USER GUIDE TO MICROSOFT SOFTWARE SELF-SERVICE ASSESSMENT TOOL (SASS)

PAGE TITLE Dear Client, Welcome to Software Assessment for Small and Medium Businesses. We have created this service to help clients like you to assess your current Microsoft software usage and license position and to help you to maximise the potential of your software investment. To make the process of completing the assessment as straightforward as possible, we have developed a new tool to help you called the Microsoft Software Assessment Self-Service (SASS) Tool.

The SASS tool gives you full control over how you complete your Software Assessment and has been designed to as be as nonintrusive and flexible as possible to ensure there is minimal impact on your business and the staff involved. To start your assessment simply log in to the Microsoft SASS Tool at the link provided using your unique reference code.

Katy Hamilton SMB SAM Manager, Microsoft UK

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SOFTWARE ASSESSMENT SELF-SERVICE TOOL Introduction Welcome to the Software Assessment Self-Serve (SASS) tool. This service has been designed to help organisations complete an assessment of their IT estate to provide valuable insights and useful information for the business such as:  Exactly what you have installed and where and by whom (if an

inventory tool is used to collect installation data)

 Any potential security, business critical or legal risks you may

be exposed to  Gaps in licensing and any over licensing in areas  A baseline view from which to conduct future planning or road -mapping The tool should be simple and straightforward to use and has been designed to be as flexible as possible allowing you to complete the assessment process manually (answering all the questions individually) or by using an automated inventory tool. In this guide, we provide a step by step overview of how to navigate through the tool and complete the assessment. In addition to this guide, there are full FAQs featured on the tool website and contact information should you require further assistance.

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HOW DOES IT WORK Five simple steps The tool is hosted online and is set-up to guide you through the five key stages of completing the assessment. These stages are as follows: Registration—the first step is to register your details in the tool and answer a few basic profile questions about your organisation. Inventory—when registration is complete, you are ready to start the inventory stage. There are two ways to complete your inventory, manually, by going through each question and entering the information yourself, or by uploading an automated inventory from one of the suggested providers. For the best result and richest information we recommend using an automated discovery tool . More information is available in this guide. Review and submit—once the inventory has been completed, you have the opportunity to review it. Once you are happy that all questions are answered and the information that should be included is, you can submit it. Reconciliation—upon submission, the information you have provided is reconciled against the information that we hold on file. This enables us to create the final report. Report—upon receipt of your report, there may be areas that need further clarification or action. The next steps could be either working directly with Microsoft, or a Microsoft recommended Partner, to address any areas of concern or opportunity.

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GETTING STARTED Familiarise yourself with the website If you have a received a reference code either in an invitation from Microsoft, or by requesting one, then you are ready to start. If you haven’t got a reference code you will need to request one by emailing [email protected]. To access the site go to sass.smbsam.co.uk. It is helpful to familiarise yourself with the website in the first instance by navigating through the tabs at the top How it works—a simple slideshow to get you started. This is a walkthrough of the process and stages involved. There is also a button to download a copy of this guide. FAQ section contains ‘Frequently asked questions’ and covers most of the questions that you may have regarding the tool and the process. There is also a glossary of terms used in the tool. Questions and answers are constantly updated but if your question isn’t included there is the option to contact us using the inbuilt messaging service or email address provided. There is an additional page on FAQs within this guide in the appendix. About SAM section explains more about Software Asset Management for Small to Medium Businesses (SMBs) in an easy to understand language. There is a link to the Microsoft SMB SAM website which provides further information. Getting Inventory section explains the options available to gather your inventory information. You can choose whether you complete the online questionnaire or use an automated inventory tool.

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REGISTER Step 1 — Register To register you need to have your reference code ready. It can be found on the invitation letter you have received from either Microsoft or your IT partner or sent to you in response to a request to access the tool. If you haven’t got a reference code you will need to request one by emailing [email protected]. Once you have launched the tool and are on the Home page, you will see two options to log in—register as a new user or log in as an existing user if you have previously registered. First time users should type the reference code into the New Users section and press “Register Now”. This takes you to the registration form where you can enter your contact details and select a personal password. Make sure you use a strong password that you can remember. Accept the terms and conditions and press “Register Now” to continue. You will receive an email to your registered email account with your selected password. You will need the password for logging into the system later on.

