Tag: AI

Software Asset Management

Unveiling the Power of Software Asset Management

Michelle

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, businesses heavily rely on software solutions to drive their operations. However, managing a multitude of software assets can quickly become overwhelming, leading to inefficiencies, financial risks, and compliance challenges. That’s where Software Asset Management (SAM) comes into play. In this blog post, we will explore the concept of Software Asset Management, its benefits, and how it can revolutionize your organization’s software management practices.

Understanding Software Asset Management

Software Asset Management (SAM) refers to the strategic approach and set of processes that help organizations effectively manage, optimize, and maintain their software assets throughout their lifecycle. It encompasses activities such as software inventory management, license compliance, software deployment, and tracking software usage. By implementing SAM practices, businesses can gain better visibility into their software assets, reduce costs, mitigate legal and security risks, and improve overall operational efficiency.

Benefits of Software Asset Management:

  1. Cost Optimization: SAM allows businesses to analyze their software usage and make informed decisions regarding license procurement and renewal. By eliminating unnecessary licenses and negotiating favorable terms with software vendors, organizations can significantly reduce costs.
  2. Compliance and Risk Management: SAM ensures compliance with licensing agreements, minimizing the risk of legal and financial penalties. It also helps identify potential security vulnerabilities by keeping track of software versions and applying necessary patches and updates.
  3. Improved Efficiency: SAM streamlines software deployment and usage, ensuring that the right software is available to the right users at the right time. This eliminates the inefficiencies associated with manual software installation and allows employees to focus on their core tasks.
  4. Enhanced Productivity: With SAM, businesses can optimize software configurations and automate routine tasks, improving productivity and enabling employees to work more efficiently.

Implementing Software Asset Management:

To implement SAM successfully, organizations should follow these key steps:

  1. Conduct a comprehensive software inventory to identify all installed software.
  2. Assess license agreements and track software usage to ensure compliance.
  3. Develop centralized processes and tools to manage software assets effectively.
  4. Regularly review and update SAM policies and procedures to accommodate organizational changes.
  5. Educate employees about software usage policies and their role in SAM.

Software Asset Management is a vital practice for modern businesses aiming to optimize their software investments, reduce costs, and mitigate risks. By implementing SAM, organizations can gain control over their software assets, improve operational efficiency, ensure compliance, and drive overall business success. Embracing SAM as a strategic initiative will not only enhance your organization’s software management practices but also enable you to navigate the rapidly evolving digital landscape with confidence.

AI Medical Doctor

Will AI Replace Doctors In The Near Future?

Michelle

Every day there seems to be a new artificial intelligence (AI) that can compare our faces to celebrities or swap faces with friends. But recently the New Yorker published a story about how AI could one day take over the news rooms, and the implications of such a feat. AI are becoming increasingly complex, as their capabilities and level of intelligence increase beyond mere entertainment value and into labor value. Given the upward trajectory of AI intelligence, could AI one day take over the medical field, replacing both doctors and medical grade PCs entirely?

 

Can AI Replace Doctors And Medical PCs?

To answer this question, we first have to take a look at what exactly an AI is. Large AI are typically programs on custom built PCs that unlike normal programs, are not created to perform input output operations, but rather to ‘think’ about operations to produce an output. This is how AI filters that can swap faces in real time work, by thinking about what a face is and how they should be swapped instead of merely copy and pasting two faces. Medical grade PCs, on the other hand, typically rely on traditional software for the role of computing power and use Doctors and other medical staff to do the thinking for them. This is where the potential for AI to replace Doctors creeps up, as in theory a sufficiently powerful AI could do the thinking of a Doctor and the operating of a medical grade PC.

 

Are AI more Developed Than Medical PCs?

While this may seem like a scary notion for medical personnel, the good news for them is that medical AI are not as developed as they are marketed as being. The most famous medical AI would have to be IBM’s Watson, which IBM touted as learning how to be the best AI doctor after it successfully displayed its thinking power by winning Jeopardy in 2011. However in the years since, IBM Watson’s delve into the medical field has been over ambitious. In reality, IBM Watson’s capabilities are more in line with being a useful AI powered tool that doctors can access on their medical PCs rather than a complete replacement.

