration drift. It’s crucial to minimizing risk and maintaining disaster recovery systems.

4. Patch, Even if it Isn’t Your Computer

Whether you have an Ivanti solution, are using SCCM, or another vendor’s endpoint management solution—Ivanti’s patching capabilities can help you secure your environment in less time with less effort.

5. Add AV on Your Remote Systems

We’ll start with a story. Recently Ivanti did an organization-wide deployment of Crowdstrike’s AV/AM solution. We deployed to more than 1,700 endpoints and only one person noticed. There was no disruption to business-critical systems, no unnecessary or unplanned downtime, it was as smooth as can be. The one person that noticed emailed IT only because they spotted a notification that Crowdstrike was now active on their machine.

With threat actors taking advantage of an increased demand in information on the global Coronavirus pandemic and a remote workforce who largely relied on the protection of their corporate networks, it’s time to get familiar with the above practices.

Chris Goettl and I go in-depth on these topics on our Threat Thursday webinar series. Register now for the series and see past episodes.

The CISO Perspective on IT Asset Management: Why Security and ITAM Go Hand-In-Hand

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 20:23:01 Z

Whether it’s the forgotten PC hiding behind a box of cookies in a dark closet, or the ex-employee who still has a corporate-issued laptop—we all have a story of how misplaced or mismanaged assets have contributed to security risks within the organization.

In a recent CISO panel hosted by Ivanti, experts agreed that IT asset management (ITAM) is a piece of the security puzzle that must be solved.

Ivanti Asset Manager: Free Demo

“Inventory's rough because we should know what equipment we have,” says Dan Anderson, CISO of Lifescan. Anderson adds that contractors, vendors, employees, and virtual machines all add to the difficulty of provide a clear view of your environment.

Anderson’s peers agree. A complete picture of your assets as part of a solid security strategy.

“The basic function of security is knowing what you have and where it is, so you can secure it,” says Ryan Layton, CEO of Secuvant. “That’s where we're probably missing the most.”

Layton says the challenge is two-pronged. Large enterprise IT teams often struggle with the growing size of their organization. Small to mid-market enterprises often don’t have the resources to keep up with good asset management practices.

“The mid-market is interesting because, in most cases, they don’t have a CISO – they have an IT Manager or IT Director that reports to a CFO or a COO,” said Layton. “That person is functioning as the IT Director as well as Security lead… and that’s a problem because you have a conflict of interest.”

Layton recommends forming a governance committee that pulls in executives, IT, and if possible, security team members.

Ivanti CISO Phil Richards says guidelines are in place, but often it’s easier said than done.

“The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), who's the governing body, comes out with a lot of these standards in terms of what you're supposed to put in place. Their configuration management baseline, which is called CM-2, says that you have to have a current and accurate snapshot of your hardware and software inventory, and that it needs to change and be reflected as being accurate at all times,” said Richards. “The way they say it makes it sound easy, but it’s not easy.”

Peter Green, Virtual CISO at Sirius Computer System, says ITAM’s fingerprints are all over key IT functions.

“Asset management, vulnerability management, patching, remote control, certificate delivery, it’s all there in configuration management,” said Green.

Despite this, Green says asset management often falls off the top priority list for most IT teams.

“Honestly, I think they've blown past it, just because out of necessity. They're trying to look at their top three, top five… protecting the crown jewels and trying to classify data so they know what data they have,” said Green. “It’s a little alarming how underserved asset management is.”

One way to justify ITAM’s role at the top of the list is to think of your users as assets.

“As long as you have users, you're going to have problems,” said Layton. “It's education, it's getting the controls, it's getting the culture right. It has to start with the top, and you have to push it down or you're stuck.”

Richards agrees. While it might not directly relate to pure ITAM practices, he says user education is essential in protecting your environment from cyberattacks. He and his team conduct test phishing campaigns to make sure employees understand the consequences of their actions.

“An employee actually responded to and clicked on a phishing email, put in their user credentials and everything… then they opened up an incident defect that said their password wasn't accepted on the website,” said Richards. “They went the extra mile and tried to get us to fix it because their legitimate password wasn’t accepted in the malware.”

As for the offenders at the top of the list, Layton says you might be surprised about who is falling for these phishing emails.

“The biggest culprits of phishing and bad practices are, generally, the executives,” claims Layton. “It's just, they're so busy. Routine is a big piece of what they do, and so you get caught in your routine and you kind of get caught.”

Richards says threat actors are always looking for your weakest link when it comes to attack vectors. Whether it’s your users, a particular endpoint, or a lapsed practice – it’s a matter of time before you’ll be exposed.

“For patching or encryption we have to get it right on every single one of our devices, because the one device we miss is the one that the bad guys are going to find and they're going to get into it,” said Richards. “We have to get it right 100% of the time, and that's really the hard part.”

What Are ‘Ghost Assets’ and Just How Terrifying Are They?

Mon, 23 Jul 2018 17:13:09 Z

Recently, Barry in our obscure stats department dug up a real doozy on IT Asset Management:

According to research by Asset Management Resources, as many as 30% of fixed IT assets are ghost assets.

Ghost assets? Like Casper the Friendly Ghost? Or like Patrick Swayze in Ghost? Or perhaps it’s more of a Paranormal Activity type situation.

We, the Ivanti blog team, sought out our own experts for a little clarity on this spooky fact.

Our Ivanti ITAM product evangelists define a ghost asset as a piece of hardware that goes missing from your organization’s radar – never to be seen again. Our ITAM team points out that often times those devices are loaded with sensitive information and are still able to access company systems and applications.

A Few Haunting Hardware Asset Management Statistics

Just how scary are these ghost assets?

According to DarkReading.com, 50% of ex-employees still have access to corporate applications.
Businessnewsdaily.com reports that 60% percent of employees say they had confidential information stored on their laptops.
And a 2017 survey published on sonian.com reveals 25% of organizations polled never require departing employees to sign a document indicating they have returned all corporate data assets.

Boo! The Terrifying Result of Ghost Assets

The loss of proprietary data can have huge consequences. In addition to lost revenue, organizations can face fines for not protecting the data of its employees or customers. Under GDPR, these fines can be as steep as 20 million Euros or 4% of annual global revenue.

Ghost assets also pose a huge risk for IT security teams, exposing organizations to the possibility of data breaches. Research on DarkReading.com shows that as many as 20% of businesses have experienced data breaches by former staff.

So how do you keep your assets from falling into the wrong hands without having to hire a team of ex-special forces to reclaim devices from your ex-employees?

Being an ITAM Ghostbuster Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

Many organizations do their best to track IT assets. We’ve seen a wide variety of methods such as spreadsheets, shared docs, proprietary software, etc. But manual tracking is exhaustive, sucks up time, and can’t be counted on for perfect accuracy.

