We frequently get tech support calls from frustrated customers wanting us to tell them what ASNA products they use and what those products are doing for them. The first part of that question is often challenging for us to answer and the last part is quite nearly impossible for us to answer!
What ASNA products are you using
It’s important for our customers to know what products they are using and what solutions those products are providing for them.
To answer that question, customers often turn to their PCs and Windows servers and look at the ASNA Registration Assistants on them. However, upon close inspection the Registration Assistant may have several products licensed that are no longer, or perhaps never, used. While, we can look in our license manager to see what products have been licensed, many of our license manager records are many years old and may reflect licensed products that are no longer in use.
How do customers acquire orphan keys? The most common reason for orphan keys is that someone wanted to try something (like DataGate for SQL Server) and then decided, for whatever reason, that it wasn’t necessary or didn’t fit the challenge well. Next thing you know inertia and office urban legends take over and the product is licensed (and paid for) forever just because.
What solutions are your ASNA products providing
Regarding what solutions ASNA products provide for an organization is very challenging for us to know. We can guess, but it’s just that, a guess. It’s amazing how many customers we talk to who don’t even know if they are really using any ASNA products (all the while paying us money!).
This usually occurs after a succession of decision makers move in and out of various positions within the organization. One manager may have championed Visual RPG years ago that is now doing a very important, but maybe minimally visible or sexy, task. As managers get replaced, there is less communal knowledge and the next thing you know, the latest manager doesn’t even know if Visual RPG is being used anywhere or if it is, what it is doing.
Newer managers today often finds out about an ASNA product when a Windows update zaps a Visual RPG deployment license and they have no clue what to do—or what the product is doing that needs a license. They usually find out late in the afternoon after putting off doing anything when the shipping department starts screaming that they can no longer print shipping labels (or something similar).
In virtually every case, this kind of stuff never gets managed by the new managers! They are too busy reaching out, touching base, taking deep dives, boiling the ocean, circling back, moving the needle, drilling down, or honing their core competencies. (sorry, my cynicism creeped in!)
You need an ASNA Product Tsar
Every ASNA customer should have an ASNA Product Tsar. Your ASNA Product Tsar should maintain the list of products your organization uses. This list should provide:
- Product name and current build
- Where the products are installed
- Date of last update with from and to versions noted
- The purpose of the product
- Briefly developers (by name) associated with ASNA products
Organizations often lose critical ASNA expertise when their champions retire, as there is typically little written documentation to pass on to their successors.
Be the exception! Write this stuff down!