Many customers ask us whether or not they should buy a standalone Software Asset Management (SAM) system, or purchase the Device42 Software License Management add-on. The Device42 SLM add-on offers a basic, yet powerful set of software license management capabilities – while some standalone tools offer additional capabilities.
Here is a high-level comparison matrix:
| Comparison Matrix | Device42 | SAM Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Software License Management |  |
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| Software Vulnerability Management | |
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| Software Procurement |  |
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| Software Installation and Patching |  |
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| Single Source of Truth | |
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If you already own a SLM solution, and it’s working well for you, by all means, continue to use it. You can still utilize Device42 for its comprehensive discovery and application mapping, the built-in CMDB, DCIM, and other capabilities, simply choosing not to purchase the Device42 SLM add-on.
If you don’t already own a SLM solution, there are benefits to getting SLM as a part of Device42. Not only will the cost of the add-on module likely be much less than that of a standalone solution, the integrated solution also is “more than the sum of its parts”. This is because the more information Device42 has on your environment, the more powerful and therefore useful it becomes as your “Single Source of Truth” on the state of your infrastructure. For example, Device42 can show you vulnerabilities on a device-by-device or rack-by-rack basis. It can also show you application dependencies. Both of these are critical for developing efficient vulnerability patching plans.
Device42 goes beyond license information, helping to identify vulnerable software that may be running in your environment, and then showing you exactly where that vulnerable software is located, as well as any related data about the relevant infrastructure. Leveraging this information, along with Device42’s numerous integrations, powerful and well documented APIs & webhooks, the installation and patching process can be accomplished automatically via Device42 + Puppet/Chef/Ansible scripts.
Furthermore, since SLM is an option in Device42, you are free to use both. Device42 can alert you to the vulnerabilities, and if you so choose, your standalone SLM solution can handle the patching. Device42’s continuous auto-discovery will then pick up and document the updated, patched software versions, thus keeping your SST up to date.