On the other side of the spectrum, traditional IT asset management solutions can be just as time consuming - requiring intensive setup, long trainings, regular maintenance, and additional infrastructure. Small and budget-strapped teams have a hard time supporting these types of solutions.

A Ready-To-Go ITAM Solution, Not an Apparition

Ivanti has the answer for organizations of all sizes that want to start implementing IT asset management but don’t have time to waste before seeing results.

Ivanti Asset Manager Essentials is a pre-built, cloud-based ITAM solution that provides:

Tracking for asset availability and performance
Easy data retrieval with discovery import
Instant visibility into costs and contracts
Product catalog for an enhanced user experience
Out-of-the-box reporting and dashboards
Superior vendor management
Faster delivery of new code features and updates in the cloud

See it for yourself. Watch our new YouTube video to see more capabilities of Asset Manager Essentials and then click to schedule a custom demo with an Ivanti ITAM expert near you.

Famed TED Talks Presenter Pablos Holman Is Interchange Madrid's Keynote Speaker

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 19:08:19 Z

A slide in one of Pablos Holman’s popular TED Talks simply reads “I’m a bada**.”

It’s true. The hacker turned futurist, and recently announced Interchange Madrid keynote speaker, is edgy and honest—exactly what you want in an inventor who’s heading up a lab devoted to finding solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems.

Mosquito death ray

Take malaria for example. Holman draws on his hacker roots to come up with an effective, yet oddly entertaining way to solve this disease that kills nearly a million Africans every year.

Using consumer electronics, Holman and his cohorts at Intellectual Labs in Seattle developed a lethal laser that targets the female mosquito that carries the disease.

“As long as it’s not cute, you can kill it,” Holman jokingly exclaims in one of his insanely popular TEDx Talks.

The lab’s laser can identify the female mosquito and zap it with a blast of lethal energy. You can see some super slow-motion highlights here.

The laser array can be placed around schools, homes, villages, even crops. Pablos says it’s a plan even PETA can get behind, pointing to the fact that there aren’t a lot of people advocating for the humane treatment of a mosquito.

Hacktivism

Pablos’ brand of humanitarianism has been honed from his days as a hacker. He’s well known for exposing flaws in new chipped credit cards that made it easy for identity thieves to steal sensitive information. Or that time he put a tablet on wheels and drove it around conferences, collecting logon credentials and proudly displaying them on the screen.

These (possibly illegal) techniques inspired Pablos to approach problem solving from the standpoint of a hacker. By generating a protocol diagram, Pablos and his fellow scientists can identify every point where they can attack.

The future for this futurist

Pablos and his brain trust are taking this same approach to finding a fix for some of the biggest issues facing our planet.

Worried about our nation’s mounting stockpile of nuclear waste? By hacking the problem, Pablos figures it’s possible to create a reactor that can re-burn this spent nuclear fuel to create carbon-free energy for the foreseeable future.

What about protecting coastal cities from being flattened by intense tropical storms? Pablos has hacked a way to rob storms of the energy they need, cooling the surface of the ocean. Slowing and possibly even reversing the effects of global warming? Pablos’ plan involves helium balloons and a super long garden hose.

“It used to be you had to die to innovate,” he says. “Experiments used to hinge or who survived and who ultimately did not.”

Pablos’ vision is to innovate in less than a generation.

Be kind to robots

Robots are becoming more skilled. I mean, have you seen this recent YouTube clip from Boston Dynamics? It vaguely resembles the scene from Jurassic Park where a group of velociraptors stalks two young children in the park’s kitchen.

These clips, along with other examples of advancing robot intelligence, prove that we’re approaching a new age.

“Something important is about to happen,” said Pablos. “Robots are coming to take your job, they’re coming to drive your car, they’re coming to do all kinds of things that you do right now.

“They’re going to perform surgery, they’re going to take every remedial, repetitive, dangerous job that humans are trying to do now.”

In anticipation of when machines finally become our overlords, Pablos suggests we be more compassionate towards the robots who make our everyday lives a little easier. Shower Siri with praise, show your appreciation for Alexa, don’t forget to give Google some love every now and then. It may seem ironic, but Pablos suggests that we need to take the lead when it comes to teaching these non-human AI assistants a little lesson about humanity.

“Right now we are terrible role models for robots,” he said.

Pablos’ hope is that perhaps robots will follow suit if they see us taking care of each other’s psychological wellbeing. And when the time finally comes when our jobs are replaced by robots, Pablos says we should do what humans are uniquely good at doing—figuring out how to take care of other humans.

Learn more about Pablos and be there in person when he speaks at Interchange Madrid, March 11-14, 2019.

Pink Elephant Conference, ITSM Trends, the Cloud, and More with Ivanti's Kevin J. Smith

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 23:34:29 Z

IT service management leaders have arguably one of the most far-reaching roles in IT. There’s a lot that now falls under the scope of ITSM, and ITSM trends are always changing.

ITSM training and consultant group Pink Elephant is helping organizations navigate the demands and priorities of this new age of ITSM.

Pink Elephant's upcoming conference, PINK18, will feature more than 140 sessions in 12 different tracks tailored for every role in ITSM. We asked one of the session owners, Ivanti’s Kevin J. Smith, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, to talk about this year’s conference along with the trends ITSM professionals should be keeping pace with.

Q: Pink18’s theme is ‘Adopt, Adapt & Apply’. What do organizations need to know about these three ideas?

KJS: Be Agile and be ready for change. Make this a competency and a priority. Then, when the time comes to adopt and adapt, you are ready and don’t need to figure out what comes next. You have already done the planning and are ready to mobilize.

Q: At Ivanti, we talk a lot about integration and unification when it comes to IT. What’s ITSM’s role in this?

KJS: ITSM is a key enabler as it is often the ‘hub of the wheel’, by driving workflow and business process associated with service catalog and other request channels, which ultimately call us to deliver great service to a large cross section of the business.

Q: What are some of the new ITSM trends?

KJS: Automation and AI will have a big impact on ITSM over the next five years. These technologies will change much of what we do - offloading our people and allowing them to focus on what they do best. This is now possible because Automation and AI are better than ever and can do some of the heavy lifting around high volume and repetitive tasks. Further into the future, AI will be able to take on some of the more advanced work.

Q: The Cloud’ isn’t just a buzzword anymore. Why should organizations invest in cloud-based technologies?

KJS: The Cloud has proven to deliver a great deal of value and, today, is a reliable and productive resource for IT. Part of the appeal of Cloud and SaaS is that the service provider can take on the administration and upgrade processes, which have traditionally fallen on the shoulders of IT. This is good for everybody. Taking this a step further, we normally see the best user experience and many innovative features first emerge in Cloud applications, as it is a priority for IT solution providers today.

