We’ve made a few changes to AppClarity and Shopping

We’ve added a new consumerized dimension to Windows® 7 deployments and software distribution with the integration of AppClarity and Shopping. In the 12 months’ since its inception, AppClarity is now in version 3.0 and integrates with 1E’s self-service corporate app store Shopping™ 4.2. Now that we have combined them, the two products show users which applications they actually use and allows then to select which applications they want to migrate over to a new Operating System.
Why did we do this? Well, two reasons really:

• The consumerization of IT is rapidly changing business models. Allowing employees to work to their best ability with the tools that suit their working practices is essential
• Independent research shows us that almost three quarters of organizations in the United States (71%) and United Kingdom (68%) admit to having software waste and two thirds of users can spend up to a week or more waiting for software from the IT helpdesk

With AppClarity 3.0, Software Asset Managers (SAMs) are now able to:

• Manage licenses by department and region: assign licenses to a global pool or management group. A role-based security option allows license managers to see which other groups have spare licenses before committing to buying more.
• View software in many different ways: by department, region, function, or as determined internally. Use the information to create an inter-department competition to improve software efficiency and ‘name and shame’ the more inefficient parts of the business into taking action.
• Set different software policies for different groups: organizations can prohibit a certain application in all departments or only in some. Additional flexibility with software license reclaim is possible by restricting this functionality to a limited or entire group of users.
• Consider downgrading premium editions of Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite: if usage is low, this presents new opportunities to reallocate licenses, facilitate maintenance renewal and enterprise agreement negotiation.
• Identify which PCs a product is installed on: with a built-in Product Deployment report and facilitate opportunities for license reclaim.

Shopping 4.2 includes the following new benefits:

• Self-service OS deployments: based on application usage ratings, users can select to have only the software they actually use reinstalled onto their PC during an OS migration.
• My Software: a page which lets users identify the applications currently installed on their PC and cancel any pending orders for applications that they no longer need.
• Savings to date dashboard: displays an estimated measure of the IT helpdesk savings that an organization has achieved as a result of using Shopping.
• Enhanced user experience: all configuration options are now shown in a single location, making it easier for users to locate all available applications quickly.

Shopping empowers users to request and install software, operating systems and services within minutes at a time that suits them. This approach increases the efficiency software delivery and saves $40 on average per request to the IT helpdesk. Shopping 4.2 is fully tested against the legacy (package/program) model of Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr) 2012 RC2. Since its inception, 1E has sold 2.3 million licenses of Shopping worldwide. Customers include UNUM, Syngenta, Dell, Parker Hannifin and Park Hill Schools.
AppClarity from 1E launched in April 2011 with the full support of the International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers (IAITAM) and the Federation Against Software Theft Investors in Software. The software enables users to eliminate unused software from their corporate PCs by only selecting to migrate the most frequently used applications during a Windows 7 upgrade. This user-driven selection process facilitates the reclaim of an unused application and corresponding license, helping organisations save time and money during OS migrations. Customers include 3M, Aptar Group, Arup, ERM and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.