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LOG IN Step 2 — Log back in Once you have registered and received a confirmation email from us you’re ready to log in and start using the tool. On the home page locate the “Existing Users” box and enter your email address and password. LOGGING IN Use the ‘Existing User’ email and password fields to log back in. RECOVER A LOST PASSWORD You can change your password later, or if you can’t remember it, simply ask a new one to be emailed to your registered email address.

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LOG IN Your personal homepage After logging in you will see your new SASS tool home page.

It gives you a visual workflow with five rectangular boxes. You will only be presented with a new option when you have completed the previous section. You can always go back and review or change the highlighted sections. The blue arrows track and display your progress as you go along and complete the various sections. ASSESSMENT STATUS You can see your assessment status at the top of the screen. The status steps are:     

Registered In Progress Submitted Approved Closed

SCREEN TIPS Moving your mouse over a (?) symbol opens up a pop-up window giving your additional help with that particular option.

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USER PROFILE Fill in your own details Your “User Profile” link is visible at the top right of every screen within the tool once you are logged in. CHANGING PASSWORD Your password can be changed at any time by visiting the “User Profile” link at the top right hand side of the screen and selecting the “Change Password” link. The SASS Tool requires a strong password to protect your information. Your password:    

Must contain minimum 6 characters Must contain 1 uppercase character Must contain 1 lowercase character Must contain 1 special character (e.g. £,$,&,*,^,=)

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PROFILE INFORMATION Step 3 — Complete your organisation profile The final step in the initial process is to complete your profile information which are a series of short questions about your organisation. The questions are grouped together under four headings; General; Profile; Devices Used and Standard Operating Environment. Expand each section by clicking on the grey bar. Complete all that apply and for those questions that require a number (count) to be entered, don’t worry too much about getting the number exactly right at this stage as it can be amended later on. The “General” section is for information only. The other three sections are covered on the next pages of this guide. For each section, click ‘Save & Proceed’ to move to the next section

Look out for the “Hints and Tips” symbol. The text on yellow background gives you additional information and helps you with each question.

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PROFILE People, PC’s and infrastructure The next three sections cover general information about your organisation and IT estate, including     

Total number of staff Total number of computers How do you collect inventory information How many sites your organisation has How many different devices you have

As you move from one section to another you’ll see little green icons appearing in the completed sections. If you have not answered all the mandatory questions you’ll see a similar red icon later.

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PROFILE Devices used Next you need to enter numbers of different devices used in your organisation. Hints and Tips will give you more information. Don’t worry if you don’t know the exact numbers of each type of device, a close approximation will do just fine.

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PROFILE Standard build and SOE SOE stands for standardised desktop or operating environments. This means that any new PCs are installed with a unified (standard) software image, containing the same operating system and applications regardless of the individual user. If you are using standard build, please indicate which products are used in these environments. E.g. Microsoft Product in SOE

Version

Windows OS Office Professional Visio Professional

8.1 2013 2013

As you move from one section to another you’ll see little green icons appearing in the completed sections. If you have not answered all the mandatory questions you’ll see a similar red icon later.

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WHAT SOFTWARE DO WE HAVE?

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GETTING INVENTORY Select how I get an inventory of my PCs The first practical decision you have to make is how are you going to collect all the data concerning all your installed software. As we discussed earlier, you have three main options: 1. Using data from your existing inventory tool 2. Installing a temporary (free) tool or 3. Collecting and typing in the data manually Feel free to use any of the methods above. We will explore the benefits and requirements of all three options on the following pages. More information about installing and running a temporary inventory tool is in the appendix starting on page 35. If you are completing the inventory manually you can skip directly to page 19.