Q: PINK18 promises to show how to go beyond just theory to achieve true business value and outcomes. With that in mind, what are your suggested top 3 initiatives for ITSM in 2018?

KJS: 1. Automation, 2. Leveraging AI, 3. Unifying our IT teams to perform better for the business. IT has worked in localized silos for 30 years. We now understand that by rallying our full IT staff around business problems and strategic initiatives, we can do our best work and move at a new level of velocity. With this goal in mind, automation and AI can help us bring our new strategy in IT to life.

Q: Resources like PinkVERIFY help IT leaders when researching new solutions. What other advice do you have for IT professionals in the search for an ideal solution?

KJS: Take the time to look deeply at candidate solutions as most solutions look good at a high level. The best solutions separate themselves when put through the paces of solving real use cases and building real business processes. This could include a proof of concept phase, or an extended blind demo. The latter can be effective, because it gives a good indication of how flexible, agile, and configurable the solution will be. Any solution looks good when a vendor has weeks to prepare for a demo.

Q: What are the most common challenges orgs face when approaching ITSM?

KJS: Unrealistic expectations are probably the biggest enemy of any new ITSM project. This challenge is magnified when implementing best practices including ITIL. Overly optimistic schedules and poor communications create risk and pressure that does not allow us to do our best work. Take on a realistic, timeline, communicate often, and build-in multiple phases with phase debriefs after each block of work is completed. This is a proven formula that will support success.

Q: Let’s talk about the future. What will the ITSM landscape look like in 5-10 years?

KJS: The fundamentals will remain the same, but we will rely heavily on automation and AI tools to complete our work much faster, while offering virtually all our services 24/7. This will create a new engine for the full business and will enable IT to drive better service to both employees and clients. We should also expect IT to move closer to external clients in order to better support the business and to deliver more robust business-oriented solutions. ITSM will help to facilitate these changes across IT as an ambassador to the business.

Check out Kevin’s session at PINK18: “Odd Couple Or The Perfect Pair: Security & ITSM?”, where he’ll explore the new synergies of ITSM and security, further discuss what to expect in the future, and how you can best prepare your organization for this transformation. You can also buy Kevin’s book, The Practical Guide To World-Class IT Service Management, on Amazon.

Our CEO and CMO rock. Literally, they actually rock.

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 18:21:50 Z

We can safely say we have the coolest executives.

Not only is our CEO Steve Daly Utah’s 2017 Entrepreneur of the Year, he plays a mean keyboard and belts out some silky background vocals.

Daly’s talents were on display all week at Ivanti’s annual Sales and Marketing Kickoff (known on our social media as #SKO18). In addition to outlining his vision for the company in 2018, Daly joined Ivanti Chief Marketing Officer Steve Morton and his band Exit Strategy for several songs Wednesday night.

Morton, a rock legend in his own right, brings a fresh take to wide-range of songs. His covers of Sweet Caroline, Mr. Brightside, and Rebel Yell stunned the crowd of Ivanti employees and guests at Salt Lake City’s Club Elevate.

How does your company celebrate? We jam out to #Exit Strategy featuring #ivanti CEO @smdaly, CMO @swmorton01 and my buddy Brad Wilson!!!! #sko2018 @GoIvanti pic.twitter.com/U28EPDN85o

— Steven Eror (@SteveEror) January 25, 2018

Ivanti’s Global Digital Marketing Director McKay Allen gave the audience a few minutes to grab a drink or head to the bathroom with his rendition of "Friends in Low Places" – although a surprise a guest was heralded for saving the performance.

The rockstars of Ivanti #SKO18! pic.twitter.com/MwO6oS0chC

— Ivanti (@GoIvanti) January 28, 2018

We work hard at Ivanti to bring our customers a unique unified offering of IT solutions designed to save time and resources, but we also love to let our hair down and rock out once in a while. Be sure to follow us on social media for more action.

Customers Respond: How Did Ivanti Impact Your 2017?

Fri, 05 Jan 2018 23:29:18 Z

Well, 2018 is here. If you’re like me, my resolution is already busted. I drove by the gym and looked inside, then hit the drive-thru instead. My thigh workout is breaded and fried, if you know what I mean.

As we set goals for the new year, perhaps we can draw some inspiration from how we helped our customers in 2017. Here are few examples submitted by actual living and breathing Ivanti customers.

“Helped do analytics on our trouble tickets by easily pulling reports.” — Thomas S.

Isn’t Data great?

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“Integrated MS with SD and completed the Workspaces build out.” — Michael C.

Hey Michael, was your MS to SD integration BYOB? Better keep that on the DL.

“We were able to complete our transition to Office 365 smoothly using Ivanti for deployment. Based on that project, we were then able to complete our upgrade.” — David J.

We’re just glad Microsoft didn’t bring back Clippy, right David?

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“Implementing Ivanti server patching freed up one full night every month for two staff for me. Hugely positive impact, plus automation means that patching happens without staff dependencies. It was a good year for this to happen!” — Andrew L., IT ninja

Deleted Braveheart scene: “They can take our country, BUT THEY CAN’T COMPROMISE OUR DATA CENTER!”

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“Loving the Lenovo and 3rd Party Software updates via Patch and Compliance! — Jeremy S.

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“Continues to enable our company to keep up with system security patching, reducing our attack surface, and providing better service to our customers.” — Rick S.

Better service and better protection from online threats! Quite the combo!

“The fact that we are now able to successfully patch PC's and Servers within the 30-day SLA we have.... and breathe!” — Neil S.

Inhale… now exhale

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“Service Management made easier and, for first time, measurable. Great leap for us!” — Daniel C.

One small step for analyst… one giant leap for analystkind.

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“Automation helped us automate several mundane tasks.” — Steven B.

2018 goal: Automate the folding of my laundry.

folded clothes">

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“Deployed over 100 Windows vulnerability patches across 10000+ devices in less than a year.” — Luis R.

Now that’s cause for celebration!

“2017 helped us with new features, brought more products to light, and introduced us to new users and other companies through the Insiders program.” — Jason L.

Insiders is cool, but the guy running it… well, that’s another story.

“We were thru an IT audit this year and received the highest score available. We use Ivanti Patch for our 3rd party software, etc. and that is what helped us to keep up with all the patching.” — Orah C.

Orah, please tell me there was a trophy presentation or a medal ceremony?

“It helped us deploy all of our approved software across our enterprise and have it locked down.” — Dean S.

Just curious, what’s an enterprise license for Minesweeper cost these days?

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“Every AppSense upgrade has been simple and we have not had any issues… knock on wood.” — Tim G.

We’re confident in your continued success, but in case you’re superstitious:

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“Replaced an outdated, unsupportable ticketing system with HEAT.” — Joleen K.

It’s comments like this that make the HEAT guys feel all warm inside. #HEATpun

“Allowed us to increase user density in our Citrix Farm.” — Ryan M.

