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Best 5 Software Inventory Tools 2018

What Is Software Inventory?

A software inventory consists of all the software and applications used within an IT environment. The process of keeping a record of a software inventory is called software inventory management. Along with hardware inventory management, software inventory management is part of IT asset management, enabling the recording of various data related to software installations.

A typical software inventory management process keeps a record of the number of software installations, corresponding installation dates, the type of software installed, expiry and license renewal dates, and sometimes even the total monetary worth of the installed software.

Software Inventory Management Versus Inventory Management Software

Software inventory management tools are often confused with inventory management software. Whereas software inventory management is part of IT asset management, inventory management is an element of supply chain management. It is the management of inventory and stock, including aspects such as controlling and overseeing ordering inventory, storage of inventory, and others.

What Are the Advantages of Software Inventory Management?

Software inventory management is the answer to the growing complexity of the software market. With the proliferation of cloud-based enterprise software solutions and subscription-based licensing models, even relatively small companies often find it difficult to keep track of their software assets.

A failure to comply with license agreements may prompt a software audit, which may have far-reaching consequences. Instead of risking a software audit, it makes sense to invest into a robust software inventory management solution capable of automating the entire process of software asset tracking.

Some of the best software inventory tools have integrated software monitoring capabilities that allow them to automatically detect and track all software installations within an IT environment. Most software monitoring tools can generate detailed reports and send alerts in case of incoming software license expirations.

As such, software inventory tools should be an integral part of any wider IT asset management strategy. A well-implemented software inventory management process can save the company a significant amount of time by automating what would otherwise be a time-consuming process that would most likely become a responsibility of the IT department.

What Are the Best Software Inventory Tools?

The market with software inventory tools is booming, and there’s no shortage of capable, reliable software inventory management solutions. Comparing many leading software inventory tools and taking into consideration the experience of other users, we’ve been able to create a list of top 5 best software inventory tools that you can try today.

1. Network Inventory Advisor

Network Inventory Advisor is a comprehensive software asset management solution that answers the needs of modern businesses and organizations with its combination of an easy-to-use user interface and powerful asset discovery, tracking, and reporting features.

Network Inventory Advisor is designed to be the backbone of your IT asset management, helping you keep track not only of your software but also your hardware assets. Network Inventory Advisor can aggregate the information about software products from more than 500 major vendors, including Autodesk, Microsoft, and Adobe, just to name a few.

Best of all, Network Inventory Advisor can be tested for free for up to 15 days. Only when you experience first-hand how well it works and how significantly it can simplify the management of your software licenses, it becomes necessary to decide which Network Inventory Advisor license is right for you.

2. AssetExplorer

ManageEngine AssetExplorer is a web-based IT asset management solution that you can use to discover all IT assets in your network and manage the complete IT asset lifecycle. AssetExplorer can handle software license management, purchase order management, and many other things. The software is available in three editions: free, trial, and professional. Part of AssetExplorer is a Configuration Management Database (CMDB), which lets you manage software installations and IT and business services in a single place.

3. Snipe-IT

Snipe-IT is an excellent step-up from managing software assets with the help of an Excel spreadsheet. This simple software asset management solution is designed with the finance department in mind, offering the ability to export assets to a CSV file. Select employees can get permissions to view and download reports within Snipe-IT without being able to edit assets. Snipe-IT is an open source software management solution that is completely free if you host it yourself. If you’d rather let someone else take care of the installation and maintenance of Snipe-IT, you can select from several available Snipe-IT hosting solutions.

4. Asset Panda

Asset Panda is a cloud-hosted asset tracking solution with helpful customer support, flexible features, and unlimited configurability. Asset Panda can be quickly and painlessly integrated with existing asset tracking systems and adapted to suit a variety of different needs. Asset Panda can be accessed through an always-available online interface or a convenient mobile app. The software is suitable for businesses and organizations of all sizes, and the pricing structure and hardware and software compatibility reflect this.

5. InvGate Assets

InvGate’s IT asset management (ITAM) solution makes it possible to track both software and hardware assets in a centralized way, providing continuous and automated monitoring to support high-level company decision-making. InvGate Assets provides detailed information on software licenses, their value, expiry, and other things, ensuring compliance with license agreements. With the InvGate Software Metering tool integrated into the product, InvGate Assets can help you optimize software use across your company and deploy software assets where they are needed the most.

From: Best Software Inventory Tools

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Discover your network with the best network discovery tool

Network Inventory Advisor is a powerful network discovery tool created for small to large businesses for full hardware and software audits. With this solution you are able to detect network devices like printers, scanners, servers, etc.

Discover network devices automatically

Network Inventory Advisor is a network discovery software for the most detailed network inventory, offering SNMP monitoring to discover the SNMP devices on the network. Network Inventory Advisor is ready to set up within minutes regardless of the size of your business. It is going to become your favorite assistant, super helpful around large networks with various equipment by multiple vendors.

You can set up a recurring network scanning to be always ahead of what's going on on the network or just perform discovery once in a while when needed.

Remote management

With Network Inventory Advisor discovery network tool you can get the list of devices on the network even remotely. Scan a group of the computers on the network or choose which computers to scan with an inventory scanner. Network Inventory Advisor displays results of network discovery explicitly and offers the possibility to export them in a file.

All the scanning processes are performed quietly in the background and are invisible to the users over the network. The gathered data is centered in a database and includes the app name, version, installation date, and other details.

Performance Reports

Every network Network Inventory Advisor detects can be scanned for a brief overview that can be used for a presentation. This network monitoring software offers preset as well as highly customizable reports for your convenience.