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STARTING THE INVENTORY PROCESS Consider these first Accuracy — Inventory tools vary in terms of accuracy. One of the key errors that reduces accuracy is not ensuring that all devices have been identified and scanned. Remembering to check that all devices are switched on and are being picked up is essential to get a comprehensive view. A simple check of the report throughout the scanning period can indicate if there is anything missing. Retail Licensing — The SASS tool only has access to licenses that have been acquired via Volume Licensing. Any retail licenses will have to be registered and reconciled manually at the last stage of the process Further information about how to do this is located in the review section later in the guide on page 34. External users — If you have users who aren’t always on the network, you may wish to use a tool that also allows you to send a manual scan. This is usually done by sending a link or USB for the user to download the tool agent. Getting help — Depending on the Inventory tool vendor you use will determine the help and assistance available to you. Use the resources available from each vendor if you have any problems with a tool. If you have an IT Partner, you can ask them to help you complete the process as they will be able deploy and run the tool for you* *Please note that services and tools provided by third parties are the responsibility of those parties and as a customer of any such party, you (and not Microsoft) are responsible for the cost of those services and tools used.

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AUTOMATED INVENTORY TOOLS Automated inventory tool providers

Inventory tool report

If you already use a tool that can create an inventory report, then great! As long as the report contains a single tab worksheet and contains the required fields (described later in this guide), the SASS tool is capable of recognising the data contained in it.

We have commissioned a report looking at a dozen popular tools with a special focus on how well they serve small and medium sized businesses, who often have little or no IT support in-house. The table below shows key findings and also links to each of the vendors’ websites. You can also find a full report at the download link.

Specialist tools that provide inventory reports from other vendors include:          

Applixure Aspera Belarc ExpressMetrix Flexera HP IBM Lansweeper Snow Software SpiceWorks

Integrated inventory tool link with Applixure

There are also Inventory and Management tools from Microsoft:    

We have partnered with one of our SAM Partners Themis Consulting and Applixure, who will provide a free trial account of their tool to help you get started and complete the assessment.

System Centre Configuration Manager (SCCM) Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) Intune The Microsoft Cloud Inventory Tool

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The Applixure service has been tightly integrated with SASS tool and once installed provides seamless one-button inventory reporting. There is also enhanced cyber security assessment, a simple guide to the installation, getting inventory and reporting it back to this service. 16

CREATING INVENTORY REPORT Scan your network and run a report from your inventory tool As this assessment only covers Microsoft products you can run an inventory report with a filter for “Manufacturer” or “Publisher” with a search option Manufacturer =“Microsoft*”. This will generate a list all the software products published by Microsoft. Once you have your inventory report, it should have the following information captured:  Software/product name  Software/product edition and version  Number of software installations  Workstations where the software is installed If the report looks right and is roughly what you would expect to see, you are ready to upload it into the SASS tool to continue the process. Your report will need to be saved as an Excel file (.xls or .xlsx) to enable upload. Unless you selected to scan for only certain manufacturers (i.e. Microsoft) your inventory report will have scanned and picked up all software from multiple vendors. This is absolutely fine as when the report is uploaded into the SASS tool it filters out non Microsoft software*

Once you have logged in SASS you can find an inventory template at sass.smbsam.co.uk/GettingInventory.aspx with instructions for what information should be in the inventory report.

*The SASS tool is only able to reconcile licenses from Microsoft at this stage.

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UPLOADING INVENTORY Upload inventory file To upload your report, log into the SASS tool and follow these steps:  From the Home page select ‘upload inventory’ from the

main buttons on the screen

 From the upload inventory screen click ‘Browse’ to launch a

windows explore window for you to search for the right file. Select the inventory file (saved as an Excel file) by double clicking it.

 The file name should now appear next to the browse

button, if you are happy its the correct file click the ‘Upload’ button to start the upload.

 Once upload is complete you will get a confirmation email

and in-tool message to say the file was uploaded successfully.

If you get an error message, check that the file format is Excel and that the data is in a single worksheet and not multiple worksheets. If you think that the file is ok and are still having issues you can send it via the inbuilt messaging system for manual upload. Instructions on how to do this are on page 41.

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MANUAL QUESTIONNAIRE Completing the inventory manually If you do not want to choose the automated route to complete the inventory, you can complete it manually. Advantages  Because the questions are answered manually, there is no

IT knowledge required to deploy an inventory tool.