It’s not a real Citrix farm unless you have at least one barnyard animal on premise.

We would love to hear what you’ve got planned for 2018. Share your thoughts with us in the comments and let us know how we can help you achieve success in IT this year.

Attack of the Devices

Mon, 14 Aug 2017 06:10:08 Z

It caused confusion and panic. A handful of actors led by Orson Welles, captivated radio listeners all over the country on Halloween-eve 1938 with a chilling account of an alien invasion.

I hesitate to call it a hoax. Welles’ audio adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds generated a slight outrage in the media the following days. According to legend, some of those who tuned into the broadcast on The Mercury Theatre on the Air missed the program’s introduction, which clearly stated that what listeners were about to hear was a dramatization – not an actual alien swarm descending on earth.

Since, alien movies have become a regular fixture in pop culture, featuring odd-looking creatures with advanced intelligence looking to deplete the planet of its rich resources and wipe out all inhabitants.

Today’s ‘alien’ invasion

It may not be green creatures with massive almond-shaped eyes, but organizations are dealing with their own invasion as we speak. Not to be over-dramatic, but I’d label it: “The Attack of the Devices.” It won’t be coming to a theater near you, heck, it’s not even straight to Blu-ray worthy, but it is a real issue for companies all over the globe.

Gone are the days of solely supporting the desktop. Employees want more ways to be productive whenever and wherever. This has created a demand for modern IT teams to support devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops and more. The byproduct of this is a potential security nightmare due in part to this growing attack surface.

Securing your devices

Security was repeatedly noted as a primary focus for IT managers across EMA’s survey results. In addition to being the most challenging to support, security was identified as the most time-consuming, the most difficult, and the most costly administration practice.

Even with all this attention, organizations continue to experience significant breaches in endpoint security. More than half of all IT managers surveyed by EMA indicated they had to deal with a malware event (e.g., a virus infection or Trojaned application) in just the last year. Also, 45% reported a device was lost or stolen, which may have placed the company at risk if those devices contained any sensitive data or access to business services.

In total, 68% of respondents indicated a security breach occurred in the last year. Add those organizations that don’t have monitoring solutions to enable risk management, and you’re dealing with a much higher number.

Protecting data and proprietary information gets even trickier when you consider how this material is being shared. According to EMA, 89% of survey respondents reported their users regularly employed unsecure methods for data sharing, such as public email systems (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc.), unsecure public cloud storage, Facebook, and physical media devices (e.g., thumb drives). Depending on the business, these practices can open the door to regulatory fines and increase the likelihood of a security breach.

EMA suggests that organizations should give users a secure option for sharing and preventing data from being distributed through unwanted means. Also, encryption should be applied from creation, to storage, and even distribution.

In today’s threat-laden landscape, IT professionals must have enterprise security at top of mind. EMA identifies some serious challenges to making security the primary focus:

It’s difficult
It’s expensive
It’s VERY time consuming

However difficult, expensive, and time consuming this practice might be, the alternative should be enough of a motivation. News reports critical of organizations who don’t secure and protect their systems and data can cause significant damage to a business’ reputation and result in lost confidence.

While it’s important to reduce risk and mitigate any breach, EMA says you can’t forget about the business and your users. Enterprises must prevent risk exposure without impacting access to applications and data for authorized users or harming performance.

The big picture

Want more expert advice on how to secure your data while giving users the access they need? Click on the banner below to read EMA’s full report or contact an Ivanti representative to see how we can help you manage all your endpoints and reduce your security risk.

The Challenge of Productivity

Fri, 11 Aug 2017 00:00:08 Z

From answering emails in bed, to reviewing proposals on the plane, or logging on from your personal laptop to get a little work done – we’re constantly connected thanks to our plethora of devices.

This digital revolution has done wonders for productivity, but only if organizations can find a way to manage and secure all these new devices.

The survey says…

In a survey of more than 100 IT directors, Enterprise Management Associates discovered that nearly half of all business professionals use a mobile device in addition to their PC to perform tasks during the workday. Desktops and laptops are the preferred tools of the trade, but EMA says mobile devices are becoming more popular when it comes to taking on some of those business-related tasks.

Advances in mobile technology have made it easier and more convenient for business professionals to stay ‘plugged in’ while on the go. This trend has forced IT teams to find ways to manage and support these devices in the name of productivity.

It used to be easy

A decade ago, Windows was the go-to platform in the office. Apple and Android have since changed the landscape, especially in the mobile device market, but Microsoft is keeping pace thanks in part to its newest multi-platform OS. According to EMA, Windows 10 tablets are luring users away from Android and are considered an attractive option for companies who are looking to provide their workforce with mobile devices.

In addition to PCs running Windows 10, IT teams are now having to support more Chromebooks and Macs. EMA research shows the enterprise use of computers running macOS has doubled since 2015.

Multi-device challenges

This recent influx of devices is both good and bad for organizations. On one hand, employees are now more productive and accessible than ever. But it only works of IT teams can support all these new devices. According to EMA, IT departments are now supporting a minimum of four different operating environments. EMA lists this as one of the top challenges in supporting user productivity:

Ensuring data security
Supporting multi-device architectures
Reducing the cost of IT management
Delivering common apps to a broad range of device types
Working with multiple independent management solutions

EMA points out that the other two leading challenges on this list are also related to multi-device support requirements.

An Apple a day

Apple’s mobile devices are popular with users, but they can be a challenge for IT teams to manage. Nearly a quarter (24%) of the IT directors EMA surveyed indicated that supporting macOS and iOS platforms was “very critical” to the success of the business. EMA research shows that figure will increase to 41% in the next two years.

IT teams might groan over that last statistic. EMA’s poll of IT directors revealed that many IT teams already supporting Apple devices reported a greater-than-average difficulty in performing related management practices, especially when it comes to processes for predefining configuration for the Apple Device Enrollment Program and deploying applications and patches to macOS endpoints.

See what else EMA discovered when they reached out to more than 100 IT directors. Click below to download the full report.

Patch Tuesday Goes LIVE at Interchange 2017

Wed, 10 May 2017 23:14:39 Z

It doesn’t happen too often, but occasionally Patch Tuesday takes place when Ivanti IT security expert Chris Goettl is on the road.

Be sure to check out all of Ivanti’s patch products:

Patch for SCCM

Patch for Windows

Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac

Patch for Endpoint Manager

Goettl runs Ivanti’s popular Patch Tuesday webinar, dedicating an hour-plus to informing the masses about Microsoft’s latest security updates. He’s backed by a team of Ivanti researchers that dissect each bulletin, execute tests, and develop Ivanti’s approach to updates.

Since May’s Patch Tuesday happened to fall right in the middle of Interchange 2017, Goettl, along with Program Manager Todd Schell and Ivanti's Kate Borsheim, decided to host the webinar in front of a live audience at the conference.

