Unlicensed software rates 'fantastic opportunity' for the channel
Value of unlicensed software in UK opens up sales opportunity for channel, says BSA
The amount of unlicensed software in the UK is actually an opportunity for the channel to win new revenue streams, according to the Business Software Alliance (BSA).
The latest BSA report found that 22 per cent of software in the UK is unlicensed, a decrease of two percentage points from 2013. Worldwide, the report found that 39 per cent of software installed on computers was unlicensed.
Speaking to CRN, the BSA's senior legal counsel Warren Weertman, said: "In the UK, the value of unlicensed software is approximately $1.9bn. That is a fantastic opportunity for the channel to look at how they engage with their clients, to look at what they can do to drive more sales."
The amount of unlicensed software in the UK has actually decreased two percentage points since 2013. Weertman attributes this in part to the growing adoption of software asset management (SAM).
He explained: "If you look at the way the channel operates nowadays, it is not just a case of selling a company's boxes anymore. We are seeing a lot of companies in the channel offering SAM services and then linking those services together with sales.
"That has in part been driven by some of the BSA members like Microsoft trying to make their customers more aware to the dangers of unlicensed software. One of the main messages in this is that the best way to manage your risk is to implement SAM and be really aware of what it is that you've actually got installed on your machines."
The other main reasons Weertman gave for the decrease in unlicensed software were the increasing market for cloud subscriptions and the increase of legal settlements against companies using unlicensed software.
"As people start moving away from perpetual licensing models to a model where people can choose how long they want to subscribe for, it is giving consumers greater flexibility over the length of time that they need to be using that software for," he added.
"Also what we have seen is in 2015 there was a 58 per cent increase in the number of companies that are reported to us for using unlicensed software. I think this is as the risk message gets out there, people are becoming more aware of what is actually happening within their organisations. It's almost like this circle that just keeps reinforcing itself."
Despite more companies being aware of the software in their organisations, Weertman said that there are still a lot of companies who don't know that they actually have unlicensed software in their systems.
He explained: "26 per cent of employees admitted to installing a personal piece of software on their work computers. So it may be that quite often companies aren't even aware of the fact that they've got unlicensed software. It is important to differentiate between the companies that are actively aware they are doing it and those who are actually unaware."
Regardless of the decrease in unlicensed software in the UK, Weertman said he can't see there being a time when there is no unlicensed software worldwide.