Disadvantages  The inventory process will take more time to complete and

require resources.

 Only software that you know about will be included – you

won’t have a view of anything you didn’t know was installed for example anything downloaded or installed by employees or out of IT policy.

 You probably don’t catch security risks, such as running

several different versions of internet browsers or out of support software.

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FILLING IN THE FORMS General advice The Inventory questionnaire is split into seven sections. Within each section is a series of questions. Completing the inventory manually involves going into each section of the inventory questionnaire and answering each question. The questions have been worded in as simple language as possible and throughout each section there are ‘hints and tips’ buttons that will provide more information to help you answer the questions. As with the profile that you completed at the start of the process, you can expand and collapse each section to reveal and close the questions. You can complete as much or as little as you like as the SASS tool will save your answers as you go through (as long as you don’t navigate away from the page or use the browser “back” button before saving). This allows you to be flexible with your time in competing the inventory and gives you the opportunity to pause if you need to find out answers to questions and return when you are ready. Icons on each section indicate your progress so you can see at a glance how you are doing.

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FILLING IN THE FORMS Desktop information We have designed easy-to-use forms for you to fill in details of your PC’s and the Microsoft software you have installed. You can fill them all in one go or stop and return if you don’t have all the information at hand. For the desktops there are separate questions covering these areas:       

Desktop operating systems (Windows) Desktop applications—Microsoft Office Desktop applications—Microsoft Visio Desktop applications—Microsoft Project Developer tools Terminal services and Other applications

As before, just click on the grey bar to open up detailed questions. Remember to save your answers. You can stop at any time and return when you have more time or have found more answers.

The green icons will track your progress. Once you have answered all the desktop questions click “Save & Proceed” to move to the next section.

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DESKTOPS Desktop Operating Systems Start with the operating systems used at your organisation. The first tab lists all Microsoft operating systems all the way back to Windows 2000. They include (in various versions)       

Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 8 Windows 7 Windows Vista Windows XP Windows 2000

There are also a couple of compulsory questions on virtualisation of your desktops. Just answer “yes” or “no” depending on your environment. Once you have completed all the questions click “Save & Proceed” to move to the next section.

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DESKTOPS Desktop applications For the desktops there are separate questions about the following areas:       

Desktop operating systems (Windows) Desktop applications—Microsoft Office Desktop applications—Microsoft Visio Desktop applications—Microsoft Project Developer tools Terminal services and Other applications

As before, just click on the grey bar to open up detailed questions. Remember to save your answers. You can stop at any time and return when you have more time or have found more answers. The green icons will track your progress. Once you have answered all the desktop questions click “Save & Proceed” to move to the next section.

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SERVERS Server data This section on server operating systems includes questions that relate to the information you completed in the profile section at the start of the process. You may or may not have the products that are mentioned in this section. If you do not have products that are featured then simply click “No” and continue. Server products include       

Server Operating Systems Storage / Datacentres Servers Exchange Server SharePoint Server System Center Server Dynamics CRM / NAV Other servers

Make sure you browse through all the various tabs and check whether or not you have any them installed in your organisation. Once you have completed all the questions click “Save & Proceed” to move to the next section.

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SQL SERVERS Your SQL Server data In this section you are answering questions relating to any SQL Servers that you may have running. The questions start by asking about the number of SQL Servers that you have and then move on to the individual servers and the information relevant to each one such as:      

Server IP address Server name Version installed Edition installed Number of physical processors Usage information

We will also need some usage information and application information in Step 3 to be able to determine the correct SQL licensing scenarios (per processor, core or seat licensing). Lastly we ask you to answer a few questions about virtual SQL servers and virtual farm SQL hosting. These are rather technical questions and you might want to consult your SQL specialist to get correct answers. Remember to save your answers. Automated inventory and SAM tools give often answers to these automatically. NOTE Additional information about SQL Server Audits via the link.