 

One of the reasons for Watson’s failure stems not from the actual AI, but how it(and AI in general) are marketed. AI, despite popular conception, are not actually all that intelligent. In reality, AI are normally trained by teacher programs to pick up on pattern recognitions. They are rewarded or punished for picking answers, and over time learn to pick up on which answers are right. For instance, the AI filter for face swapping probably had to learn to recognize a face in still images, then in video before it even began learned how to swap them. AI like Watson are marketed as learning computers, implying an active learning approach, when it’s more as though they are taught computers.

 

Combining AI And Medical PCs

However, this isn’t to say that AI does not have a valuable place in the medical setting. Medical PCs with access to medical AI can be a great tool for doctors and medical personnel. Researchers from NYU School of Medicine and the NYU Center for Data Science performed a study on the ability of AI to add value to medical diagnoses made by radiologists. What they found was that AI could detect cancer related patterns that the doctors could not, but also that doctors would find patterns new to the AI. In this way, the study suggested that AI tools on medical PCs could help augment medical staff rather than replace them.

 

Medical PCs, Doctors, And AI Working Together

While it may seem like medical AI are the next step in the evolution of Medical pcs, it’s more fair to say that they are the next iteration of software for medical PCs. Large AI, like IBM Watson, are making headway in learning how to diagnose and recognize the patterns of symptoms, and this can directly benefit doctors in many ways. However, relying solely on AI to make these decisions is not reliable. Using AI powered tools on medical PCs is a solid middle ground for the current state of AI, allowing doctors to get second opinions on x-ray images and to make sure their mistakes are kept at a minimum. A combination of doctors, medical AI, and medical PCs can help keep your hospital at the cutting edge of technology while making sure that diagnoses are safe and accurate. Medical PCs from Tangent are are at the edge of medical PC technology, and can help your hospital prepare for the use of AI tools.

Maintain a Healthy Workforce with Tangent

Michelle

Promoting clean and sanitary work areas isn’t just incredibly impactful in medical settings. Illness costs US employers $530 billion per year in lost productivity, per a 2018 report from the Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI).  Thomas Parry, IBI’s President says that the cost of poor health to employers is greater than the combined revenues of Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, eBay and Adobe. Although illness and sick days are inevitable in a workforce, there are measures that businesses can take to mitigate the spread of germs and infection in their offices. Tangent offers several solutions to bolster healthy habits and reduce easily preventable ailments.

The L24 24” all-in-one desktop computer is the latest offering from Tangent’s business computer series. Being an all-in-one system already cuts down on cluttered desktop space and dust gathering on components and cables. Unlike most desktop computers, the all-in-one PC is treated with an antimicrobial coating that helps prevent the spread of bacteria and the growth of mold spores. The coating has the added benefit of preventing degradation of the plastic materials, giving the computer’s enclosure a longer life and the resilience to stand regular cleaning.  Speaking of cleaning, this all-in-one PC’s enclosure is also rated at an IP65 level of protection against water and dust intrusion. The screen can be sprayed with sanitizer and wiped down without any adverse effects. The L24 comes with both touch and non-touch screen models to best suit business needs. For those requiring touchscreen, the ability to thoroughly clean the screen is monumental to healthy utilization.

Businesses that prefer a traditional mouse and keyboard setup will also need antimicrobial protection and disinfection. For those use cases, Tangent offers antimicrobial, washable keyboards and mice. Most workplaces don’t give a second thought to all the bacteria, old food, and grime on these peripheral devices, but they can be the difference between a productive day or someone calling out. These antimicrobial treated items are an excellent complement to the L24 all-in-one PC.

If a business only has a few antimicrobial protected all-in-one systems deployed but wants to apply protection to their remaining systems, Tangent also has a solution for that. SmartShield is a spray that provides an invisible antimicrobial barrier on computers and components for up to 90 days. It’s easy to apply, eco-friendly, binds safely to any surface, and sets in 3-5 minutes. It’s a wonderful temporary work around until the organization can invest in fully protected all-in-one PC solutions that don’t need to be re-sprayed every few months. It’s quite brilliant how easy it is to prevent illness in an office setting simply by providing computer equipment that will combat infection. It’s an investment that will boost business productivity and have a healthier, happier workforce.