Adding to the magnitude of the event – several pressing issues related to May’s update:

Microsoft announced a 48-hour fix to a flaw in their malware engine
3 exploits were being resolved to Internet Explorer, Office, and Windows
A critical Flash update resolving 7 vulnerabilities

A trusted voice in security

With a couple hundred dialing in to the monthly Ivanti Patch Tuesday webinar, and Interchange attendees live in the room, Goettl and Schell walked the audience through the updates, answering questions and offering their expert take on how to proceed with patching.

Some of Goettl’s takeaways:

Cumulative updates are getting large, some more than 1 GB
Delta updates are smaller in size, but aren’t accessible if you choose the quality updates
There are several zero-day vulnerabilities
Chrome release identified no security fixes, but it is likely to support the latest Flash update

Ivanti is your source for Windows Updates

Microsoft discontinued its bulletin updates in April, but Goetll says Ivanti will continue to send out its own “bulletin” style updates. Ivanti is also researching Microsoft’s plan to make its delta updates more compatible and will soon release guidance on how to take advantage of these smaller updates.

Sign up for our monthly Patch Tuesday webinar and explore related content on our special Patch Tuesday section of our website.

May 2017 Patch Tuesday Ivanti from Ivanti

Interchange 2017: A unified vision for IT

Tue, 09 May 2017 21:47:15 Z

Ivanti CEO Steve Daly challenged IT teams to break down the traditional silos within the IT industry during the Interchange opening keynote on Tuesday.

“We’ve got to start to unify IT,” Daly said to the crowd at Interchange LIVE.

This unified vision of IT is backed up by Ivanti’s recent acquisition of HEAT Software and Concorde Solutions, creating a portfolio of products that cover every discipline in IT.

Better IT security with Ivanti

Security is a major focal point of this year’s conference. Interchange attendees got a taste of Ivanti’s IT security capabilities during a live demo from Ivanti CTO Tom Davis and VP of Engineering Rob Juncker on application control.

Kevin J. Smith, Ivanti SVP of Strategic Initiatives, shared his expertise on cloud-based IT service management, including the importance of providing a solution that works in the cloud and on premise. Kevin’s book on the subject is a must-read for any IT professional.

The future is bright...

What about the future of IT? Interchange attendees got a glimpse of how artificial intelligence, bots, and automation can help users resolve issues and protect organizations from security threats.

The message is clear: Ivanti has the solutions and insight to help customers solve their current struggles and guide them to a unified and modern approach to IT.

Behind the scenes at Interchange 2017

Mon, 08 May 2017 22:10:43 Z

Conference attendees are checked into their rooms, swag has been handed out, and the booths in the expo hall look great. Interchange 2017 is in full swing at the Mirage in Las Vegas.

As boot camp sessions wrapped up on Monday, a rush of Ivanti customers and partners started pouring in for three days of breakout sessions, hands-on labs, great keynotes, and some fantastic evening events.

Ivanti CMO Steve Morton goes over his notes ahead of Tuesday's opening keynote at Interchange 2017.

Behind the scenes, Ivanti Chief Marketing Officer Steve Morton spent Monday afternoon preparing for Tuesday’s opening keynote. The talk show style keynote is an Interchange favorite and will feature demos of Ivanti products, interviews with Ivanti executives and product experts, and a few fun games.

Conference attendees will want to arrive early to get a good seat to score some cool prizes in our early bird giveaway. For those of you not at Interchange, we’ll be posting highlights of the keynote on our blog in the coming days.

We’ll be posting more from Interchange all week so bookmark our blog and check back often.

Ivanti gives IT a voice in patient care

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:15:55 Z

Health care providers are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to improve quality of care and patient safety, amid challenges posed by mergers and tightening budgets.

Technology plays a key role in this mission. Doctors, nurses, and support staff require anytime access to software and applications to quickly diagnose and treat patients, and manage their long-term care.

One such provider, SCL Health, serves patients in Colorado, Kansas, and Montana. This regional network of hospitals and clinics specializes in heart care, orthopedics, cancer care, women’s health resources and more.

In 2011, SCL Health merged two organizations, both with their own IT systems and service delivery operations. Seeing an opportunity to consolidate and help their IT team quickly respond to and resolve issues, SCL Health turned to Ivanti.

Thanks to Ivanti Service Manager, SCL Health is eliminating errors that could lead to costly hardware and software downtime.

“If you have systems that are unreliable and providers are stressed, there’s a risk that this could translate into a negative experience for the patient,” said Amy Yankovich, Director of Service Operations and Service Management for SCL Health. “It’s imperative to reduce outages to ensure patient safety and satisfaction.”

Yankovich and her team work closely with SCL Health’s High Reliability Organization to prioritize the tools doctors and nurses need to deliver reliable patient care.

“We pulled their stories into why change management is critical for IT,” said Yankovich.

SCL Health’s IT team is benefiting from training on the finer principles of reliable care and how human error can jeopardize this goal.

“Our teams at every level respect the process and understand that it is a safety mechanism for us to protect our systems and our patients,” said Yankovich.

Thanks to Ivanti Service Manager, SCL Health is seeing improvements in their associate engagement survey scores for change management. Their tracked-change volume more than doubled and their change success rate improved by 33 percent.

“Ivanti Service Manager is like a medical record for a patient,” said Yankovich. “We need a detailed record about our systems, applications, and services so we can understand the health of IT across our organization.”

Because of her team’s investment in this process, Yankovich says they’re able to use their post-implementation review process to capture data when changes don’t go as expected.

“We’re developing reports to share these learnings across out teams. We are confident this will further improve our overall change success rates for our organization,” she said.

That was just the beginning. IT processes, staff, and tools are fully in tune with SCL Health’s priority on high-reliability health care. IT now has a place at the table in daily briefings and safety huddles to share information about important safety issues.

Ivanti's dashboard and reporting technology is giving SCL Health more visibility into unplanned outages and other issues that could impact care.

“Through realizing these processes in a centralized solution, we’ve seen a reduction in our monthly average volume of incidents of 18 percent, and we’ve only just begun,” said Yankovich.

As a result of Ivanti solutions, the IT team at SCL Health is experiencing success with problem management, helping them achieve SLAs, resolve incidents faster, and finding solutions to long-term problems.

“For example, we can see if a particular enabling service, such as desktop virtualization, is a top cause of outages and work with our business partners to re-evaluate how we manage that service,” said Yankovich. “We can deliver higher quality outcomes without increasing costs. When issues do occur, we get the user back to work faster.”

Executives are taking notice as well.

“Our CIO has embraced service management as a strategic initiative,” said Yankovich. “Senior leadership sees the value and opportunity we have to further increase our value to the business as we manage our services against metrics that make sense for that service.”