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LICENSING AND SECURITY Additional questions This section deals with data security and additional information on your licences. Please answer them as comprehensively as you can to get the most benefits of this assessment. The answers to this section are displayed alongside your license information in the reporting dashboard giving you good insight into your whole IT estate and processes. Data Security and Cloud Readiness The first three sections contain questions about technical data security, your processes and your readiness to move to cloud computing. Click on the (+) sign to expand each section and answer the questions. License Agreements and Proof of Licence Here you can enter additional information about your Microsoft products, including all Agreement numbers and SubscriptionIDs that you have for all your Microsoft Volume License and Office365 purchases. You can also supply a list of Product Installation keys for any OEM or Full Package Product ("FPP") software to you have. Entering this will help you save time later in case not all your software purchases are correctly registered at Microsoft.

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REVIEW AND SUBMIT Review your answers and then submit the assessment to Microsoft When all the sections of the inventory have been completed, you can review each section to ensure you are happy with all the information included. Even if you have completed an automated inventory, you can go and amend any of your answers should you wish. Once satisfied that all the information is correct you can submit the inventory by clicking the submit button at the bottom of the “Summary” page. You will get an ‘inventory submission successful’ message on the screen soon after pressing the “Submit” button. Once it has processed you will also receive a confirmation email and your status on the SASS tool status will change to “Submitted”. There will also be a message in your in-tool mailbox. The inventory part of the assessment is now complete and cannot be changed unless the you’re asked to clarify some answers or provide more information on licenses you might have but are not registered properly. More information how to do this can be found on page 36 — “Register Licenses”.

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PRELIMINARY REPORT Receiving your SASS preliminary report Following submitting your will receive a SASS report, within a day and often within a few minutes. We recommend reviewing it in the first instance to assess whether there is information missing that needs to be added. For example. The SASS tool reconciles against Volume License data at Microsoft. It could be that some of the software that you own is not from a Volume License Agreement. Retail software, for example, is not picked up in the initial reconciliation. Further information regarding any software licenses not on Volume Licenses may be required to ensure the SASS tool is updated and we can produce your final report for review. We may ask for additional information via the in-tool messaging system. Once all additional information has been gathered and the SASS tool amended the final report can be produced and you are ready to review the results.

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WELCOME TO YOUR NEW DASHBOARD At-a-glance view of your IT estate Well-done for your hard work in getting all the data in the SASS service! We have combined your submitted answers with license registration data at Microsoft and can now show you the combined results.

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Your first stop is the SASS licence dashboard. You can find it at your main menu, select option 4. Report. It takes you to your new dashboard where you get an easy-to-understand overview of all your licences, how they match with your registered software and a host of other information as explained on the next page. What to do next? Understand the bigger picture—spend some time browsing and understanding the information provided. Hover over the graphs and check the yellow tooltips. Check that you’ve included everything—if the overall compliance is low that may be an indication that you have not registered all the software that is installed on your computers. This is quite common with retail software that you buy online or with your new computers. You can use the messaging section to talk to a SASS administrator on how to find and register these missing licences.. Get more information by viewing the whole report at “View Report”. You can also export the dashboard to a PDF file for your records.

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DATA EXPLAINED Dashboard data and tooltips The dashboard has many interactive functions. The little yellow “tooltip” icon with a question mark on the top right corner of each data box will give you more information about that particular topic. The tooltips will help you understand more about the collected data.

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Hovering over the donut and bar graphs gives you information on the number of installations and machines found in your inventory. The Not Supported section shows old versions of software and operating systems that are no longer supported—you should consider updating these to current versions as they might no longer be compatible with your other systems and also pose a serious data security risk. Data Security This section gives you a lot of essential information for all your PCs. If you use the Applixure inventory tool you will automatically get a full technical assessment for the Security Risks section.

Security Readiness shows your answers to questions related to processes and the way your company manages it’s IT estate. You may have opted to fill in the CyberSecurity section that gives you an indication of your readiness to get the UK Government’s CyberEssential approval.

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FINAL REPORT Final review of your reports  Is what’s installed licensed correctly?

Once you’ve clicked on the “VIEW REPORT” option on the dashboard, you should analyse what information is contained and whether there are any areas requiring further action.

 Are you short on any licenses?  Are you using the correct versions?  Are you at risk of IP infringement?

