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What are Software Audits?

August 18, 2017 By eStormAdmin

What Is a Software Audit?

A software audit is a formal review of an organisation’s software suite which can be limited to one manufacturer (for example, a Microsoft or Adobe-specific audit), or open to all operating software within a business.

In a lot of cases, audits will be conducted by specific manufacturers (or parties acting for those manufacturers) who are interested exclusively in their own products. However, businesses may have a partnering company who can do a complete audit on their entire software suite.

The purpose of a software audit is to determine the nature of a software product, software process, or set of software processes to assess compliance with specifications, standards, contractual agreements, or other criteria. The manufacturer is then permitted to conduct an audit at their leisure to ensure that the agreement has been adhered to. Note that “Agreed to Terms” may be implied if you are simply using their software.

The Difference Between Manufacturer & Preparatory Audits

Manufacturer audits

A manufacturer will conduct an audit to ensure their IP and relevant agreement are being protected. The audit may detect, amongst other things, the use of pirated, expired,
or unauthorised software. Typically, a manufacturers audit will result in compliance, or, the business being required to take immediate action to prevent further legal or nancial penalties.

Preparatory audits

Preparatory audits are audits conducted by a business itself or by a partnering organisation such as eStorm. A preparatory audit can examine the compliance of all software within an environment, and can reallocate licenses that aren’t being used, saving the organisation money. Feasible and potentially more economical strategies can then be devised to address potential non-compliance issues.

Common Non-compliance Issues

Software not evolving with changes in IT systems or hardware may conflict with your licensing structure or agreement. Some software license contracts may be aligned with certain technologies and once these technologies are replaced or upgraded, the license agreement you were operating under may be unintentionally compromised.

Not conducting regular internal software audits. Regular internal software audits can save businesses a lot of trouble. They can be executed any which way a business chooses – by acquiring a partnering business to examine the environment, or by walking around the of ce with a clipboard and pen. Whichever method a business chooses will help avoid compliance issues should an external audit be thrust upon your company.

An unclear software licensing policy inside an organisation can catch them unaware of potential licensing breaches. Multiple license types – open licensing, OEM, per device, per user, volume licensing, upgrade licensing etc, can make it decidedly tricky to understand what can and cannot be done with particular licenses.

Example: A business may buy 100 per-device licenses. If they “ghost” (or replicate) an image of one PC to create a standardised desktop, a new license will be required for each new system that the replicated image is loaded on to. The new system will still work without a new license, however “sharing” a license could be in breach of the original agreement.

Not establishing and enforcing software installation and usage policies can complicate software licensing issues from day one. Installation and usage policies are critical to outlining how software is to be utilised, shared, or acquired within a business. The usage policy will outline what is acceptable (or legal) and what is not. The consequences of breaching these policies also need to be communicated.

Not dedicating the responsibility of compliance to an internal team or business partner will hinder a businesses ability to stay on top of their software licenses. Whilst allocating responsibility to one person inside a business creates bottlenecks and redundancy issues, an internal team or external business partner can strategise ways to ensure your organisations software is compliant by conducting regular preparatory audits as part of their regular business-as-usual activities.

 

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

During the 2013 calendar year, 58% of 1800 executives surveyed from Australia, the USA and Europe said they had been audited by one major manufacturer of software, whilst 20-30% acknowledged that they had been audited by at least four other major software brands. Of those who were audited, more than 20% incurred “true-up” costs of more than $1M, while the majority of respondents incurred costs of around $100K.

Ensure your business is protected from Software auditing and speak to an eStorm Managed Services representative today.

Filed Under: eStorm News, General News, IT Support Tagged With: it strategy

Office 365 client update channel releases

July 4, 2017 By eStormAdmin

Office 365 client update channel releases

Excel: Feature updates

This channel release contains the following feature updates:

  • Pen customization: Choose a personal set of pens and highlighters for inking. Your customized set is available on all your Windows PCs.
  • Insert online pictures: New landing page for selecting images and attribution information is automatically inserted with the image.
  • Azure Data Lake Store connector: Users can now import data from Azure Data Lake Store.
  • “Add column from examples” enhancements: Supports suggestions, more Date/Time operations, and additional transformations.

Outlook: Feature updates

This channel release contains the following feature updates:

  • New account configuration: Set up new accounts with a new wizard that requires fewer manual steps.

