WHAT IS ENSEMBLE?

Ensemble is an inexpensive, easy to use Software Audit, IT Asset Discovery and Software Asset Management (SAM) solution, suitable for organisations of all sizes. It is easy to set up and quickly collects and reports software and hardware data, making it available online for you and your colleagues to view.

Whether your aim is to get through a Software Audit, reduce the risk of being fined due to improper license use or to achieve the goals of SAM, Ensemble can save you time and money.

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What are the benefits of using Ensemble?

	Quick and accurate discovery of the software you use. Being able to report on - and match licenses against - the software you have installed is vital when preparing for a Software Audit.
	Save costs by removing or reallocating software where it's not needed or never even used. Ensemble’s software usage monitoring and reconciliation reports help you reduce IT expenditure.
	Reduce exposure to fines and legal action whilst consolidating your license documents into one secure, easy accessible system. Automatic identification and reconciliation between installed software and licenses held.
	Improve security by tracking and reporting on patch/hotfix deployment throughout your network.
	Save costs and improve efficiency by identifying the use of unauthorised software.
	Enable the optimisation of purchase, deployment, maintenance, utilisation and disposal of the software and hardware assets within your organisation.
	Gain visibility of where your costly IT hardware is and how it is being used. Track the use of the hardware you own (including off-site laptops) and make more informed decisions to reallocate and replace in a more cost effective manner.

How do we work with our customers to achieve these benefits?

Step 1 - Initial Software/Hardware Audit and review.

Ensemble is easy to set up and run so the initial Software Audit/asset discovery phase can be carried out by yourself without the need for help from us or a third party.

Following the initial audit we may offer a free-of-charge review of your license position to determine if you can make further cost savings by implementing Ensemble as a Software Asset Management tool. This may or may not be the case and we will present all potential cost savings to you for you to consider.

Step 2 - Introduce SAM if the cost benefits are clear.

Software Asset Management (SAM) is a business practice that involves the process of managing and optimising the purchase, deployment, maintenance, utilisation and disposal of software applications within an organisation.

There are many ways in which you can save money by investing in a SAM tool such as Ensemble and we have partnered with the South West's only Microsoft SAM Gold Partner - Compass Software Asset Management - whose Software Services Team work with our customers to identify the most cost effective way to purchase and manage their software licences.

If you can see the cost saving benefits in implementing it we will configure Ensemble to run as a SAM solution and give you direct access to Compass SAM's specialist SAM Services Team.

Ensemble product features.

	Quick and easy to set up and use. Our Software Audit tool only has to be installed on one machine in order to audit all PCs on your network! Your data will be held securely within the Ensemble website, which is provided as a hosted solution. By not having to dedicate a machine to running a Software Audit and SAM tool you can keep your running costs low. The simple to use Ensemble website makes it easy to get at the data you want from wherever you may be.
	Makes it easy to share the data collected and provide access to reports throughout your organisation. All data you within Ensemble can be exported in Excel format - so you are not restricted to the many reports already provided. It's your data - you can use it as you like. Ensemble allows you to administer user access to the system within your organisation and can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. The website works on mobile phone browsers and tablet computers as well.
	Won't slow down PCs. Our Software Audit tool only needs installing on one machine and from there it can audit your entire network - eliminating the need to deploy and run software on every machine. The Ensemble SAM tool is a lightweight 'agent' solution that collects even more detailed software and hardware usage data with negligible impact on machine performance. It runs on all PCs that you want to audit, including off-site laptops. The Ensemble website is provided as a hosted solution so there is no need for you to allocate a dedicate machine to view your data - keeping your support and running costs low.
	Low cost and flexible - run as a one off 'Snapshot Scan' or as an ongoing SAM solution. The data held in the Ensemble website can either be gathered by the Ensemble Software Audit tool or SAM tool depending on your requirements. The level of detail you wish to capture is fully customisable, should you have specific software or hardware reporting needs in order to support an IT or Finance based project for example. The low cost 'per machine' pricing and Software Audit/SAM deployment choice means that you only pay for the features you need.
	Accurate, immediate auditing with simple to access reports in exportable Excel format. Data can be collected and made available for reporting within minutes. All lists and reports within the Ensemble web site are filterable and can be exported in Excel format so you can share your data and use it as you like. The techniques we use to capture software and hardware information has grown from years of experience in carrying out Software Audits and licence reconciliations.
	Up to date data within Ensemble on which software requires a licence and which does not - making the reconciliation process even simpler. Your Software Audit data is matched against our master software reference list so there is no need for you to try and find out if a piece of software requires a license or not - it will be automatically classified by Ensemble.
	Software usage and hardware tracking data (including off-site laptops). The Ensemble SAM tool collects actual software usage data - so you can see who is not using software that you have paid for - allowing for cost saving through reallocation or removal. The Ensemble SAM tool can installed on remote laptops that do not join the corporate network - providing additional information on when they last audited and who last logged onto them - ideal if you are trying to keep track of expensive hardware. The count of software installed against the number of licences held can be compared to the usage count of the software - enabling proper management of your costly software licences through accurate reallocation and removal of unused software.
	Access to the SAM services of Compass SAM, the South West's only Microsoft SAM Gold Partner. If you can see the benefits of moving to a full SAM service following a Software Audit we have partnered with a Microsoft SAM Gold Partner - Compass SAM. Compass SAM can provide services to help you in the reconciliation of installed count versus licences held and will liaise with your software vendors over the most cost effective way for you to purchase licenses in order to drive down your purchasing costs. Compass SAM are authorised resellers for the major software vendors and can arrange to help balance your compliance position should you discover a short fall in your licenses.

Next steps...

Ensemble has helped numerous organisations survive Software Audits, achieve the goals of Software Asset Management and reduce the risk of being fined due to improper license use. It is used by select Microsoft Gold Partners as their audit and asset management tool of choice.

Ensemble is easy to use and we are happy to discuss how it can help you survive a Software Audit or implement SAM. If you have any queries, want a demonstration or a chat about how Ensemble works then please don't hesitate to get in touch using the details below.

There is also more information to be found here about how to survive a Software Audit and an explanation of the benefits of Software Asset Management (SAM).