100 Days and Counting... Microsoft Licensing 6.0 Deadline Approaches; Tally Systems Seeks to Arm Organizations for Software Licensing Negotiations.

Business/Technology Editors

LEBANON, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2002

Tally Systems today announced that with just 100 days remaining until Microsoft's July 31, 2002 deadline for their new Software Assurance volume licensing program, many companies are putting themselves at risk for losing millions of dollars in wasted licensing and upgrade fees. Thousands of companies are scrambling to evaluate their current software licensing situations and make decisions about how to proceed without the most basic information about the quantity and use of their existing software licenses, according to software asset tracking experts at Tally Systems.

"Many of these companies are, by their inaction, making decisions that could cost them millions of dollars," says Karen Kaliski, Market Research Analyst at Tally Systems. "The sad fact is that many of these companies don't know how to address basic questions prior to negotiating with Microsoft, such as: What are we licensed for today? What are we entitled to under current upgrade plans? What is actually installed in the organization and where? What applications are being used and by whom?"

The decision surrounding Microsoft's latest licensing program has a lot to do with the terms of each company's particular volume license agreement -- and it also has a lot to do with what they have installed in their organization and how it is being used, says Kaliski. "Negotiating with Microsoft without an accurate and current software inventory is like negotiating with an ISP without knowing your bandwidth requirements. They will always oversell you to ensure that you're 'covered,'" she said.

Tally Systems now offers an add-on software usage module to its TS.Census(R) asset discovery and tracking product that not only shows what software is installed, but also when and if it is being used. With information from the Usage Module, organizations can ensure that they only purchase upgrade plans for the number of applications that are actually used. Companies can buy the right edition of products or suites based on real usage patterns rather than anecdotal evidence. For instance, many companies purchase the upgrade plan for Microsoft Office XP Professional for all users, when only a fraction of them use Access and therefore need only the Standard edition -- a cost savings of up to 20% per license. The only way to know which employees run Access on a regular basis is to monitor usage.

The bottom line, according to Kaliski, is that with Microsoft's market position and the comprehensive nature of Licensing 6.0, these licensing decisions are all but unavoidable. "The key to getting through negotiations with the best possible deal is to control your destiny by having a firm grasp of your licenses and usage profile," says Kaliski. "Tally Systems products give you the information you need to negotiate from a position of strength."

About Tally Systems

Tally Systems delivers innovative IT asset tracking solutions to ensure effective technology investment and successful IT projects. Tally Systems pioneered automated PC inventory over a decade ago with its patented Census Recognition Technology(TM), and continues to develop applications, services and integrations to support critical IT initiatives such as migrations, software license compliance and end user support. Tally Systems products--including TS.Census, WebCensus, QuickCensus and PowerCensus-- have been licensed on over 10,000,000 PCs at 15,000 sites worldwide. Visit Tally Systems on the web at: http://www.tallysystems.com.