PowerPoint: Feature updates

This channel release contains the following feature updates:

  • Pen customization: Choose a personal set of pens and highlighters for inking. Your customized set is available on all your Windows PCs.
  • Insert online pictures: New landing page for selecting images and attribution information is automatically inserted with the image.

Project: Non-security updates

This channel release contains the following non-security updates:

  • Fix an issue where timephased Baseline values don’t match the initial values when you save a project to the XML file format.
  • Fix an issue where the Project client won’t open a project since it thinks the project is checked out when it really isn’t.
  • Fix an issue so that opening Project files from a file server with high latency open faster.

Skype for Business: Non-security updates

This channel release contains the following non-security updates:

  • Increase the prominence of High Importance messages in chat.
  • Add Office and Skype for Business file extension types to allowable file transfer blocklists.
  • Localization corrections in Outlook meeting invitations for meeting footer text set in non-English.
  • Fix an issue where sender names can be switched in conversations of multiple users.
  • Fix an issue where the blank conversation window fails to appear until a meeting is joined successfully.
  • Fix an issue where the department field information in a contact card is empty in search results if the title field is empty.
  • Fix sign-in failures for users migrated from on-premises to online due to firewall rules.

Word: Feature updates

This channel release contains the following feature updates:

  • Pen customization: Choose a personal set of pens and highlighters for inking. Your customized set is available on all your Windows PCs.
  • Insert online pictures: New landing page for selecting images and attribution information is automatically inserted with the image.

Filed Under: General News, News Tagged With: microsoft office 365

Now FREE – iWork, iMovie and GarageBand

April 19, 2017 By eStormAdmin

Apple quietly rolled out updated versions of its iWork, iMovie and GarageBand apps on Mac and iOS today, making them free for all customers on both platforms.
Many customers already had free copies of these apps, as they came free with new Mac or iOS devices. The pricing change removes the requirement to have bought new Apple hardware to get the apps for free. This expands the apps’ reach to anyone using Apple devices, even if they didn’t but new new or are using older devices.

iWork is actually a suite of productivity apps — Numbers, Keynote and Pages to rival Microsoft Office and Google Docs. GarageBand and iMovie are more directed to consumer and education, for music and video editing.

Prior to the price change, the Mac versions of the iWork apps were $19.99 and the iOS versions were $9.99 each. iMovie and GarageBand for Mac were $14.99 and $4.99, respectively, and their iOS counterparts were $4.99 on the App Store.
Since late 2013, Apple had been bundling these apps with new devices or making them free to download.

Below is a list of the now free apps, along with the software version requirements needed to run the latest versions:

iWork Mac: macOS 10.12 or later
iWork iOS: iOS 10.0 or later
iMovie Mac: macOS 10.11.2 or later
iMovie iOS: iOS 9.3 or later
GarageBand Mac: macOS 10.10 or later
GarageBand iOS: iOS 10.2 or later

Filed Under: Education, eStorm News, General News, Mobile, News Tagged With: Apple

13.3″ Wacom Cintiq 13HD Interactive Pen Display

February 6, 2017 By eStormAdmin

The Cintiq 13HD is an interactive pen display that allows you to create directly onto a 13.3” HD display. It offers you many of the advantages of the larger Cintiq, like the four time-saving, customizable ExpressKeys, the Rocker Ring, and the Home Button for easy shortcut access. Its high-resolution HD 1920 x 1080 LED display features a 178° viewing angle and renders 16.7 million colors.

The detachable stand adjusts to three different working angles and you can also use the Cintiq 13HD flat on your desktop or in your lap. Wacom’s powerful new Pro Pen with 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, tilt recognition, and a more comfortable, ergonomic design provides precise control and a better feel than ever. The new Pro Pen comes in a compact carrying case that includes storage for the extra nibs and color rings that help you easily personalize and identify your pen. The Cintiq 13HD experience starts right away – with a new, simple setup. Our convenient new 3-in-1 cable reduces clutter and makes setup on any Mac or PC a snap.

Key features:

High-resolution 13.3 inch HD 1920 x 1080 LED display with a 178° viewing angle and 16.7 million colors
Compact, slim design takes up minimal desk space
New Pro Pen with 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity for precise, natural control
Four customizable ExpressKeys, Rocker Ring and Home Button for easy shortcut access; use it either left- or right-handed
Detachable stand adjusts to three different working angles
Simple setup to Mac or PC with new 3-in1 cable

Talk to eStorm about WACOM devices.

