The Season Begins ...

As many major software vendors approach that ever ominous 4th Quarter revenues become very much front of mind, and in a climate of slow sales customer compliance can be an easy target - just consider the rather telling statistics:

Of the US$20 Billion dollars in unlicensed software attributed to the Asia-Pacific region the BSA / Software Alliance considers more than US$500 Million of that figure to be within organisations based in Australia:

Quite an attractive source of ready funds to tap into, and with the Campaign for Clear Licensing (CCL) reporting the average audit spanning 7 months and consuming some 200 hours of IT time www.clearlicensing.org/2016/11/24/audit-report-nov-2016/ it's not just potentially a costly exercise, but also an unwanted disruption to normal business - consider the more detailed timings reported by Cherwell:

So if you haven't seen a dreaded audit letter for some time (and current reported frequencies are as high as one every two years in major companies), or if you have significant arrangements coming up for renewal, you should be taking stock of your software and confirming your compliance position as a priority. 

 What might it cost otherwise?

​The same report suggested over half of respondents paid remedial costs of up to US$5 Million, while you could, like us, be thinking many of those who reported 'None' actually did, they just might not of realised it was built-in to their renewals or other orders.

Of further interest (and perhaps concern) is the recent elevation by the BSA of their "Australian Rewards Program", (www.bsa.org) where individuals who report cases of unlicensed software can gain up to AU$20,000 on successful prosecution or out of court settlement - an attractive amount for any aggrieved employee or perhaps contractor recently let go who might have come across an oversight within your organisation.

The alternative just makes sense - run a compliance report at a minimum and discover what your software landscape actually looks like. The comparative effort and nominal cost could save a lot of grief and damage if (and when) those auditors are sent in. Talk to us about a simple and quick services engagement that will deliver a comprehensive inventory report via our ComplianceWare product, and the addition of our services to then analyse and establish your compliance position.

Software Compliance. 
​Software Certainty.