http://www.frontrange.com

Company help desks face challenges managing compliance

PLEASANTON, Calif. – July 21, 2008 – Since mid-June, computer users from 200 countries have downloaded more than 28 million copies of the new Firefox 3 Web browser, the record-setting software that attracted the most-ever downloads in a 24-hour period, according to its Web site.

Corporate users are certainly among this enthusiastic downloading population. These users – and those who download other types of personal software to their company PCs at their own initiative – can unknowingly place their employer at risk and add to the workload of stressed service desk and IT staff, who must cope with the consequences of unauthorized software on the network.

IT business services management software developer FrontRange Solutions warns that rapid adoption of new applications, without a formal organization-wide approval and implementation plan, is likely to lead to increased call volumes to corporate service desks and could put the organization at a higher risk of system failures or security breaches.

FrontRange recommends that organizations take the following three steps to manage the risk of non-approved software on the network:

1. Create a full and dynamic inventory of all software on the network, highlighting new software installations and discrepancies in version numbers

2. Ensure software inventory information is automatically populated into service desks and help desks to minimize response times to problem tickets

3. Manage the installation of new software onto the network with automated deployment tools

Without such measures in place, companies can find themselves spending valuable time and resources managing upgrades and patches for disparate versions of software across the network.

"For many organizations, standardization remains an ongoing challenge," said Kevin J. Smith, vice president of products for FrontRange Solutions. "Knowing exactly what is already on the network and then proactively managing the adoption of new versions of software is critical to safe and efficient network performance."

"Testing and piloting new software prior to an implementation is a core best practice within the ITIL framework," he continued. "Taking a strategic approach to software asset management is also vital to reducing the overall cost, complexity and risk associated with IT operations."

With its arsenal of leading software for IT lifecycle and service management, including software asset management solutions from its recent acquisition of Centennial Software, FrontRange is well positioned to help organizations achieve widespread IT efficiencies, from full network discovery, through to integrated service desk management and client lifecycle management.

For more information, please visit www.frontrange.com.

About FrontRange Solutions

FrontRange Solutions develops software and services that growing mid-size firms and distributed enterprises rely on every day to build great customer relationships and deliver high-quality customer service. The company applies a unique combination of innovation and automation with a standards-based approach to simplify core business processes, including: IT service management; customer relationship and sales force management; and PC lifecycle management. More than 150,000 of the world's best-known brands use FrontRange offerings to quickly improve their interactions with external and internal clients and achieve better business results. For more information, visit www.frontrange.com.

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PR Contact:

Julia Sinykin

The Hoffman Agency for FrontRange

(303) 327-5491

jsinykin@hoffman.com