Inventory and License Management in Active Directory

[Gaprofitt]

Hi All,

Does anyone know of a good affordable Active Directory Add-on that is good

for inventory and license mamangement. Preferably we would like something

that has some automatic and cost calculation of licenses per employee. We checked

out specops but it was very expensive.

Thanks,

Greg

[fizban2]

i don't think you will find anything the is inexpensive, when you talk about licenses the app has to be able to read AD as well as scan every client computer to check to see what software and what version they have installed is. that isn't going to come cheap

[mojoxp]

Microsoft SMS does a good job, but you're not going to like the pricing.

[cluberti]

Scriptlogic's Desktop Authority product does this as well, but again, is somewhat expensive per seat in a smaller organization. It does have other scripting and configuration benefits that most admins find to be a great time (and thus cost) saver, but it's still expensive.

[fizban2]

Scriptlogic's Desktop Authority product does this as well, but again, is somewhat expensive per seat in a smaller organization. It does have other scripting and configuration benefits that most admins find to be a great time (and thus cost) saver, but it's still expensive.

didn't MS just buy that? i heard parts of it will end up in gpmc soon may want to wait on buying it

[cluberti]

I have not been able to verify that has happened as of yet, or if it ever will (you'd think I'd know these things??? - didn't know about the sysinternals thing until the morning it happened, so...). If it ever did happen, I'd bet soon would be Longhorn server at the earliest.

Edited October 11, 2006 by cluberti

[fizban2]

geez come on. start poking around that gaint campus

[valter]

Microsoft SMS does a good job, but you're not going to like the pricing.

or you can just register as MS partner and receive welcome kit with bunch of software and licenses for as low as 300 US$ ... just buy extra CALs

[fizban2]

Microsoft SMS does a good job, but you're not going to like the pricing.

or you can just register as MS partner and receive welcome kit with bunch of software and licenses for as low as 300 US$ ... just buy extra CALs

Action pack is only suppose to be used for demo and test not live production

[CoffeeFiend]

If you can't afford the nice stuff, instead of going with nothing (or doing it all manually), you can always try to script a little something that connects to PCs (or runs as part of logon script or such) and that enumerates soft installed (or even looks for key files of apps you want to check for), then you can do some little reports from that data (in access or excel), based on the known prices of most software.

Yes, it's a bit of work, and likely not exactly what you want, but it might be better than nothing, and requires very little effort/time do do.

[valter]

Microsoft SMS does a good job, but you're not going to like the pricing.

or you can just register as MS partner and receive welcome kit with bunch of software and licenses for as low as 300 US$ ... just buy extra CALs

Action pack is only suppose to be used for demo and test not live production

Nope, as it says in the license agreement, it's intended for internal business use, that means that you can use it for your own business use as much as you want, the way you want it as long as it's installed on computers that belongs to your business

The Action Pack subscription includes a Welcome Kit and four quarterly updates. You get new Microsoft software for your business use, access to special partner training materials, and sales and marketing tools to grow your business.

Source: https://partner.microsoft.com/US/40016455?PS=3

Not-for-Distribution Software

Your Action Pack Subscription entitles you to core software for internal business use.Including application development, and testing.

Source: https://partner.microsoft.com/US/program/ma...ck/40013779#not

Edited October 12, 2006 by klasika

[CoffeeFiend]

The action pack is 350$/year. And it's not so open as you tend to say it is:

The software included with the subscription can be used for internal business use, testing, evaluation, demonstration, training, and educational purposes only. For example, you can use the Action Pack software to host your company's intranet but it cannot be used to host a commercial website. This is considered a production environment that is outside the scope of the software's intended purpose.

It might work for his purposes, but it's hardly the same as a "normal" license either (no production environment). And low CALs indeed...

Regardless, AFAIK the Action Pack does NOT include SMS.

[valter]

The action pack is 350$/year. And it's not so open as you tend to say it is:

The software included with the subscription can be used for internal business use, testing, evaluation, demonstration, training, and educational purposes only. For example, you can use the Action Pack software to host your company's intranet but it cannot be used to host a commercial website. This is considered a production environment that is outside the scope of the software's intended purpose.

It might work for his purposes, but it's hardly the same as a "normal" license either (no production environment). And low CALs indeed...

Regardless, AFAIK the Action Pack does NOT include SMS.

Now you're pulling something out of context, it is considered a production environment that's outside the scope of the software's intended purpose, not just production environment. I've talked to MS about this, and it means that you can't use Windows Server 2003 to sell hosting packages but of course you can host your own web site as long as you don't make any profit through the website itself (i.e. selling products). Not to go any deeper into discussion, you're most welcome to contact MS regarding this issue. Here is the number I've used +45 80886347

Edited October 12, 2006 by klasika

[CoffeeFiend]

Wow. I wish they made things clearer. That was FAR from being obvious. Thanks for the info.

[valter]

Wow. I wish they made things clearer. That was FAR from being obvious. Thanks for the info.

np m8

EDIT: Here is a bit more clear, same page, just scroll all the way down ...

How does Microsoft Action Pack software licensing work?

The Microsoft Action Pack Subscription License Agreement gives you the right to use the Action Pack software to run your own business as well as for evaluation, demonstration, testing, and education.

Edited October 12, 2006 by klasika