Introduction:

ABC Company is a privately owned company that provides computer leasing services to its customers. The services result in our customers being able to accurately track and manage their computer assets and reduce the risk of theft and misuse of PCs. Our secure and reliable computer tracking provides IT managers with easy-to-use web reporting tools that simplify the management of software license compliance, computer leases, machine retirement, hardware or software upgrades and device ownership.

The Problem:

The decision made by any corporate organization to lease their computer assets is made for financial reasons. However, these decisions may not take into account practical challenges that the lease administrators or IT personnel are faced with, when the leased assets must be located or returned. Almost all computer leasing models require the customer to return the computer asset (to the vendor) at some stage of the lease life cycle. This may be for an upgrade or when the end of term is reached. Depending on the nature of the lease contract, the benefits of the leasing model tend to dwindle away as the contract terms and conditions are not met. Many companies find that they have to pay penalties when they are unable to return assets. In any event, although the customer realizes the financial advantages of leasing, penalties make this model less attractive. The obvious solution to this is to track and trace these workstations. The problem of tracking and tracing leased assets exists with all leased goods although the more valuable the assets the more important it becomes to accurately audit a leased asset base. Computers generally, due to their application, large number and technology improvements, tend migrate around a corporate environment to a very high degree.

To manually track and trace these assets is virtually impossible and it is not really critical to the corporate business except to adhere to Leasing Contracts and prevent loss. The barrier to any effective or accurate and automated tracking solution is cost verses benefit. The cost of a tracking solution needs to be far smaller than the penalties or non-return of those Leased assets.

The Opportunity:

A computer is perfectly designed to facilitate a tracking solution. Computers are generally either connected to a network or the Internet for them to communicate and operate effectively. This connectivity has lead to many web based or hosted solutions that can offer a Centrally Managed Service to thousands if not millions of

users or clients. A Centrally Managed service is structured in such a way that the customer is only required to install the client. A service provider hosts the server. All the clients use one server and thus are able to save money similar to a buy-in-bulk strategy The Centrally Managed Service has lead to a cost effective automated tracking and tracing service that makes financial sense to the Leasing Model. The cost of this service equates to a small percentage of the Lease Premium and is less than the penalties for non-returned assets. The view and access to the information is through the web and administered via profile identification. Using this solution there is no need to store the information elsewhere as it is always available from anywhere.

Case Study Task:

What benefits can be achieved with the ABC company services?