Catapult Public Relations

DANUBE OFFERS SCRUMWORKS® PRO THROUGH PERPETUAL LICENSE MODEL

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:58:50 +0000

Company Delivers the Industry's Most Widely Used Enterprise Scrum Management Tool without Subscription Restrictions

BELLEVUE, Wash., Nov. 17, 2008 - Danube Technologies, Inc., http://www.danube.com, the leader in software and training for the Scrum method of agile software development, is now offering its ScrumWorks® Pro management tool exclusively through a perpetual licensing model that provides a simplified, enterprise-friendly approach to deploying software. Driven by direct demand from Danube's growing roster of enterprise customers, the perpetual pricing model replaces its former subscription-based pricing model.

The new perpetual licensing model eliminates the need for renewals and provides stronger internal controls. ScrumWorks Pro perpetual licenses will be offered through both "per-seat" and "concurrent user" models to provide well-matched solutions to Danube's diverse customer base. The concurrent user model is designed for Danube's enterprise-level customers and requires a minimum volume requirement.

"As our customer base transitions towards larger organizations with established purchasing processes, Danube is adopting a more traditional approach to licensing to better fit corporate needs," said Victor Szalvay, Danube CTO and Product Owner of ScrumWorks Pro. "This new model allows customers to know their software procurement costs upfront, and fits into existing Fortune 500 IT purchasing patterns."

As opposed to the time-limited, pay-for-use scenario of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) pricing model, the perpetual licensing model provides Danube customers with full rights to and uninterrupted usage of the industry's most advanced and comprehensive Scrum software tool for a one-time fee. Danube's perpetual license provides customers with access to ScrumWorks Pro without the hassle and uncertainty of monthly fees (which are increasingly requested in annual, up-front payments). With a perpetual license, Danube customers retain full usage rights of the software and are able to control upgrades internally as needed. It also empowers enterprise organizations to reap the benefits of Scrum without constant disruptions to productivity with forced new versions, as well as unused and unwanted feature functionality.

Danube's new perpetual subscription pricing offers:
• "True-Cost-of-Ownership": Now, the actual cost of maintaining ScrumWorks Pro is a known quantity. With SaaS subscription models, fees can fluctuate, extra expenses can be added, and the actual overall cost exceeds those of perpetual licenses over time.
• Simplified Procurement: Perpetual licensing eliminates the need for yearly licensing purchase orders.
• Application Efficiency: Enterprise customers can easily monitor and re-allocate Danube software based on actual usage and organizational requirements.
• Elimination of Hidden Fees: SaaS subscription models can result in higher-than-anticipated implementation, integration and infrastructure expenses. A perpetual license ensures an organization's initial investment is consistent and does not increase with each new version or update.
• Paying for Direct Value: Because Danube's only product offering is ScrumWorks, customers can know that fees directly finance improvements to the tool, including additional functionality. Often, vendors inflate fees in order to finance the development of additional products, which may not necessarily result in software that is relevant or valuable to the customer.
• Supports Large Enterprise Requirements: Danube's perpetual licensing dovetails with the growing need to host vital data, such as strategic software product development information, in-house. Delivered through an on-premise model and perpetual license, ScrumWorks Pro helps large enterprise customers keep data safe and secure, while eliminating the potential risk that proprietary information will be 'leaked' to or accessed by competitors.

"While Software-as-a-Service offers clear benefits to small- and mid-sized organizations, we are witnessing unmatched demand from our enterprise customer base for perpetual licensing that grants full control of the product, how it is used and deployed, and addresses the growing concern of unknown cost of ownership associated with the subscription pricing model," said Laszlo Szalvay, president and co-founder of Danube. "Danube is committed to simplifying and improving the flexibility of licensing for our enterprise customers and, in turn, we are seeing increased adoption of this new model."

New Licensing Details
Under the new licensing model, ScrumWorks Pro will be available for $500 USD per user (per-seat) and provide perpetual access to the tool without recurring subscription fees. Unlimited access to technical support and regularly released product upgrades is available through a renewable, annual support contract. Danube also offers concurrent licenses; interested parties are encouraged to inquire for eligibility.

About Danube Technologies
Founded in 2000, Danube provides software and training exclusively focused on the Scrum method of agile software development. The company's ScrumWorks® Pro and ScrumWorks Basic products are licensed to more than 92,000 software professionals worldwide, making it the most widely used software in the industry for managing Scrum projects. Danube complements its software offering with a comprehensive schedule of ScrumCORE^TM training courses, which are taught globally by Danube's five Certified Scrum Trainers. The company's on-site software delivery model makes it the leading choice for enterprises of all types, including large corporate and government organizations, which require the utmost in security, compliance, ease-of-use and customization. Danube's customers include Adobe, Amazon.com, AMD, F5, General Electric, HP, Intel, Intuit, Kofax, LexisNexis, Microsoft, Motorola, Oracle, QVC, Siemens and Sun Microsystems. Danube is self-funded and has achieved steady organic growth as Scrum has emerged as the preferred agile method for developers and executives. The company is headquartered in Bellevue, Wash. and has a sales office in Portland, Ore. Please visit www.danube.com or call (503) 248-0800 for more information on Danube.