To gain the maximum benefit from the process, you can use your automated inventory report (if you have one) and the final report from the SASS tool together to have a comprehensive review of your current IT estate and plan next steps. Points to consider should include:

The Microsoft SMB & Software Asset Management team are available to discuss any of your findings and help with any next steps from advising about upgrades, licensing queries to addressing any risk concerns.

 What software is installed and where?  Is software installed that you didn’t know about?  Have employees installed software or applications outside of

IT policy?

 Are employees accessing your networks from their own

devices?

 Are you using all the software you own?  Are you paying for software you aren’t using?  Are employees benefiting from the software you have?  Do different employees have different software requirements  Is what’s installed up-to-date  Have you any software that’s end of life or in need of

We will contact you at the end of the process and work out next steps. If you have an IT Partner you may want to discuss your findings with them. If you don’t have a strategic relationship with an IT Partner then we can help you find one.

upgrade?  Do you have business critical apps relying on software that will soon be obsolete?

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FINAL FULL ASSESSMENT REPORT

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WHAT HAPPENS THEN Feedback and potential actions Once the assessment is completed you will also receive practical advice from Microsoft concerning your current estate and licensing position, including:  what software you have installed and where  a license GAP analysis highlighting over or under use  a baseline for any planned or future IT or software projects

including Windows 10 and cloud migration

 identification any potential security, business critical or

legal risks you might be exposed to, and

 invaluable one to one advice on how to ensure you

maximise the potential of your software investment.

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CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE Job done! On successful completion of this Software Asset Management Assessment you will receive an official Certificate of Compliance from Microsoft. Keep it in a folder or frame a printed copy on your wall to remind you about our mutual goals:

Control. Optimize. Grow. We want your business to grow and thrive, and make sure you have the best tools to help you achieve that goal. As your license data is all up-to-date now, we won’t ask for any further license review questions for a full year—giving you even more time to get on with growing your business.

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APPENDIXES

Here are some additional tools and services to help you carry out your assessment successfully.   

  

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Registering retail and OEM licenses Installing an inventory tool Help with the assessment In-tool Messaging Service Frequently Asked Questions Glossary of Terms

REGISTER LICENSES Two different registrations

How to register missing licenses

Activation when installing software This activation process aims to ensure your licenses are legitimate and are entitled to receive regular updates. They do not contribute to a license ownership registry.

You can use the in-tool messaging service to send us documents containing information and Proof of Ownership to register the missing licenses with Microsoft. These can be a combination of    

Registration of license ownership Volume license purchases — Volume Licensing purchases are directly attributed to the end user and are be centrally recorded in the Microsoft Volume License system.

See page 41 for details on how to use this service. Remember that you can always use the same messaging service to ask us any questions related to your assessment.

Retail purchases — Licenses for Fully Packaged Products (FPP) and software that comes bundled with new PCs (OEM) are not centrally managed due to way they are sold.

Volume License (VL) purchases — are tracked automatically when you make a purchase. Make sure you use the same company or organisation name every time as multiple VL purchases might not be recorded to the same Microsoft account number.

While this is not an issue for private persons or very small companies it is important for SMBs to register them with Microsoft to get a full picture of your legal ownership of the products you are using.

Retail purchases — FPP and OEM purchases are not tracked centrally and all such licenses should be registered by sending us the proof of ownership as described above.

What constitutes a legal Proof of Ownership?

You should keep all these in a safe place:  Software License Terms (also known as the End User License Agreement or EULA)  Certificate of Authenticity (COA) - usually a sticker with hologram either on your PC, CD sleeve or a separate document  Original media and manuals (if applicable)  Purchase invoice and/or receipt  Volume License Confirmations sent to you by your reseller and sourced from Microsoft Copyright ©2016 Microsoft

Volume license of subscription contract number Copies of purchase invoices and receipts Scans of Certificate of Ownerships Photographs of COA stickers on your PCs.

Subscription services — You can declare this in the desktop part of the questionnaire. If they are missing from the report just send us your subscription details.

The End User License Terms for Microsoft software require all customers to retain proof of ownership.

