Lane Contruction case study: Effective Software License Management with SAManage

1. CUSTOMER CASE STUDY
Enabling Efficient, Effective
Software License Management at
Lane Construction
BACKGROUND
Lane Construction specializes in transportation projects, providing expert
construction of highways and bridges, locks and dams, mass transit systems,
airport runways, aprons, and taxiways.
A complex IT infrastructure, made up of numerous geographically-dispersed PCs,
as well as several expensive and highly sophisticated software packages, made it
hard for the organization’s IT department to stay on top of software license
management activities, and to keep track of assets and their locations at all times.
“SAManage gives us
everything we need CHALLENGES
to manage our To ensure efficient planning and execution of its projects, Lane maintains a
complex technology environment that includes more than 1,000 PCs used by
software everyone from secretaries and engineers in multiple offices across seven US
regions, to field personnel such as equipment operators and job site foremen.
applications from Each region connects to headquarters via Cisco routers and a secure VPN, while
end-to-end. We remote workers access regional offices using cellular cards, Internet connections,
and a VPN. Installed on many of these computers are several specialized
have full visibility engineering software applications such as HeavyBid and AutoCAD, as well as
packages for job estimating and project management.
into what we have,
Although the Lane IT team was mandated with optimizing technology performance
where it is, and who to facilitate continuous communication flow across the business, the intricacy of
is using it.” the environment made it quite a challenge to do so. Additionally, many software
purchases were handled by the individual offices, so volume discounts were not
always leveraged. This lack of centralized control also made it difficult for the IT
Brian P. Morgan
Software Asset department to adequately support users and enforce corporate standards.
Management
Coordinator
SOLUTION
Unhappy with the support they were receiving for their existing IT asset

2. management solution – Dell eSmart – as well as its limited end user functionality,
Lane Construction began investigating other alternatives. For example, Lane staff
members were unable to put information into the system themselves. Instead,
they were forced to rely on eSmart representatives to enter the data for them – a
process that often took longer than ideal.
“What we really needed was an effective and affordable way to keep track of our
software licenses, and an improved ability to monitor our computers, which tend
“The solution is so
to move around frequently as our workers move from one location to another,”
simple to use. In said Brian P. Morgan, Lane’s Software Asset Management Coordinator.
just 15 minutes, I SAManage was selected to help centralize and streamline software license
management and other IT activities. The powerful on-demand IT asset
was able to learn management service is helping Morgan and his team store important licensing
how to enter and information, such as purchase details and physical copies of contracts, so they can
better track how those licenses are allocated and utilized across the business.
track our software
inventory. ” BENEFITS
Within just a few short weeks of using SAManage, the advantages became obvious.
Benefits achieved so far include enhanced productivity and improved
management of software assets through better coordination and centralization.
“The solution is so simple to use,” added Morgan. “In just 15 minutes, I was able to
learn how to enter and track our software inventory.”
“We have so many more features at our disposal than we did with eSmart,” he
continues. “This makes us so much more efficient when it comes to managing our
software assets. For example, we have just completed our audit of Adobe Acrobat
and AutoCAD licenses across the company. This would have been a hassle with
eSmart, but with SAManage, it has been fast and easy. “
“SAManage gives us everything we need to manage our software applications from
end-to-end. We have full visibility into what we have, where it is, and who is using
it. All the capabilities we need to effectively control and track our software
inventory are right at our fingertips. “
“The integrated Help Desk, which we will begin using soon, is a significant added
bonus,” Morgan concludes. “Until now, we had no centralized system for
supporting our end users, it was all done via email and phone calls. The SAManage
Help Desk will allow us to provide better service, while increasing the productivity
of our support staff.”
SAManage is a leading provider of secure, on-demand IT Management services that helps companies
manage their PC and software assets, organize software licenses and IT contracts, and detect risks and
license compliance gaps. Delivered as an on-demand service with no software or servers required,
SAManage empowers companies of all sizes with capabilities that were previously available only to
large companies. SAManage is easily deployed across multiple locations within minutes and provides
visibility into complex IT infrastructures, making it easy to automate and simplify the daily tasks
associated with establishing IT governance, control, and compliance. For more information visit
www.samanage.com or call 1-888-250-8971.