Published on the 03/10/2013 | Written by Newsdesk
A new pricing model is being offered that takes into account the growing appetite for BYOD which will see users having more than six devices each by 2020…
Intel spin-out LANDesk Software, which sells end-user focused IT service management tools, security support and mobile device management software, is responding to the increasing propensity for users to have more than one device. In the past its customers – which in Australia include the likes of Cochlear, Charles Sturt University and Bunnings – have paid on a per-tool per-device basis. But a “one price per end user” model which has been deployed internationally is proving more popular in organisations where BYOD is rife.
The company claims that this “per end user” rather than “per device” pricing focus is important for large enterprises, citing Cisco statistics that suggest that by 2020 business users will have on average 6.58 devices – many of which are likely to be connected to the corporate network directly or via the internet. Susan Lang, ANZ country manager for LANDesk said that traditional licensing per device models were still available for some customers but acknowledged that “it can get expensive” as end users increasingly accessed corporate systems from multiple devices.
For new Australian customers, or when existing licenses come up for renewal, organisations will be able to pay $170 per user for access to the full suite of LANDesk tools, with an ongoing annual maintenance fee of about 20 percent of their total initial outlay.
The company claims that users typically achieve a return on investment approaching 700 per cent over three years thanks to labour savings associated with streamlined and automated update, patch and security management.
Geoff Masters, Asia Pacific managing director, said that LANDesk’s suite of tools could handle the lifecycle management of desktops, mobiles and servers from; “Unpacking it, tracking the asset, managing software licences, keeping track of calls” through to “managing the reliability of the device, and software patch updates.” He said some customers used just one element of the suite of tools – for example to handle migrations – where others used the entire range of LANDesk functions.
The system has also been designed to support ITIL practices, although Masters noted that it was up to the CIO to decide how far to push end users. While some might rigorously control systems access, others might sacrifice some rigour in favour of greater flexibility.
