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22 Jul 2009
Comments:3
The Software Industry Research Board (SIRB) is lending a helping hand to businesses worried by the recent surge in software audits, after the Business Software Alliance (BSA) unleashed its campaign to rid London of software piracy last month.
June saw the BSA launch its two-month campaign designed to eliminate software piracy from the capital’s businesses. Following on from similar campaigns in Glasgow and Manchester, the BSA is conducting software audits on more than 1,000 London-based businesses targeting those that deliberately misuse software licences.
Since the launch, the BSA has taken legal action against several London firms after investigations proved they were under licensed. Many organisations have already been made to pay thousands of pounds to become compliant plus recovery fees.
Further reading
Reassuring businesses that may find themselves subject to a software audit, SIRB is explaining to firms how they can demonstrate compliance ready for when the audit teams come knocking.
SIRB was created in May 2008 with the aim of providing relevant guidance and education to the business community, on the effective management of software licences.
John Lovelock, chief executive of FAST IiS, founders of the SIRB, said: “This is a worrying turn of events but organisations should recognise that implementing an effective software asset management (SAM) programme and demonstrating willingness to get to grips with licensing can head off these risks to their business.
“Software licence management is not sexy, but it is a serious area of compliance that must be addressed properly if firms are to both derive maximum value from their software and move into an area of competitive strength, and conversely to defend themselves against allegations of piracy or under-licensing.”
Market watcher IDC conducted research on behalf of SIRB, revealing 75 per cent of organisations claim to have a formal SAM strategy, but this tends to be very basic, resulting in organisations making poor decisions in relation to their software spend.
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Do you agree?
Keeping track of IT assets needs to be neither expensive or time-consuming
A central register that records the serial number and asset location, as well as the value of each item, will meet the needs of all departments from finance to IT.
Furthermore, managing software licences on the asset register will ensure legal compliance to Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) legislation, helping directors avoid a 10 year jail term which is the maximum sentence for illegal software use.
Asset management is a fundamental business process. It determines corporate value and has a direct impact on profitability. Recording serial number and asset location as well as value meets the needs of the finance team and provides the detailed information required to track assets and their status for local departments.
Any inconsistency between the asset register held within finance and other inventory records in will raise significant doubt for insurance companies, delaying payment at best. At worst an organisation could lose any chance of an insurance pay-out.
By ignoring the importance of maintaining an accurate, centralised asset register, organisations continue to leave a gaping hole in their corporate value and liability. Businesses cannot afford to rely on piecemeal policies and inadequate asset information. It is only by instigating rigorous asset acquisition and disposal policies and recording detailed information about both company hardware and software, that any enterprise can maintain full control of its fixed assets and understand its true business value.
Yours faithfully,
Karen Conneely
Group Commercial Manager
Real Asset Management
www.realassetmgt.co.uk
Posted by Karen Conneely | 27 Jul 2009
Keeping track of IT assets needs to be neither expensive or time-consuming
A central register that records the serial number and asset location, as well as the value of each item, will meet the needs of all departments from finance to IT.
Furthermore, managing software licences on the asset register will ensure legal compliance to Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) legislation, helping directors avoid a 10 year jail term which is the maximum sentence for illegal software use.
Asset management is a fundamental business process. It determines corporate value and has a direct impact on profitability. Recording serial number and asset location as well as value meets the needs of the finance team and provides the detailed information required to track assets and their status for local departments.
Any inconsistency between the asset register held within finance and other inventory records in will raise significant doubt for insurance companies, delaying payment at best. At worst an organisation could lose any chance of an insurance pay-out.
By ignoring the importance of maintaining an accurate, centralised asset register, organisations continue to leave a gaping hole in their corporate value and liability. Businesses cannot afford to rely on piecemeal policies and inadequate asset information. It is only by instigating rigorous asset acquisition and disposal policies and recording detailed information about both company hardware and software, that any enterprise can maintain full control of its fixed assets and understand its true business value.
Karen Conneely
Group Commercial Manager
Real Asset Management
Posted by Karen Conneely | 24 Jul 2009
SAM Self-Assessment available
To help organisation self-assess whether their software management practices are up to scratch, FrontRange Solutions has launched its online 'SAM Analyzer' at http://www.frontrange.com/analyzer.
By answering ten questions, users will get detailed feedback on how they are currently performing against industry best practices.
Posted by Matt Fisher | 23 Jul 2009
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