Filed Under: General News, News Tagged With: emerging technology

HP’s new lineup for early 2017

January 11, 2017 By eStormAdmin

HP has debuted its latest PC offerings at CES 2017, in a move the company says will change the way people interact with their PCs. All should be arriving in to Australia in the next 3 months and available through eStorm.

The new line of premium PCs includes the EliteBook x360, Introducing the world’s thinnest and most secure business convertible. With 360° of versatility across five modes, unmatched security, and up to 16 hours of battery life, it’s the perfect business companion.

screen-shot-2017-01-11-at-10-20-41-am

HP’s thinnest business convertible, the ENVY Curved All-in-One 34. Get the immersive experience you’ve been waiting for with the world’s widest curved All-in-One PC. Designed to impress, captivate, and inspire with a 34-inch diagonal curved display with a new integrated sound bar design.

screen-shot-2017-01-11-at-10-21-04-am

 

Sprout Pro by HP the company’s first immersive PC, had had a major hardware and software redesign to power HP’s Blended Reality 3D experiences. Sprout Pro maximizes your productivity by removing barriers at key stages of your workflow. By combining 3D capture of real-world objects with simple yet powerful editing tools, Sprout Pro lets you quickly and easily bring your ideas to life. Sprout Pro includes a new high performance processor and memory technologies, Windows 10 Pro, basic manageability and security features and comes with a 3 year commercial warranty.

 

screen-shot-2017-01-11-at-10-20-24-am

Filed Under: Corporate, Device Procurement, Education, eStorm News, General News, News

Fantastic Promo – YOGA 260 12.5 I5-6200U 4GB 192GB + bag + 1 year Office365

December 5, 2016 By eStormAdmin

screen-shot-2016-12-05-at-8-52-56-amYOGA 260 12.5 I5-6200U 4GB 192GB + bag + 1 year Office365

A premium business convertible with everything you need. This thin and lightweight 2-in-1 laptop with four modes adapts elegantly to how you want to use it. Add to that a brilliant 12.5″ HD or FHD display with IPS, an integrated digital pen and all-day battery life, and you have the ultimate in flexibility and control.

The Bundle components are:
* YOGA 260 12.5 I5-6200U 4GB 192GB W10P64
* Svolta Notebook Bag 13.3in/14in Grey
* Office 365 Personal Subscr 1yr Box P2

RRP $2097.00 eStorm Price $1699.00 Inc GST for a very limited time.

Valid to 9/12/16

Filed Under: Corporate, Device Procurement, Education, eStorm News, General News, News, Retail

Microsoft OneNote

November 30, 2016 By eStormAdmin

If you do a lot of notetaking, attend multiple meetings during the week, and collaborate with others on projects, then OneNote can keep that flood of info neat and tidy. All your notes—even words in pictures—are searchable inside OneNote, and they’re stored in the cloud and immediately accessible via the OneNote apps for any platform.

Capture your thoughts, discoveries, and ideas with OneNote. Take a picture of the whiteboard in a meeting with auto-cropping and photo enhancements. Add your PowerPoint presentation or PDF for school.

Organize your notes in a way that works best for you. Create, rename, search, sort, and copy pages, sections, and notebooks. Find your most recent notes quickly and pin the pages you use most. Secure your notes with a password and use touch ID to quickly access them. Share your notes with your friends and colleagues. Whether it’s a party your planning with others, or a school project you’re working on with your group. Work together in a shared notebook at the same time. Scribble your notes at a conference, write math equations in class or sketch your ideas. With a variety of pen colors and settings, you can create beautiful handwritten notes and drawings. Draw with confidence with “Convert to Shapes” mode: we’ll automatically convert hand drawn shapes into crisp, perfectly regular polygons and circles.

OneNote, when compared to other products is better as a productivity aide, with its focus on typing and hand-writing notes, audio recording and search tools, it affords smart integration with the rest of Office.

Filed Under: Cloud Computing, Digital Learning, Education, General News, News, Windows

COMMBOX Interactive Displays

November 16, 2016 By eStormAdmin

COMMBOX INTERACTIVE DISPLAYS transforming classrooms.

The Classic Range of touchscreens remains Australia’s favourite classroom touchscreen. Classic good looks, including a sturdy aluminium frame, toughened glass and rock-solid reliability makes the Classic Range a winner every time.