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Danube Press Contact:
Christie Denniston
Catapult PR-IR
Office: 303-581-7760, ext. 13
Cell: 303-827-5164
cdenniston@catapultpr-ir.com

ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES OFFERS

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:56:30 +0000

Latest study shows CMDB deployments maturing from planning phase to second stage, new EMA services help drive value and success

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 13, 2008 - Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) (www.enterprisemanagement.com), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today announced new research and a series of service offerings focused on Configuration Management Database (CMDB) implementations. The new research report, CMDB Systems Deployments in 2008 - the Search for Value, is complemented by a set of offerings that includes CMDB consulting services and a one-day CMDB Requirements Workshop.

"Our new research reveals that CMDB deployments are at a fundamentally different stage than just two years ago, as they move from the planning stage to value-driven initiatives," explained Dennis Drogseth, vice president at EMA. "Based on industry input, our new offerings are designed to help IT professionals accelerate their CMDB projects through thorough assessments and practical advice on how to effectively define and build the CMDB from the ground level."

The goal of the new EMA research study was to capture the state of CMDB deployments in 2008 in terms of objectives, budgets, success metrics, functional and packaging priorities (what's working, what's not), and best-practices advice from adopters. Drogseth and his team gathered 174 quantitative survey responses and conducted more than 15 in-depth focal interviews with IT professionals actively involved in the planning or deployment of their organization's CMDB. The respondents were 90 percent from North America, but focal interviews reached out to deployments ranging from Australia to the U.K.

Key study findings include:

Most CMDB deployments are less than two years underway, with 43 percent less than a year underway and 68 percent not yet in full production.
Fewer than 50 percent of CMDB initiatives currently have metrics in place for governance. The relative immaturity of metrics definition was underscored by the fact that only three-four percent of respondents had "other" metrics to offer than those proposed in the questionnaire.
The top three technical concerns for CMDB deployments are "maintaining effective CMDB performance;" "lack of in-house available architectural expertise;" and "identification of systems of record" or trusted sources.
The number one answer to "what would you have done differently?" was "We would not have used in-house development for software as much as we did." This was followed by better detailed requirements, better process planning and education, building a bigger team for CMDB deployment, and more attention to communication across IT.

When asked about changes made that were driven from "lessons learned," the top four were: better requirements documentation; increasing the commitment to the CMDB program; having higher-level management support; and obtaining executive buy-in. Expanding the number of stakeholders came in fifth.

Drogseth will conduct a free EMA Webinar highlighting additional key findings from this study on August 19. To register, please visit: http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=cmdbreswebpr0808&bs=cmdbresweb0808

New CMDB Service Offerings
In conjunction with the release of this new research report, EMA has introduced several new service offerings to help IT organizations succeed with CMDB:

CMDB Assessment Service
The eight-week CMDB Assessment Service leverages Enterprise Management Associates' unique combination of industry knowledge, product knowledge and proven consulting methodology to deliver a practical approach to planning and implementing a CMDB. During the engagement, EMA CMDB experts work with IT teams to assess their readiness to tackle a CMDB; develop specific process, organization and technology architecture recommendations; and create an implementation roadmap that lays out short-term wins in the context of a long-term vision.

CMDB Solution Design Service
The EMA CMDB Solution Design Service helps IT teams establish and validate the detailed requirements for tools, processes and people. During this six-month engagement, EMA experts work with clients to document detailed business and technical requirements, deliver comprehensive process definitions and develop pilot project use cases.

CMDB Requirements Workshop
The new one-day EMA workshop - How to Define Detailed Requirements for your Enterprise CMDB Project - arms attendees with the knowledge needed to articulate the context of the CMDB at both an executive and a technical level. Workshop attendees obtain the skills and tools to gather and create detailed requirements needed for long-term CMDB success.

EMA also offers a free, online CMDB Solutions Center where users can compare in-depth profiles of more than 15 leading CMDB solutions to find the right one for their organization. Register for free access at: http://itsolutions.emausa.com/register.php

For more information on Enterprise Management Associates' new CMDB offerings or to purchase a copy of the report, CMDB Systems Deployments in 2008 - the Search for Value, contact sales@enterprisemanagement.com or +1.303.543.9500.

