Overview

CMS Technologies develops and markets an innovative solution that enables companies to account for and protect their networked assets (desktop PC’s, laptops, printers, routers, etc.). The company's proprietary inControl^®system permits real-time physical tracking and control of computer assets, as if they were tethered to the central information technology system. It also protects the network from unauthorized use.

inControl^® does for network asset management what Federal Express has done for package tracking. Fed-Ex can tell you where your package is, anywhere in the world, 24-hours a day. Similarly, inControl^® will tell you where your computers are, anywhere in your organization, 24-hours a day.

Problem

Today, IT professionals in large organizations are confronted with the enormous challenge of trying to routinely control and secure hundreds to thousands of computer assets. Because IT professionals lack control over their asset portfolio, a substantial number of computer assets are unaccounted for in large organizations. Asset movement within a company due to changing work environments, more portable equipment, and relatively short-term leasing agreements compounds this problem. Leah Knight, industry analyst for the Gartner Group's Dataquest division states, "in many companies, computing assets have become so widely dispersed that it’s virtually impossible to determine who owns what or where desktop systems are located; therefore, large organizations often pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to license software they never use or purchase service contracts for software and hardware that they don’t own."

Today’s asset management software and network management systems still rely on people-intensive procedures to collect the asset tag or serial number and the asset location for manual input into a central database. These systems worked fine in the past when there was little or no computer movement or relatively long-term leasing agreements. However, in today’s distributed and dynamic computer environments where asset lifecycles are getting shorter and shorter, companies cannot accurately track, control or secure their networked equipment. As a result, companies are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in lease penalties and associated administrative costs. IT professionals cannot institute the necessary asset control and security methodology required to make informed financial and management decisions about their network portfolio. The inability of these existing solutions to effectively control and secure networked equipment results in lost and or stolen assets, lost staff productivity, and increased operating expense all of which directly impact an organization’s bottom line.

Solution

Simply put, the inControl^® system enables the entire network to automatically and continuously monitor and maintain knowledge on every network-connected asset. inControl^® bridges the gap between the actual, real-time, physical state of distributed computer assets and the logical tracking of these same assets (including their configuration statistics within a central database). With inControl^®, assets locate and identify themselves, dynamically and automatically updating the central database upon movement or installation at a new location. The inControl^® system is unlike any other asset management solution, because it enables information technology administrators to closely monitor and manage the physical tracking of computer assets in real-time with no administrative burden on users. The physical tracking of computer assets guarantees the presence, identity and location of a network device, regardless of whether the associated network is up or down, and/or the computer device is on or off. CMS Technologies eliminates the need for manual procedures by automatically capturing and documenting computer movement while dynamically updating the central database, thus making costly inventory audits obsolete.

Companies increasingly lease network devices as a means to conserve cash. The Gartner Group (in 1998) estimates that leasing saves between 8 to 10% of the equipment’s purchase price. It is estimated that 15% of all PCs are leased today, and that number is expected to rise to 25% by 2003 (Compaq Capital, 2000).

Leasing equipment places a premium on locating network assets in a timely manner to avoid costly surcharges. According to a recent International Data Corporation (IDC) report, PC prices have bottomed, PC residuals will continue to drop and PC refresh cycles will continue to shorten—making leasing an attractive financial alternative to direct ownership. However, the report also cited that the hidden cost due to ineffective and error-prone manual procedures would continue to accumulate and limit the ability of large organizations to realize the financial advantages of IT leasing.

The advent of eBusiness has moved PCs and networks from merely supporting business objectives to enabling business objectives. As a result, dependence on computers and implications of loss have significantly increased. But existing asset management systems are limited in their functionality and do not provide an active control or security solution. A recent International Data Corporation (IDC) report found that less than 50% of the 250 large companies it surveyed actively practice asset management. Small and middle-market companies are thought to be lagging even further.

The Gartner Group predicts that from 2000 through the year 2003, IT asset management programs will be one of the top Chief Information Officer initiatives in 70% of global enterprises. In 1999 it published estimates that every organization can realize cost savings of between 2 and 7% by implementing a formal asset management program.

The inControl^® system serves as the foundation for more expansive asset management programs by integrating its automated physical control and security solution with existing asset and network management discovery and repository tools.

