It almost seems unfathomable how much has changed in just 12 months. Looking back on this time last year, we can’t help but think about how different our lives have become, and how lucky we are to still be here, both as individuals and as businesses.
And as the calendar page turns over to another January, we thought it only right to look back on the year we’ve just experienced. Because despite being a year of tremendous turmoil on a global level, there have also been many positive points for Certero as a business, with significant achievements and changes to our operations that have enabled us to support frontline services during 2020 – through the thick and thin.
If anything, this year of upheaval has demonstrated the true importance of businesses leveraging their IT capability the right way, as well as how Digital Transformation is only ever going to become more important for stability and success. So, let’s reflect on some of the highlights of 2020 in this quick run-down article – and hope for more of the same, though in different circumstances, in 2021:
Certero ISO270001 & Certification
Our consistent commitment to customers was recognized in 2020 with the awarding of ISO 27001 certification, as presented by Lloyd’s Register. Specifically, this was awarded for our high levels of security for software development and maintenance, as well as implementation, operations and support of asset management solutions, including those hosted on cloud-based SaaS and IaaS.
We pride ourselves on being the leading provider of unified IT hardware, software and cloud asset management solutions globally, so it was a great honor to finally be recognized by an established industry body for the hard work our teams put in to keep customers protected.
In 2020, security was a major concern for businesses around the world, with staff being forced to work remotely raising serious concerns about whether data or equipment was safe. In fact, 44% of CIOs we spoke to during the first COVID-19 wave stated that security was their biggest issue in the new working setups, with many struggling to get a full view of what their employees were using and installing, creating headaches for the IT teams. That is why Certero has embedded Information Security as part of our culture. From the board down, our Information Management Processes has helped customers have a safer, more reliable experience throughout the year.
But ISO 27001 isn’t just a one-off award. We are committed to continuously improving and reviewing our security standards to ensure our users have the highest possible protection for their needs. Because when IT is taken seriously, companies have an efficient and effective IT estate – not just for 2020, but for the future.
Adapting to COVID-19 and Supporting the NHS
It was becoming clear early in the year that the threat of COVID-19 would reach us all and that keeping staff safe would be a priority. Being a technology business, Certero took the decision to adopt 100% to home-working early in February, ensuring a smooth transition for all staff globally and minimal disruption to operations. Next was the question of what could we do to assist customers through their time of crisis, which included many frontline service providers and some of the largest UK NHS organizations, providing essential healthcare services to millions of people across the country. Certero IT Hardware & Software Asset Management solutions were deemed critical by organizations needing to re-provision staff with the devices, software and services they needed to operate remotely.
Certero responded quickly by communicating a ‘lean on us’ policy to these frontline customers, ensuring that whatever they needed was delivered as an absolute priority, including utilizing Certero’s consultancy services to transition on-premises customers to more simple, hosted SaaS models where required, free of charge.
As 2020 continued to force a rapid modernization upon many organizations and their IT teams, we are proud to have been able to deliver one of the answers to the problem, in the form of rapidly-provisioned, easily-scaled and delivered solutions to keep IT working amidst often turbulent business landscapes.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank those frontline workers and all of the service providers who have worked tirelessly to support us all. With a possible end in sight, we hope that respite comes soon and we look forward to supporting you with the journey ahead, in sincere gratitude and solidarity.
Certero Oracle GLAS Accreditation
Another big leap for us in 2020 was the verification from Oracle of our solution: “Certero for Oracle”. Not only is it another source of pride for us as a business, but to be one of only a few verified third-party tool vendors that are able to have verification demonstrates just how much recognition our solutions have received in the last 12 months.
This accreditation effectively means that data from Certero for Oracle, a solution for continuous inventory and management of Oracle products, will now be accepted by Global Licensing and Advisory Services (GLAS) / License Management Services (LMS), in place of running resource intensive scripts. This will allow businesses to meet their goals faster and bring added efficiency to their organization – helping them to face the challenges of 2021 with more confidence.