After scanning and collecting the data about all the assets on the network was completed, you can save the structure of this network and make a backup copy for your future references.

Keep your network safe

Keeping your network secure is not so easy and the core task is knowing your network inside out. Big help in this is proper network discovery and mapping. How do you even know what exactly you need to secure if you don't have the up-to-date network diagrams and inventory data?

A network discovery, inventory, and network audit solution - Network Inventory Advisor - scans through the network thoroughly in order to discover network devices and collect all necessary information about them. Reports can include info on software licensing , capacity utilization, configuration, unauthorized devices, and hardware warranty status.

Source: https://www.network-inventory-advisor.com/network-discovery-tool.html

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Network Inventory

The term network inventory means many different things to different people. Some imagine a collection of routers and switches, some picture network-connected printers, scanners, and fax machines, and others assume that the term network inventory encompasses every device connected to the Internet. In this article, we explain what a network inventory really is, and we take a closer look at one of the most popular tools for efficient network inventory management, Network Inventory Advisor.

What Is Network Inventory?

A network inventory is the collection of all hardware and software assets on a network. The term network inventory is typically used in the business setting, both by the management and the IT department. Decision-makers demand a running list of all the stuff on the company network because it allows them to better plan future software and hardware purchases and make sound strategic decisions. Network administrators need to have a good understanding of all the equipment that makes up the company network to diagnose and fix problems in a timely manner and to prepare for audits.

Most of those who are responsible for network inventory management rely on network inventory software such as Network Inventory Advisoror Total Network Inventoryto accomplish what would otherwise take days and weeks in a matter of minutes and hours. Besides being time-efficient, network inventory software has numerous capabilities that are indispensable for preparing for audits, including reporting, automatic hardware and software asset tracking, and customizable alerts.

How Can Network Inventory Advisor Help Me Manage My Network Inventory?

First released in 2008, Network Inventory Advisor is a third-party network management tooldesigned to collect all relevant data on network devices and obtain detailed software and hardware statistics. Network Inventory Advisor is developed by ClearApps LLC, software development company headquartered in Elk Grove, California.Since it first became available, Network Inventory Advisor has become one of the most popular network inventory software solutions, and, in this section, we briefly describe some of the ways how Network Inventory Advisor can help you manage your network inventory.

Software Asset Management

As the official software audit partner of Autodesk Inc., Network Inventory Advisor supports software products from over 500 vendors, giving companies of all sizes the ability to easily track installations, software versions, licenses, and services on all computers with a press of a button.

Those who choose Network Inventory Advisor as their network inventory software of choice don’t need to worry about passing software audits. With many different licensing models, the modern software landscape can be very difficult to navigate. Most companies these days pay for yearly and monthly software subscriptions, purchase software license keys, and sometimes even pay for on-demand cloud computing services. Network Inventory Advisor helps companies ensure compliance with the myriad of different software licenses with its easy-to-use software tracking features and sophisticated reporting capabilities.

Hardware Asset Management

Network Inventory Advisor is also a powerful network inventory scanner capable of automatically detecting all Windows, macOS, Linux, and SNMP devices on the network. Besides IT asset tracking, Network Inventory Advisor also supports the tracking of standalone assets, like printers, keyboards, sound devices, and even office furniture.To scan connected devices with Network Inventory Advisor, it’s not necessary to install a scan agent on the scanned devices. What’s more, scanning with Network Inventory Advisor can be fully automated to always stay in the know of any changes that occur on the network.

Thanks to its hardware asset management capabilities, Network Inventory Advisor helps companies leverage their existing resources in the most optimal manner and strategically plan future hardware purchases to keep up with the competition and achieve a healthy growth rate. Considering how much even many small and medium-sized companies spend on hardware assets, it makes sense for companies to assign a high priority to hardware asset management and equip themselves with network inventory tools capable of effortlessly monitoring even the largest networks while still meeting the needs of smaller companies.  

One Solution, Multiple Networks

Network Inventory Advisor is one of only a handful of Network Monitoring Tools that can monitor multiple networks from a single installation, making it ideal for MSPs, ensuring that they won’t ever have to look for any additional software to run their network inventory projects. When an MSP gets a new client, they can simply create a separate network in Network Inventory Advisor and make a scan.

With Network Inventory Advisor, bulk editing of both software and hardware assets is as effortless as it can be. Even those network administrators who manage networks that consist of multiple thousand assets don’t feel overwhelmed when using Network Inventory Advisor.

Instant Alerts and Comprehensive Reporting

Network Inventory Advisor can send alerts when it detects software and hardware changes, notifying network administrators when something is removed, installed, or replaced on the network. A change on the network may be an early sign of a larger problem, and the sooner the IT staff is aware of the change, the quicker the underlying problem can be solved.

Of course, not all problems reveal themselves on their own. Some problems are systemic, having to do with network inventory utilization and software license compliance. In the worst-case scenario, a problem is revealed during an audit, leading to large financial penalties that might even threaten the very existence of the company. To prevent this from happening, Network Inventory Advisor features a host of comprehensive reporting capabilities, making it possible to print complex reports with a single click.

Free to Download and Inexpensive to Purchase

Network Inventory Advisor is free to download and can be tested in production without any limitations for up to 15 days. The price the standard license for Windows XP/2000/ME/7/8/10 is determined by the number of nodes on the monitored network. Thanks to the business-friendly license terms of Network Inventory Advisor any license purchased can be used for personal and commercial needs and every purchase is a one-time payment without hidden fees or subscriptions of any kind. To find out more information about Network Inventory Advisor and its licensing terms, head over to the official website.

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