FAST Ltd: The Complete & FAST Way To Get Compliant

• New partnership offers complete software asset management and IT compliance consultancy and solutions for FAST customers

FAST Ltd, a leading UK authority on Software Asset Management and IT Compliance, announced today it has signed an agreement to partner with IT Asset Management (ITAM) expert Express Metrix, to offer a new software tool to its customers, providing the complete software compliance package from a single provider. 

From Spring 2011, FAST Ltd will offer its customers FAST Express Software Manager, a specialised software and hardware asset management solution designed to provide organisations with comprehensive IT asset reporting. The solution gives customers the tools and information needed to stay compliant with licence agreements, eliminate spend on unused software, manage hardware inventory, and track and report on IT purchases.

FAST Express Software Manager will be exclusively available to customers on the FAST Programme as an additional tool to support the existing FAST Compliance Manager product - ultimately offering its customers a complete package for all their IT software and asset management compliance requirements.

Matthew Barnes, Managing Director at FAST Ltd commented: “According to our 2010 FAST Ltd Customer Survey, the number of organisations that had received software audits from vendors or enforcement agencies in the previous 12 months had risen by almost 100 percent and more than half (55 percent) of the respondents surveyed had been audited by a software publisher or other body in the previous 12 months alone. 

“These figures show that it’s imperative that organisations have an understanding of what they own. You can’t manage what you can’t see and the Inventory feature of FAST Express Software Manager allows you to identify the entirety of your organisation’s IT estate, including the hardware assets. Software Usage Metering and Application Control can also be used to ensure that you get a complete and accurate picture of the software that your organisation is actually using, and therefore ensuring you are controlling costs in an effective manner - which let’s face it, is vital in this current climate. 

“The partnership with Express Metrix is an exciting development for FAST Ltd as we can now offer our customers a complete package, which is great news for many organisations looking to work with one specialist company to ensure they are legally compliant.”

Grant Brierley, VP Sales & Marketing for Express Metrix in EMEA added: “FAST Ltd is an expert in the field of SAM and IT compliance. Organisations nowadays are looking for a complete solution and service offering, rather than having to deal with a number of different companies to help ensure they are compliant. It was therefore only natural that we would partner with FAST Ltd to provide this whole package to organisations across the UK.”

The partnership comes at a good time for FAST Ltd, which recently announced new developments for 2011. It is updating its FAST Standard for Software Compliance (FSSC-1:2011) and introducing the brand new FAST Software Lifecycle Management Programme (FSLMP). The new FSLMP is a process driven approach for customers who have achieved Gold level software licence compliance and are looking to take the next step towards full Software Asset Management (SAM).

More information on the new partnership with Express Metrix and updates to the FAST Standard for Software Compliance will be available on the FAST website soon, www.fast-compliance.co.uk. 

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Notes to editors:

About FAST Ltd:

FAST Ltd, part of IRIS, is the UK’s leading authority on Software Asset Management and IT Compliance, providing software, education, consulting and managed services. For over 24 years FAST Ltd has helped over 8,000 organisations control their IT costs, mitigate risk and deploy best practice IT using expert impartial and independent advice.

The FAST Compliance Programme focuses on helping organisations achieve ‘best practice’ in IT and software compliance. The business supports its 2,700 customers to reach and maintain The FAST Standard for Software Compliance (FSSC–1:2007), a private Standard which was developed in collaboration with BSi. The FAST Standard also addresses a significant proportion of the requirements of ISO/IEC 19770-1, the International Standard for Software Asset Management. The Federation Against Software Theft Investors in Software (FAST IiS), which aims to combat software piracy, endorses the Standard.

FAST IiS, which is a not for profit organisation limited by guarantee is owned and funded by its members – software publishers, solicitors, IT resellers etc. FAST Ltd has a mandate from FAST IiS to advise and help UK organisations on the issue of software compliance and promote the legal use of software and it is the only organisation that meets the FAST IiS’ mandate.

About Express Metrix ®

Express Metrix, a 15-year veteran in the IT and software asset management space, focuses on serving organizations whose need for accurate, comprehensive IT asset reporting and trouble-free management isn’t met by enterprise-oriented framework products or less sophisticated inventory tools.

Express Software Manager ®, Express Metrix's flagship product, integrates all the data related to organizations' IT asset inventories, usage, entitlements, and purchases. Express Metrix recently welcomed its 5,000th customer, having earned a reputation for delivering superior IT asset reporting, ease of deployment and use, and outstanding customer support. Winner of the SIIA's CODiE Award for "Best Asset Management Software," Express Metrix is a Microsoft certified partner and is Citrix Ready.

More information about Express Metrix can be found at www.expressmetrix.com. 

For further information:

Bridgette Dewar
C8 Consulting Ltd for FAST Ltd
+ 44 (0) 118 9001134
bridgette@c8consulting.co.uk