NOTE TO EDITORS

For more information, contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com at 303-581-7760 x17

About Enterprise Management Associates
Founded in 1996, Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) is a leading industry analyst and consulting firm dedicated to the IT management market. The firm provides IT vendors and enterprise IT professionals with objective insight into the real-world business value of long-established and emerging technologies, ranging from security, storage and IT Service Management (ITSM) to the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), virtualization and service-oriented architecture (SOA). Even with its rapid growth, EMA has never lost sight of the client, and continues to offer personalized support and convenient access to its analysts. For more information on the firm's extensive library of IT management research, free online IT Management Solutions Center and IT consulting offerings, visit www.enterprisemanagement.com.

EMA ANNOUNCES IT MANAGEMENT WEBINARS FOR JUNE

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:01:00 +0000

Topics include Data Center Automation, Asset Management, End-to-End Application Management, Software Licensing and CMDB

BOULDER, Colo., June 2, 2008 - Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) (www.enterprisemanagement.com), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today announced it will host a number of free Webinars focused on IT management during the month of June 2008.

The EMA™ Webinars set for June include:

Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - 2 p.m. Eastern

Solving Key Human Issues in Large Enterprise Data Centers with Data Center Automation

http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=strataviawebpr0608&bs=strataviaweb0608

Andi Mann, EMA research director and Mike Puterbaugh, vice president of Stratavia will discuss important outcomes from in-depth research on top human issues in the operation and management of large enterprise data centers. The results are based on a study conducted by EMA in March 2008.

Thursday, June 5, 2008 - 2 p.m. Eastern

The Changing Face of Asset Management: Merging Asset, Service and Financial Management

http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=ngamwebpr0608&bs=ngamweb0608

EMA research director, Lisa Erickson-Harris will discuss how asset, service and financial management are coming together to serve a greater business purpose. She also will explore how asset management has evolved to take a holistic view of the central role assets play in the modern IT organizations.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 2 p.m. Eastern

Three Steps for Effective End-to-End Application Delivery over the Network

http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=anwebpr0608&bs=anweb0608

Many IT organizations struggle to effectively manage the performance of business applications over complex networks. Dennis Drogseth, EMA vice president and Steve Mank, Apparent Networks chief marketing officer will explore emerging best practices and new technology alternatives to address this challenge.

Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 11 a.m. Eastern

Cut the Cost of Data Center Software Licensing

http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=twwebpr0608&bs=twweb0608

Without a thorough understanding of how software licenses are bought, allocated, and used, it is almost impossible to reduce or even manage these costs. Andi Mann, research director from EMA and Kosten Metreweli, vice president of product marketing for Tideway will discuss how to manage the key issues regarding license cost management and compliance risk reduction.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - 1 p.m. Eastern

End-to-End Application Management 2008: What Does It Really Mean and How Do We Do It?http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=otwebpr0608&bs=otweb0608

EMA senior analyst Julie Craig and OpTier executive vice president of business development and marketing Motti Tal will discuss how to effectively manage the multi-dimensional application landscape that many IT organizations struggle with.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - 2 p.m. Eastern

End-to-End Application Management: A Real-World Road Map Beyond the Cliché http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=endtoendwebpr0608&bs=endtoendweb0608

Over the past six months, EMA has conducted research to detail the multi-dimensional approach necessary to understand and manage complex business applications in today's marketplace. EMA vice president Dennis Drogseth, EMA senior analyst Julie Craig and EMA consulting director of IT services Chris Matney will share highlights from this study during this one-hour event.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 2 p.m. Eastern

A Hands-on Guide to Defining Detailed Requirements for Your Enterprise CMDB Projecthttp://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=cmdbreqwebpr0608&bs=cmdbreqweb0608

Fifty percent of all CMDB projects fail due to inadequate planning. During this hands-on workshop, EMA CMDB expert Chris Matney will explain how to avoid failure by defining and documenting detailed CMDB requirements that are both appropriate for your organization and achievable given available resources.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

For more information, contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com or 303-581-7760 x 17.

About Enterprise Management Associates

Founded in 1996, Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) is a leading industry analyst and consulting firm dedicated to the IT management market. The firm provides IT vendors and enterprise IT professionals with objective insight into the real-world business value of long-established and emerging technologies, ranging from security, storage and IT Service Management (ITSM) to the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), virtualization and service-oriented architecture (SOA). Even with its rapid growth, EMA has never lost sight of the client, and continues to offer personalized support and convenient access to its analysts. For more information on the firm's extensive library of IT management research, free online IT Management Solutions Center and IT consulting offerings, visit www.enterprisemanagement.com.

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