Audit could be yours, VARs told

BSA survey reveals opportunity to provide UK firms with software asset management.

Resellers have a golden opportunity to boost turnover this year by encouraging customers to adopt software asset management as a common practice, according to the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

The claim follows the BSA's latest survey of 200 UK IT and business managers, which revealed that only one in five companies have a system for auditing software installed on their PCs.

Mark Floisand, chairman of the BSA, said: "There is a real opportunity for resellers to point out the importance of asset management to customers and help them stay the right side of the law, especially with the threat of heavy fines or a 10-year jail sentence for piracy."

Unlike hardware asset management, software asset management has been seen by firms as an unnecessary expense in the past, Floisand claimed.

But, according to the BSA, resellers can use their knowledge of licensing and asset management to enhance their relationships with customers.

Alex Tatham, vice president of global software distribution at Bell Microproducts, said that companies are crying out for asset management.

"Software asset management is critical to the running of any business, and there is generally not enough policy management within firms. This means that end-users pay too much for their software and don't know what they should be buying in terms of licensing," he said.

"I don't believe that enough is being done about this by resellers, and it is definitely something that the channel should be offering."

Neil Murphy, managing director of software and services VAR Bytes Technology, agreed.

"I think it is a great opportunity for the channel, and we launched our first asset management offering about a year ago. It is all about trying to persuade customers to manage their software assets sensibly," he said.

"Most customers haven't got a clue about the licensing levels they have in their company and, if resellers can introduce an auditing and asset management system to them, it will probably save them a great deal of money."