Instead of being viewed as just hardware and software, the IT team at SCL Health is using the Ivanti Configuration Management Database to align its service portfolio with business functions, such as electronic medical records, laboratory services, and payroll services.

“As we implement these into Ivanti, teams will be even more effective and our leadership will have the data needed to make informed, strategic decisions as they relate to our services,” said Yankovich. “We went from being the IT guys in the basement to being a true partner in patient safety. It changed the conversation.”

By analyzing historical data with Ivanti, Yankovich’s team discovered that change activity and incidents tend to spike in late fall. SCL Health’s leadership team identified the root cause: an end-of-year push for IT projects before funding expired, coupled with time-off requests around the holidays. With insight from Ivanti solutions, they're now able to mitigate the risk and change behavior.

“For the first time, we’re thinking of service management as a true solution, not just a ticketing concept,” said Yankovich.

SCL Health has discovered Service Manager capabilities beyond IT. Their Human Resources Service Center now uses Ivanti to track employee inquiries about payroll and benefits and Ivanti solutions are being used to help fill last-minute nursing shortages.

“Conversations are happening about the value of being able to leverage a shared solution to track their services,” said Yankovich.

SCL Health is now looking at implementing Ivanti’s IT asset management solutions to help them track, manage, and optimizie their hardware and software.

Read more about SCL Health's success with Ivanti and click below to learn more about our enterprise-grade IT service management solutions.

Ivanti Service Manager is getting an update... and you're going to love it.

Thu, 06 Apr 2017 23:07:47 Z

Coming soon: Ivanti will release its latest version of Ivanti Service Manager! This is the first update to our enterprise IT service management solution since HEAT Software merged with LANDESK to form Ivanti. We’re so sure you’ll love the new Ivanti Service Manager that we’ve decided to give you a preview of some of the new features you’ll see.

Available in the cloud, Service Manager is powered 100% by Ivanti. We call it the “Drink Your Own Champagne” initiative. After all, if you’re going to grow the grapes, you might as well reap the benefits of a good harvest.

Ivanti Service Manager is much more than just an IT ticketing system. It has capabilities that go way beyond the traditional IT “shop”.

First, let’s start with the look. Everything is captured in ONE place. You’ll notice we’ve arranged the most important features into easy to navigate tiles. These tiles are aligned functionally by business unit – designed to automate various tasks, saving time and reducing the possibility of human error. These tiles also provide visibility via dashboards and reports to deliver insight to the right people at the proper stages. A menu bar allows you to easily switch between your arranged tiles and the home screen.

We’ve made improvements with both the user and the analyst in mind. Users will love how easy it is to access information and submit an incident request to IT. Whether you’re using a smartphone, tablet, tower or laptop, we’ve simplified the process with a single tile and intuitive templates to highlight the nature of the issue being reported and ensuring it will be directed to the proper team within IT.

Ivanti Service Manager is an enterprise grade solution. We’ve seriously thought of everything. Tiles can help users report broken equipment or building-related issues to the facilities team. Ivanti Service Manager allows users to see updates on their requests, so they now know when that failing fridge or broken coffee maker will be replaced or repaired.

We’ve boosted self-service capabilities with a specific tile directing users to a digital library filled with knowledge articles, frequently asked questions, and short videos that provide the answers users need without having to submit a service request.

Again, we’re thrilled about the upcoming release of Ivanti Service Manager. Stay tuned for future announcements.

Texas School District Shares Secret to Windows 10 Migration Success

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 00:32:26 Z

It was a lofty idea.

The IT team at Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District needed a way to migrate tens of thousands of student laptops. They had a small window to complete this task, a few short weeks during the summer school calendar.

Cypress-Fairbanks is the third largest school district in the state of Texas. Located in suburban Houston, the district has a student population of more than 100,000 and more than 12,000 staff members – spread out among 100 campuses and office buildings.

The district’s small, but highly capable team of analysts were forced to drive to every campus to install software and execute critical updates.

“We had to run a massive on-site program to update plug-ins at the start of every year, physically visiting every machine on the network,” said Josh Zhang, HW/SW Technical Analyst.

In a district that covers 186 square miles, in Houston traffic, that adds up to a lot of wasted hours on the road.

Burdened by inconvenience and previous solutions that couldn’t keep up with the workflow, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD started looking for an answer to their problem. They needed a solution that could patch, update, and equip the right software for every user in the district.

“IBM was quite simply way out of our financial reach, and the Dell option was not scalable enough for our environment,” said Anthony Melton, HW/SW Technical Analyst. “The Ivanti® Secure User Management Suite gave us everything we needed at a price that made financial sense, and with significant headroom for future growth.”

As an added benefit, the team used the Ivanti imaging process to migrate all student laptops to Windows 10, representing 60 percent of its total fleet. In order to preserve software and documents required for the coming school year, teachers’ machines were converted in place by deploying the Ivanti agent, while the students’ machines received a completely fresh OS image.

“Thanks to the Ivanti solutions and the dedication and skill of our teams, we were able to achieve everything in just two and a half months and we came in a week before the deadline,” said Larry Barrios Manager of the Device, Imaging, and Integration Team.

When it comes to updating PCs, Cypress-Fairbanks uses Ivanti solutions to schedule automatic updates on nights and weekends, touching thousands of computers without making a single on-site visit.

“In the past, one person could handle perhaps 120 machines a day, so we have probably already saved at least 30 person-days just for this one requirement,” said Michelle Campos, Technology SW Specialist.

Looking to the future, the PC support team at CFISD will continue to build out policies, processes, and reports in its Ivanti suite, further increasing the automation and efficiency of managing its endpoints.

We have more winning advice on Windows 10 migration. Download the white paper to learn more.

Lower Risks and Reduce Costs With This Advice From an Ivanti ITAM Expert

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 16:26:34 Z

We admit, the term “IT Asset Management” lacks a little luster. But when it comes to saving time and money, there’s no substitute for a having the tools and processes in place to optimize your hardware and software. At Ivanti, we want to help organizations achieve this level of success. That’s why we created the IT Asset Management / Software Asset Management Attainment Model. It’s a step-by-step guide to helping you understand where your organization is at in the ITAM process. We talked to Ivanti ITAM Product Marketing Manager, Jason Christensen about what organizations can do in order to take their ITAM operation to the next level.

Q: Why is having an ITAM SAM strategy so critical?

A: Having an ITAM/SAM strategy in place is critical for organizations to avoid both financial and security risk. Tracking what assets a company has, where they are, and understand how they are preforming allows businesses to save money on what I call the “Goldie Locks Licensing Model”.

Q: What is the Goldie Locks Licensing Model?

A: It’s where you aren’t purchasing too many software licenses for your needs, or too few -- instead, you have just the right amount. According to research from ITassetmanagement.net, we know that 76.4% of organizations admit to over-licensing in fear of audits. They do this because they lack clarity about what software they really have in their IT environments.