Asset management companies provide the data collection of asset configuration within a central database. Network management companies provide the overall system controls for complex computer networks. The success of any asset management program hinges on first having accurate knowledge of what computer assets the company owns, where they are physically located; and second on having continuous knowledge of when the assets are connected to and disconnected from the network, and who is accountable for their movement. The inControl^®system is able to provide this functionality and is positioned to become the de facto leader for automating the physical management of networked assets.

Cost/Benefit Analysis

(Industry Referenced Data)
 

As the chart above indicates, the deployment of CMS Technologies inControl^® system substantially reduces the total cost of ownership of a computer asset by $140.00 in the first two years and $135.00 every year thereafter. This translates into a saving of $275.00 per asset, based on a life-cycle period of three years. Therefore, a company with 200, 500, 1,000, or 5,000 computer assets would save the following amounts per computer asset over a three-year lifespan:

200 assets = $55,000 savings

500 assets = $137,500 savings

1,000 assets = $275,000 savings

5,000 assets = $1,375,000 savings

Products

inControl^® is comprised of the following product suite:
 
 

EtherLock II Physical Control Unit: The EtherLock II product, utilizes a patented, out of band communications technology, requiring no network bandwidth to continuously monitor and detect the authorized and unauthorized connections and disconnection’s of network equipment. The EtherLock II is physically installed in the IT data closet as an active patch panel between the network hub (or switch) and each connected asset.
 
 

EtherLock ID^® (ELID) Electronic Identification Device: The ELID is a postage stamp size device, powered over the network by EtherLock II, which continuously emits an out of band identification code back to the inControl software and/or central repository. The ELID is physically affixed to an asset and plugs directly into an existing network port. The ELID provides a fixed, guaranteed association between each physical computer asset and its logical attributes such as serial number and/or asset tag, make, model, processor, etc.

Asset and Network Software Package: The Asset and Network Software Package replaces time-consuming database searches with real time management views of the connected assets on a network. It allows IT professionals to receive automatic notification and messaging reports for network surveillance, lease returns and maintenance renewals. The Asset and Network Software Package provides:

• The total number of computer assets off the network along with the asset’s identification numbers, identification descriptions, assigned user names, last disconnection times, location and dates, amount of time off network, and the last connection time
• The total number of computer assets on the network, along with the asset’s walljack/port locations (whether the device is powered on or off or the network is up or down), user names, manufacturer names and product descriptions, security status, and the amount of time on network

The deployment of the inControl^®system ensures that every computer asset is physically tethered to the network. When a computer asset is unplugged and attached to another network port, the inControl^®system logs and records the change, identifies the asset, and continues to track the asset at its new location. If a network connection were broken for any reason, the inControl^®system would automatically detect it and immediately take the action specified by the customer. Such action could be a silent logging of the date, time, location and serial number, a distributed alarm sounding, multiple notifications sent by email, fax, telephone and/or pager, or any combination of these actions. Essentially, the inControl^® system allows large companies to move networked assets freely with automatic record keeping updates and asset/network security being performed in real-time.

inControl^® provides the following:
 
 

• Fully automates the physical tracking of networked assets

• Eliminates building-wide manual searches for a computer asset

• Significantly reduces time spent on costly labor-intensive manual procedures to reconcile logical database statistics with physical tracking of computer assets

• Provides real-time audit reports for computer assets (especially PCs and laptops) being connected to and disconnected from the network

• Substantially reduces overall cost of leasing

• Greatly reduces or eliminates theft of network-connected assets through real-time detection and monitoring, even when they’re not powered on

• Eliminates unauthorized access to network

• Detects and logs the unauthorized removal or movement of computer assets the instant they are disconnected from the network without authorization—plus immediately notifies the proper contact person within the company

• Prevents network access by computer assets that have been moved without prior authorization

• Quick and easy to use when authorizing movement or removal of assets from a network

• Easily integrates with any asset management database, building security systems, or email and paging systems

Summary

Today, companies are only achieving a fraction of their potential return on investment from existing asset management solutions because they lack physical control and security over their networked assets. Before any asset management solution can be truly effective, a company must first gain control and security over its networked assets. The inControl^®system provides asset control and security that serves as the foundation for broader asset management programs.

Background

Founded in 1993, CMS Technologies began developing and marketing theft and security solutions for networked assets. In early 1998, CMS Technologies began to develop the inControl^® system, while deploying a new business strategy that shifted the company’s marketing focus from the theft and security segment to the emerging asset management market. In 1999, the company launched its highly innovative and proprietary inControl^®system that enables physical control, tracking, management and security of computer assets and network ports.