Automated IT management gives watchdog more powerful byte

Edinburgh: 11 februari 2003

The National Audit Office (NAO), which scrutinizes public spending on behalf of the UK Parliament, has installed Axios Systems’ assystDiscovery software to automate its IT asset management.

The product, which replaces a labor-intensive manual system, helps the NAO to manage some of its most important capital assets including 1,100 PCs across four sites plus computer peripherals and software.

The organization has introduced laptops for auditors to use on sites throughout the country. The system will be able to receive up-to-date information about these laptops via a secure Internet connection, no matter where they are used.

Updated information on hardware and software is uploaded automatically to the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) of the NAO’s assyst Help Desk and IT Service Management system. Uploads are initially taking place once a week but can be carried out daily if required.

Previously, a complete manual audit had to be conducted throughout the organization’s offices - its headquarters in central London and satellites throughout England. In addition to taking up substantial staff resources the system was liable to human errors and omissions.

Automated asset management is an important step towards accreditation by the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST)/TENAX which ensures that all use of software is covered by the appropriate license.

assystDiscovery will also benefit the organization’s Help Desk which the NAO operates in association with IT services supplier ServiceTec. Help Desk staff investigating problems will be able to call up real time information on the relevant hardware or software in the CMDB.

The UK National Audit Office audits the accounts of all government departments, agencies and a wide range of public bodies. It reports to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which government bodies have used public money. It is totally independent of Government.

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