Q: So what are the consequences of under-licensing?

A: Failing a software audit comes with its own set of financial risks. Penalties involved in failing an audit include true-up costs, fees, and fines, not to mention what bad publicity can do to a company.

Q: Are there other benefits to an ITAM/SAM strategy?

A: ITAM/SAM also helps to prevent security risk. You can’t protect what you don’t know about, right? When you track your assets you are prepared for incidents like theft or loss. When these types of events happen, there is a process in place to protect an organizations sensitive data. In addition, by blacklisting and whitelisting applications you prevent malware and unapproved software from entering your organization.

Q: Where do most organizations fall within the Ivanti ITAM/SAM Attainment Model?

A: From talking with customers and consumers at various ITAM events, I have come to realize the majority of organizations are just starting their ITAM/SAM efforts and are at the unmanaged or initial level of the attainment model. Organizations that don’t have a program in place usually lack the support of senior management. They also may not be aware of the need or have the finances to act on it. ITAM/SAM is nothing new, it has been around for a long time. However, increasing audits, the uncovering of savings opportunities, and the connection to security has brought ITAM to the forefront in recent years.

Q: This model is mainly designed for large organizations. Is there anything smaller companies can learn from this?

A: Tracking IT assets is important no matter the size of organization. Smaller companies will follow a very similar strategy with modifications with investment tools, etc., to accommodate their needs. Small organizations are still vulnerable to the same financial and security threats larger organizations are. In fact, many smaller organizations are targeted for their size because it is less likely they have an asset management program in place.

Q: What’s the biggest mistake companies make when it comes to their ITAM strategies?

A: Not having one! After that, I would say taking on too much all at once with no predefined goals. There are so many components to ITAM/SAM, if you take it on all at once -- you will get overwhelmed. That’s why the attainment model is so important. You gain clear direction on what steps to take next.

Q: Is there a secret to climbing the levels of this model? What area(s) should organizations be focused on?

A: I would say the number one secret to climbing the levels of this model is to get internal support. By showcasing your progress, savings, and improved efficiencies, you will have your CXOs rooting for you. You’ll see continued investment into the program for long term success.

Whether you’re new to ITAM, or a seasoned expert at tracking your assets – we’ve created a roadmap to help you understand your position within IT Asset Management. Click below to download our IT Asset Management / Software Asset Management Attainment Model.

Q&A With ITAM Expert Patricia Adams (Pt. 2 of 2)

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 16:15:26 Z

This blog is second in a two-part series where Ivanti ITAM Evangelist and former Gartner analyst, Patricia Adams answers questions about ITAM/SAM strategy and Ivanti’s ITAM/SAM Attainment Model. The model is designed for medium to large-sized companies in order to properly assess where they’re at in their ITAM/SAM process.

In the first installment of this blog series, Patricia answered questions about where most organizations fit within the IT Asset Management / Software Asset Management Attainment Model, what smaller organizations can do to put themselves on the right path towards asset management, the far-reaching benefits of an ITAM/SAM strategy. In part two of this interview, Patricia gives her expertise on the biggest blunders companies are making with their ITAM strategy, how organizations can succeed in ITAM/SAM, and the opportunities available for IT professionals working in this space.

Q: What are some of the biggest mistakes companies make when implementing ITAM/SAM?

A: After more than 20 years speaking with hundreds of organizations a year about their ITAM/SAM program there were a few trends that stood out. ?It is noteworthy that when ITAM programs fail, it’s because they haven’t addressed the basics or fundamentals that are needed to get started. If governance, process and policy are addressed early on, the implementations have a higher likelihood of long-term success and are able to maintain ongoing support.

In 2016, during the ITAM/SAM attainment model webinar, we asked attendees, “How many have corporate policies enforced by IT or senior management?”? Only 35% had support for policies. Without adherence to policies, it makes the job of managing IT assets infinitely more difficult because everyone is doing what they want. Asset Managers are placed in the role of being detectives, looking for clues and guessing when new assets are on the network. Not only does this create security risks, but purchase costs are likely to be higher as well.

Q: Your IT Asset Management/Software Asset Management Attainment Model has five levels. Is there a secret when it comes to advancing up the model and what area(s) should organizations be focusing on?

A: Focusing on the foundations will ensure that the ITAM/SAM program will be lasting, return value and become self-funding. This point about being self-funding is important because IT budgets are always under pressure to deliver services faster, cheaper, and at higher service quality.

I don’t think there are any secrets to moving from level to level, however success is dependent upon accomplishing all of the areas at that level in order for the next level to be successful. For example, if the policies aren’t fully deployed to all regions, chances are the centralized data isn’t going to be accurate and that will make it difficult to pursue other goals at the higher levels.

Q: Does an ITAM/SAM strategy have other benefits outside hardware and software?

A: In the ITAM/SAM attainment model webinar last year, we asked attendees, “Does the ITAM/SAM team meet regularly with the business to ascertain their asset related needs and direction?” In response, 26% of attendees answered affirmatively. That leaves an opportunity for ITAM/SAM programs to help IT solve many challenges rather than just responding to software audits. Asset managers can use the attainment model to communicate with and demonstrate to other IT domains, such as security, disaster recovery and enterprise architecture, what type of data they have and how they can support some of the bigger initiatives that IT is facing.

Click below to download the IT Asset Management/Software Asset Management Attainment Model. It’s a great resource for those looking to optimize their hardware and software assets, survive software audits, and further secure their IT environment.

Posts in this series:

Q&A With ITAM Expert Patricia Adams (Pt. 1 of 2)

Q&A With ITAM Expert Patricia Adams (Pt. 1 of 2)

Wed, 29 Mar 2017 15:58:56 Z

IT’s role in business is becoming increasingly important. To keep up with the demands of their users, IT teams are supporting more devices and applications than ever before. That’s led to a need to better track the use and performance of those devices in order to keep costs low and service quality high. In order to help companies execute this, Ivanti has created the IT Asset Management / Software Asset Management Attainment Model. It’s a roadmap for organizations to recognize where they’re at in the ITAM / SAM process and how Ivanti can help take them to the next level. The author of the attainment model is Ivanti ITAM Evangelist, and former Gartner analyst, Patricia Adams. Patricia is revealing more about the model and the finer points of IT Asset Management in this, the first installment of a two-part series on the attainment model.

Q: Why is having an ITAM SAM strategy so critical?

A: At a most fundamental level, businesses are comprised of assets. Those assets might be people, products, services, intellectual property, capital assets and of course, technology. No organization would think of letting their assets sit around without being fully utilized, and depreciate, but that is precisely what happens with technology. With new technology constantly being released and organizations looking to gain competitive advantage from it, they can’t let these assets remain unused and not get their money’s worth out of them. Even depreciating assets cost an organization money. In regions or states where there are property taxes, if the technology is still on their financial books, it is costing the organization money.