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WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE AN INVENTORY TOOL? Free trial of an automated inventory tool If you don’t have an automated inventory tool we strongly recommend getting one. Getting Inventory page tells you more about the benefits and lists a number of popular vendors. All the mentioned tools will give you up-to-date information about all your PC’s and create an inventory report suitable to use with this SASS service. Many of the vendors offer free trial accounts for your convenience. We have partnered with one of our SAM Partners, Themis Consulting, and a tool vendor called Applixure. They can help you install a trial account of their tool and provide optional support to help you get started.

Tight integration with the SASS tool The Applixure service has been tightly integrated with the SASS tool and once installed provides seamless one-button inventory reporting. There is also a simple guide to the installation, getting inventory and reporting it back to this service.

Clicking the ”Tool Trial” button will take you to the partner page with further instructions, terms and conditions.

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TOOL INSTALLATION Install inventory tool If you choose to install the inventory tool we will provide you with step-by-step instructions and a downloadable detailed leaflet. Partner site The link from SASS tool takes you to our partner’s website on a dedicated SASS landing page. You will have the opportunity to  View the video to learn more about the Applixure service  Consider work involved in installation  Download a SASS tool specific installation and user guide

similar to this  Get practical advice on installing and running the service

Free trial terms You’ll get access to their full service for a month allowing you not only to complete the Software Assessment but also gain much more insight into your whole PC estate, what software you have installed on each PC, how many are used frequently (or not at all) and how well your PC’s are working. At the end of the trial you can simply stop using the service and once the trial period is over the agents will automatically deactivate. There is also a simple facility to remove the agents altogether. Alternatively you can, of course, purchase the tool for future use.

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HELP IS AVAILABLE What if I don’t understand everything? The frequently asked questions page is your first stop if you’re unsure what to do or don’t quite understand some of the terms or language used. We regularly update it to answer the most common questions users like you are asking us. Simply click on the title bar to display the answers. Below the questions is a short glossary of terms and acronyms (IT people love acronyms). We have tried hard to use only a minimum of technical language and acronyms to make the tool easy to understand and use. We hope that the FAQ and Glossary will help you along the way. If you’re still unsure of something, use the built-in messaging system to talk to us.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS What are the key benefits of a SAM program?

Where can I access further information?

A well thought-out and managed approach to managing your software assets makes it easier for you to understand what software is running, where and whether it is up-to-date or even expired. A SAM program will help you reduce and minimise operational risks and potential security threats due to older, unwanted or illegal software. It will also help you optimise your license use, reduce costs and keep your company compliant within your current software agreements.

More information is available online: www.smbsam.co.uk www.microsoft.com/resources/sam/default.mspx www.microsoftvolumelicensing.com/ www.microsoft.com/licensing/about-licensing/volume-licensing-briefs.aspx www.microsoft.com/licensing/about-licensing/product-licensing-faq.aspx

How can I make sure all our software purchases are registered with Microsoft? Volume Licensing purchases are directly attributed to your company using a customer number called TPID, unique to your parent company. They can be centrally managed in the Microsoft Volume License system. Purchases of OEM (ready installed) operating systems and software or retail boxed software packages (FPP license) purchases are not able to be centrally managed, and need to be registered separately with the correct TPID account.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Why should I spend time and effort to complete this Software Assessment?

Can Microsoft undertake SAM directly with my IT Partner/Reseller? Microsoft would be happy to work with your IT Partner/Reseller in this situation, but for privacy reasons contact needs to be initiated by someone within your organisation. You are welcome to forward our information to your IT Partner/Reseller.

This self-service assessment is tailored for small and medium sized companies. We believe it adds value for our clients by helping you optimise your purchasing strategies, and avoid IT security risks, as well as assisting you to become confident with your software compliance position.

Will Microsoft pay any invoices from an IT Partner/Reseller if they assist us in carrying out a SAM review?

We are an affiliate of a multinational company. Does this apply to us?

The Software Assessment process is offered free of charge by Microsoft. If you need to enlist the help of a Reseller or IT Partner to assist you with the review, you will be responsible for any associated charges.

If your organisation acquires its Microsoft licenses from a parent company/headquarters located outside of this country, please advise this at the start of the engagement if you have been asked to complete a review. It is likely that the process will be discontinued upon verification of this detail.