Only specific partners are given Oracle’s seal of approval, and this only comes after rigorous testing to ensure it offers the best for their customers. The partnership offers complete visibility of Oracle database usage and removes the complexity of licensing rules and policy interpretations, providing comprehensive summaries for audits and efficient review processes. With budgets being cut throughout 2020, and looking likely to continue in 2021, ensuring that customers are only paying for the software they need is crucial. Our accreditation from Oracle ensures that businesses are rightsizing their environments and protecting themselves from hefty compliance bills, should they be audited in the new year.
Certero-as-a-Service & Digital Transformation Edition
The year of great change made Certero’s strategic decision to adopt the ‘Certero-as-a-Service’ model even more advantageous, proving that the ability for businesses to Digitally Transform was not only desirable now, but is in fact essential. For Certero’s customers, this meant having the ability to really understand their capability, reliably measure IT, report, strategize and to know how to rapidly adapt to changing demands. The answer here is beyond simple hardware or software asset management tools in isolation – it is instead about the bigger picture: how does IT harness the power of its data, maximize its resources, and be ready for anything?
Certero had already begun transitioning away from the limiting perception of being just an ITAM or SAM solution provider, towards the more accurate reality of what the Certero solution really delivers, and that is an end to the chaos of bad data within IT; an end to the headaches of relying on multiple toolsets to manage different IT assets; a chance to alleviate the worries of constantly needing additional toolset after toolset to keep the risks and costs of emerging technologies under control. One simple SaaS platform for unified IT asset management, from mobile to datacenter to SaaS & Cloud.
We’re passionate that the Digital Transformation of IT that has been so neatly packaged now in the ‘Certero for Digital Transformation Edition’, can equal the competitive advantages that businesses need to adapt and thrive. The old challenges of manually compiling, reporting, and understanding complex data within IT are gone. The new world of automation, simplicity and readily available deep-insight into IT is now here. Plus, whatever the ideal asset management solution for your business may be, it’s now completely available for you, and available quickly.
As we all begin to emerge from the fog of pandemic and business look to new horizons and opportunities, it’s reassuring to know that the culture of innovation and evolution within Certero has created an opportunity to effect real change for IT – and fortunately, right as it’s needed.
Gartner Peer Insights & Certero – The Customers Choice
2020 represented a unique situation for our industry. As mentioned, the COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst for many organizations to lean into their digital transformation, creating complex hybrid environments which brought their own challenges to the table when it comes to managing IT. So, for us, it was imperative that businesses had a tool which met their needs, empowered them to make strategic decisions, and added value!
One of the biggest achievements of the year for us as a business was being recognized as a Gartner Peer Insights Customer’s Choice for Software Asset Management Tools in December 2020. This was awarded based on feedback and ratings from end-user professionals who have experience purchasing, implementing and using our products and services – showing just how much of an impact our solutions have for real people in real-world environments!
Our SAM technologies that were reviewed for the Gartner distinction offer a unified, SaaS-ready platform, removing the need for manual installation, configuration or on-premises maintenance. This means that users can gain actionable insights they need to control costs, counter audits, maintain compliance, minimize risk and enable employees. We believe that being named a 2020 Customers’ Choice for Software Asset Management Tools validates the commitment we have to our customers; to provide a world-class product with an outstanding customer experience to support it. We have continued, and will always continue, to innovate while we execute on our product roadmap to meet the needs of our customers and are grateful for the feedback they share with us on Gartner Peer Insights.
Despite the turmoil of the past 12 months, we hope that this brief rundown of some of our recent successes will give you reasons to feel hopeful. We’re extremely proud that we’ve been able to facilitate efficient, effective solutions for businesses when they’ve needed it most – and fully deliver on our promises to help cut down costs and cut down stress, enabling people to focus on what they do best! Whilst we can only hope that 2021 brings a bit more certainty, we hope most of all that we can continue to be there to support our customers whenever they need us.
Thank you for sticking by us this year, and we hope to continue our great work together through 2021 and beyond.
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