Q: How many organizations are aware of this?

A: In polling we conducted during a webinar on the ITAM/SAM Attainment model, 36% of attendees indicated that they did not have a comprehensive ITAM/SAM program in place. This can be a huge limiting factor. An effective ITAM/SAM strategy ensures that technology is being optimized, that is not idling in desk drawers, or sitting on a virtual machine instance in a hyperscale data center. As organizations move towards gaining competitive advantage by adopting new technology faster or responding to government regulations, it requires that they know where their data is and if it is secure.

Q: This model has five levels. Where do the majority of organizations fall within the model?

A: Typically, when you ask can organization to rank itself in the model, there may be different opinions based on the individual’s perspective or their roles. Some may be more optimistic of placement based on their vantage point, while others more pessimistic because they feel that progress is slow.? In my experience, there aren’t many mature ITAM/SAM implementations in the market. The majority of organizations tend to be in the lower levels. However, there are certainly situations where a company might be very mature in on facet or area because they outsource it or have spent a lot of due diligence refining that area. For an organization to successfully move from level to level, they will need to dedicate resources and not be persuaded to halt progress. The benefits become even more pronounced with each level.

Q: This model is mainly designed for larger organizations. Is there anything smaller companies can learn from the ITAM/SAM Attainment Model?

A: Absolutely, small organizations can benefit from understanding the direction and benefits at each of the levels. The model isn’t specifically for large orgs, though they tend to have more headcount to allocate toward an ITAM project. They may partially allocate employees from synergistic areas to assist with the program, so this keeps the headcount to asset ratio equalized. Smaller orgs may have resource constraints, however adopting a staged approach will ensure that they aren’t taking on more work than the team can handle. In a 4Q2016 survey conducted by Enterprise Management Associates, it was revealed that 49% of organizations have eight or more discovery sources. When you consider how foundationally accurate discovery is to an ITAM/SAM program, you want to make sure that you have tools that are “fit for purpose”. Trying to maintain and support the processes behind those can create a massive time warp. This leads to staff focusing on tactical problems around inventory accuracy rather than higher-level and more strategic issues that can help them provide value back to the organization. Smaller businesses can learn from the mistakes of larger companies and make themselves more efficient by not replicating those speed bumps. The attainment model can help them identify the areas that will have a strategic impact that they should go after.

Download Patricia’s IT Asset Management / Software Asset Management Attainment Model to discover where your organization ranks and how Ivanti can help you level up. Also, be sure to stay tuned for the second blog post in this series.

Posts in this series:

Q&A With ITAM Expert Patricia Adams (Pt. 2 of 2)

Build Confidence in Your IT Operation

Tue, 28 Mar 2017 23:38:32 Z

Confidence is a powerful feeling. It can be the difference maker, the fuel you need to perform at your best, the push to help you overcome your fears, and a key factor in your success in both your personal and professional lives.

A lot of entrepreneurs make good money helping people achieve confidence. Successful self-help authors in this arena can make hundreds-of-millions of dollars annually in book sales and lucrative speaking engagements.

But what about IT? How can IT teams start building success and creating confidence in their role as supporting the business?

Former Gartner analyst and current Ivanti IT Asset Management evangelist Patricia Adams suggests companies begin by examining the Ivanti IT Asset Management / Software Asset Management Attainment Model. The model has five levels in ascending order:

Level 0: Unmanaged
Level 1: Initial
Level 2: Managed
Level 3: Shared
Level 4: Optimized

The Managed level is what every ITAM/SAM program should strive to achieve in order for the business to have confidence in IT’s ability to fulfill its charter.

Reaching this level requires a significant amount of resources. C-level executives must be fully supportive and patient as lessons are learned, and in some cases, relearned. Investment will be needed in governance, policy, process design, staffing, tools, and metrics. Benefits can be achieved without tools, but an ITAM/SAM tool is needed to fully automate many of the manual activities.

At this stage, the first step is to address governance. Without strong governance, moving up a level in the attainment model will be nearly impossible. IT demand governance (ITDG—what IT should work on) is the process by which organizations ensure the effective evaluation, selection, prioritization, and funding of competing IT investments; oversee their implementation; and extract (measurable) business benefits. ITDG is a business investment decision-making and oversight process, and it is a business management responsibility. IT supply-side governance (ITSG— how IT should do what it does) is concerned with ensuring that the IT organization operates in an effective, efficient, and compliant fashion, and it is primarily a CIO responsibility.”

As long as there is an IT infrastructure supporting the business, there is a definitive need for ITAM/ SAM.

The next step in a successful program is ensuring there are qualified people to staff it. You might have to look internally to find and train an ITAM/SAM workforce.

At this level, policies must be in place. However, policies are typically just targeted at the behavior of end users—such as informing them about acceptable corporate practices when it comes to hardware device physical security, software downloads, evaluation copies of software, and other areas. These policies must be applicable to both IT and end users, because IT staff with admin rights need to be informed that they might be creating a risk in the same way end users could.

When designing ITAM/SAM processes, the most effective strategy is to look at existing processes to determine if any exist that can be standardized across the organization. These existing processes can be evaluated by their position within the asset lifecycle:

Requisitioning
Receiving
Deployment
Maintenance
Retirement/Disposal

An effective ITAM/SAM program depends heavily upon processes. A program’s success is 80% based on process design, efficiency, and adherence. If employees don’t adhere to the process, it will be difficult to maintain visibility and data accuracy.

Metrics are essential to every ITAM/SAM program in order to track performance and discover opportunities for improvement. Ivanti suggests users beginning their ITAM/SAM program focus on inventory, time, and cost-specific metrics. This will expose the locations of inefficiencies.

At this level, having the correct tools to automate manual processes and integration to other applications will lead to a comprehensive program. Foundationally, there must be a reliable tool that can discover and run an inventory of every asset attached to the corporate network and could potentially include those assets that are cloud based.

In addition to discovery tools, having an ITAM/SAM database that acts as an information hub for financial and contractual data is a key part of enabling automation. The ITAM/SAM database is often integrated with the procurement system first, so purchase order data can be auto-populated into the asset records. Integrations into key suppliers, like software re-sellers, is also important in order to know what assets have been received.

When the data from these three sources are brought together, a company can quickly understand where their deployed and authorized information differs. Alignment with service management can provide visibility into how a vendor is performing against the incident and into problem tickets that are opened and closed.

At this level, costs and risks are visible because they can be forecasted annually. In addition, timeframes are modest and service quality is increasing. The business has confidence in IT and end users feel as if they have the support resources necessary to be effective.

So what level is your organization at? Click below to access Ivanti’s ITAM/SAM Attainment Model to find out.