SAM services and tools provided by third parties are the responsibility of those parties, and as a customer of any such party, you (and not Microsoft) are responsible for the cost of those services and tools. What if I don’t have an automated inventory tool?

Where can I get help in carrying out this assessment?

We strongly recommend using automated inventory and software asset management tools as they will make your software management much easier saving you time and money. We have listed a number of tools from Microsoft and other vendors in the instructions that are suitable for a range of company sized and budgets.

We have produced this simple User Guide that you can download here. It gives you detailed guidance on each of the steps and options to get this assessment completed with minimal effort.

You can find much more information on setting up a SAM program for small and medium sized businesses at a dedicated Microsoft website at www.smbsam.co.uk.

There is an option to set up a free trial with one of the vendors for the duration of this assessment (many of the other tools will have also a trial period). We have partnered with one of our SAM Partners Themis Consulting and a tool vendor called Applixure. Who can help you install a trial account of their tool and provide optional support to help you get started. More information can be found on page 35 of the User Manual.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS What happens if I don’t complete the information?

What if the review identifies shortfalls for products that no longer exist?

We hope that customers will work proactively with us to ensure they have a compliant licensing position. However, for those organizations that don’t wish to engage in this process, Microsoft maintains the right to protect its intellectual property and may communicate again related to this topic at some point in the future.

It is possible that products you have an agreed shortfall for may no longer be available for purchase, as they have been replaced by another product. We will assist you with recommendations on suitable alternatives. Microsoft should already have access to our purchasing history. We make OEM/FPP purchases and register our software.

If my organization has unlicensed software what will happen – will there be penalties?

The registration process aims to ensure your licenses are legitimate, and are entitled to receive regular updates. They do not contribute to a license ownership registry. The End User License Terms for Microsoft software require all customers to retain proof of ownership.

If any unlicensed Microsoft products are identified throughout the process, we ask that you address the matter through an appropriate license acquisition and encourage you to contact your Reseller/IT Partner. If you do not have an incumbent partner we recommend using our online directory Pinpoint (pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-GB/) to select a certified partner.

Does this review include both Cloud/Mobile Computing and on-premise products? Yes, all Microsoft products are considered/included in this review. If the review results in an agreed shortfall for a product that is available via the Cloud, transitioning to a Cloud product could be an option. Your IT Partner/ Reseller will be able to assist in suggesting suitable Cloud products for your situation.

No penalties are enforced if shortfalls in licensing are found. We know that we already have some license shortfalls as we are using more licenses than we have paid for. What should we do? We recommend you place an order as soon as possible via your Reseller/IT Partner for any shortfalls you are aware of. These licenses can then be included in the assessment. Your IT Partner will be able to provide recommendation for acquisition via suitable licensing programs.

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More information on the Cloud is available online: www.microsoft.com/server-cloud/ www.microsoft.com/enterprise/microsoftcloud/

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WHAT IF I GET STUCK? In-tool messaging To help keep information up-to-date and all the messages in the same place we have built ia simple messaging system in the SASS tool. It allows two way communication between us (and the tool) with you, alerting you of status changes, new or missing information and incoming messages from our administrators. You can send us simple short messages and files regarding your assessment. Any file type is fine (spreadsheets, pdf’s and photographs). You will also be able to follow the discussion in the Message section as all the your messages and our replies are stored in the order they were sent.

Third party IT experts We have also enrolled one of our partners to provide technical support in carrying out inventory exercises or installing the optional inventory tool at a very reasonable cost. Details of these services can be found at www.themisconsulting.co.uk/sass.

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MORE RESOURCES SAM website aimed at SMB’s We have created a dedicated and simple to understand website for small and medium businesses in the UK. It covers all the essentials on software asset management, what benefits it brings to your company and why SAM is important to every organisation. Visit the site at www.smbsam.co.uk.

Businesses in an up to date license position are likely to experience 26% more growth than those who are not.

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THANK YOU FOR USING THE MICROSOFT SOFTWARE SELF-SERVICE ASSESSMENT TOOL More information at sass.smbsam.co.uk www.smbsam.co.uk

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