Sassafras Ships K2 - KeyAuditor & KeyServer 6.1

Hanover, NH: Sassafras Software, the pioneer of desktop software usage
management, began shipping K2 - KeyAuditor & KeyServer version 6.1 today.
K2 6.1 makes auditing, discovery, and management of software programs
easier than ever. A new reporting architecture includes scheduling features
to automatically run reports on a recurring basis, a web interface for
convenience across an enterprise network, several new reports, and a
many-fold speed increase for faster reporting.

K2 is a cross-platform IT asset management (ITAM) tool for software asset
management (SAM), hardware auditing, usage tracking, and software license
compliance. It manages software assets for Windows, Macintosh, and
thin-client computers across any global network including the management of
laptop computers both inside and outside a firewall.

K2 Web Reports: Scheduled Reports & Web Console A new report server
introduces several enhancements. In addition to significantly faster
performance, numerous report templates have been added to K2's extensive
collection of audit, usage, licensing, and charting reports. K2's built-in
report templates support hundreds of reports directly from its management
console.

Reports can be executed from the admin console or from the new K2 Web
Reports Server. All K2 administrative accounts have direct web browser
access within the scope of each account's settings for real- time,
scheduled, and archived reports. Both Divisional and Full administrators
can run reports on-demand for their business units, or schedule them to run
automatically at recurring times during non peak hours.

K2's Web Reports home page also grants guest access to public documents
while managing authenticated access to restricted reports. Notification of
newly published reports can be made available through an RSS feed.
Customized settings and saved report templates allow great flexibility in
meeting site-specific requirements.

Rules-based Filtering for Hands-free Management Version 6.1's discovery
rules will get your IT staff up and running with a Software Asset
Management plan in no time. Discovery rules work automatically during the
audit process to assign management settings to computers and programs, and
to classify them into your predefined categories.

K2 uses your predefined rules to choose between four program action
settings (Controlled, Logged, Audited, or Ignored) and two client computer
settings (Full and Basic) as each computer and program is discovered. You
can alter settings manually if you wish to fine-tune the management
configuration. The correct categorization of computers and programs then
helps make reporting and configuration of software audits and license
management easier and quicker.

Role- and Scope-based Administration
In addition to a fully privileged administrator account, K2 can be
configured for role- and scope-based administrative access. A single-
button setting limits accounts to "Report-only" access for convenient
configuration of departmental reporting accounts for anyone within your
organization.

Enhanced Integration with Active Directory K2 has long supported numerous
industry-standard authentication methods (Kerberos, LDAP, Windows NT,
Active Directory, SQL, and Unix to name a few). Now K2 supports nested
groups when using Active Directory for group membership.

Rapid Client Deployment
K2 6.1 supports rapid, large-scale deployment of the K2 client agent
through the use of Windows MSI and Macintosh Package installers. Client
installers can be easily configured with site-specific options. Deployment
is streamlined using common enterprise deployment tools such as Microsoft
Active Directory with Group Policy Objects, Novell ZENworks, or Mac OS X
Open Directory with Apple Remote Desktop.

Universal Binary Support and Dashboard Widget All 6.1 components are
Universal Binaries, supporting all functions on Intel-Macs. K2 6.1 also
takes advantage of Apple's OS X Dashboard for monitoring the status and
usage activity of a remote KeyServer. The Dashboard widget provides quick
status monitoring of K2, plus convenient access to K2's comprehensive
collection of web reports is just a mouse-click away.

Availability and Pricing
K2 6.1 is shipping now. There will be no price increase for K2, even with
the addition of the new reports Web Server, which compliments K2's license
management and IT auditing functions.

Upgrade costs are computed based on the size of each K2 installation and
its last purchase date. Customers who purchased K2 after November 30, 2004,
and customers with an Upgrade Subscription Contract, will receive K2
version 6.1 at no charge. New purchase costs, which include the entire
package (no add-on components are required), are computed on a per-client
basis with prices ranging from approximately US$10 to US$55 per client with
discounts for educational use.

About Sassafras Software, Inc.
Sassafras Software has been a pioneer in software asset management since
1989. K2 manages software assets across a local or global enterprise with a
uniquely scalable, highly optimized management technology. Business,
education and government customers rely on K2 to manage software assets on
computers throughout the world.

http://www.sassafras.com