Features:

All Classic touchscreens incorporate the highest quality Commercial Grade LED displays, rewarding the audience with superior image quality, excellent viewing angles and brightness. Paired with CommBox GlideTM technology, they provide unmatched visibility from all angles in any light- lled room. CommBox advanced glass technology is chemically etched ensuring that the panels are smooth and frictionless to touch. They feature high performance anti-glare properties, whilst maintaining a crystal clear image.

By utilising only the highest quality components, a CommBox Touchscreen has a 17 year life expectancy and does not require maintenance or replacement lamps.

Connect a Windows PC, Mac or laptop and interact immediately; no drivers or calibration required. CommBox Interactive touchscreens are truly plug & play. A Classic touchscreen comes ready to use straight out of the box, reducing installation time and costs.

CommBox utilises combined camera (optical) and infra-red touch technologies guaranteeing that the Classic touchscreens are ultra-responsive and highly accurate. All CommBox touchscreens provide the ultimate Windows 8 & 10 touch experience with active borders, multi-touch capabilities and gesture support.

Options for stands: Motorised Stand for the CommBox 55” – 103” Interactive and Display. This design can also be used as a floor mount motorised lift in areas where walls are not reinforced by removing the legs. A standard Mobile Stand to suit CommBox 55” – 103” Interactive and Display made of heavy duty powder coated stainless steel or the Tilt Trolley a robust trolley that allows you to raise and lower the screen as well as tilt into a fully at table top. The Tilt Trolley is extremely stable and designed to fit through doorways with 100mm casters for easy movement. Suitable for screens up to 75” in both Interactive and Display.

Take a look at CommBox’s latest video overview for Interactive Touchscreen.

COMMBOX video

Filed Under: Digital Learning, Education, General News, Hardware

Microsoft Office 365

November 15, 2016 By eStormAdmin

Office 365 Education is a collection of services that allows you to collaborate and share your schoolwork. It’s available for free to teachers who are currently working at an academic institution and to students who are currently attending an academic institution.

The service includes Office Online (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote), 1TB of OneDrive storage, Yammer, and SharePoint sites.Capture and organize all your class materials in OneNote, your digital notebook. Create interactive lessons and spark student creativity using Sway. Bring students together in a collaborative space or giving them individual support in private notebooks within Class Notebook. Create, share and even collaborate real-time with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote—without worrying about lost formatting.

Office 365 Education includes Microsoft Classroom, a homepage where teachers can manage all of their classes and assignments online. Teachers can manage multiple class sections (like Biology A and Biology B), create or manage assignments and grading, collaborate with other teachers in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), and provide feedback to students with built-in Class Notebooks. In Classroom, students can collaborate with their teachers, their classmates, and access all the materials to be successful in the class even when they are absent. With Sway integrated, teachers can create interactive web-based lessons, assignments, project recaps, newsletters, and more—right from a phone, tablet, or browser— and even embed a quiz with the new Office Forms. Students can access all their assignments on their mobile devices (Classroom app). Office 365 is now optimized for teachers and students along with an integrated platform with the aim of saving teachers time and improving student outcomes.

Filed Under: Education, General News

The NEW MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

November 9, 2016 By eStormAdmin

The all-new MacBook Pro is the thinnest and lightest MacBook Pro ever. It introduces a breakthrough interface called the Touch Bar that replaces the traditional function keys with a brilliant Retina-quality Multi-Touch display.

The Touch Bar places controls right at the user’s fingertips and adapts when using the system or apps like Mail, Finder, Calendar, Numbers, GarageBand, Final Cut Pro X and many more, including third-party apps.

Available in silver and space grey, the new MacBook Pro also features the brightest and most colourful Mac display, built-in Touch ID, a more responsive keyboard, larger Force Touch trackpad and redesigned stereo speakers that deliver high dynamic range. With cutting-edge graphics, powerful processors, superfast SSDs, Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports and macOS Sierra, MacBook Pro is the ultimate notebook for professionals and consumers.

Notable changes

  • The 13-inch and 15-inch versions of the new MacBook Pro are 17% and 14% thinner than their predecessors
  • The 13-inch version weighs just 1.37kg
  • The Force Touch trackpad has also been hugely improved, twice as spacious as that on the previous model.
  • Up to 130% faster graphics and up to 67% brighter display
  • Up to 3.8GHz Turbo Boost processing
  • Up to 40 Gbps data transfer
  • Supports up to two 5K displays

Filed Under: Apple, Design, Education, eStorm News, General News, Hardware

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