Software Asset Management and the ethical dilemma

05/01/2008

There are multiple demands on the IT departments, multiple threats from software vendors and multiple rights over usage – all of this amounting to a diverse topic “Managing Software”. Due to these pressures, the remit, now widely known as Software Asset Management (SAM), is taking hold across all organisations large and small. Uptake driven by one or all of the above.

Some interesting facts have emerged:

“Although most IT directors would claim to know exactly how many PCs they have on their network, the reality is that more than two-thirds of organisations have a discrepancy of up to 30% between expected and actual inventories”.

This discrepancy poses obvious problems – how can businesses accurately budget and plan if they don’t know what they’ve already got or indeed out of what they do own – what is actually in use? In theory the idea of effective Software Asset Management is that organisations can manage IT assets in order to support business goals, enabling cost controls, strengthen security and improve corporate governance, all while minimising risk.

Whilst there have been concerns expressed around complexity, and “how to get started” these are becoming widely dispelled, as many organisations specialising in SAM, such as Softcat, have educated customers on the process and priorities and how to drive to successful rewards. Such rewards can be high too - according to Gartner, SAM helps organisations save up to 30 % of their IT budget, so it is little wonder that it’s rapidly rising up the CIO’s agenda, despite the concerns around complexity.

Take the example of the Telegraph Media Group. An effective SAM strategy helped the company gain complete control of their IT assets and bring savings of £100,000 from over expenditure on unnecessary licenses.

Although CIOs need, initially, to be aware of the whole SAM process (including deployment and patching), there are some aspects, such as discovery and license management, that are quick and simple to implement. These can deliver a much more immediate business and financial impact: lower costs, greater security, decreased risk and improved corporate governance. These initial steps will also set organisations on the road to achieving full ISO 19770-1 compliance when the time is right.

Alongside the constant and rising threat of audits from vendors and regulatory bodies, there are also some actions being taken by vendors to recognise the efforts being made by customers – such as: simplifying license programmes, free education and raising the ethical argument to the physical users of using non licensed products.

Below we see how Microsoft are tackling the issue by “rubber stamping” customers and how Adobe hope they can re-educate the un-ethical users of illegal software.

Microsoft is certifying customers for a whole 12 months after their SAM engagement and ring fencing them from further investigation. Microsoft want to encourage and support its customers to integrate SAM in their everyday planning and control - working with them to maximise their software investment. Hence, the recently launched Microsoft SAM Programme - www.microsoft.com/uk/licensing/sam. The Microsoft SAM Programme is a framework of steps to help customers complete the first and hardest part of implementing SAM within the business – the software review/audit stage.

There are free tools and licence statements to help get an accurate picture of customer’s Microsoft software assets or, as part of the programme, specialist SAM partners are available to engage with customers and work through the process.

1. Microsoft to provide a Microsoft Licence Statement to the partner on a customer’s Volume Licensing purchases.
2. Microsoft to validate the Proof of Licences presented by the SAM partner on the customer’s behalf.
3. Microsoft to validate the Actual Licence Position presented by the SAM partner on the customer’s behalf.
4. Microsoft will provide assistance on licensing queries to the customer and partner regarding the Microsoft software estate.
5. Microsoft will search for customer’s software licensing data on their internal databases and track the progress completion of The Microsoft SAM Programme.

Adobe now explore the ethical dilemma:

Imagine this scenario; you have just launched your new spring collection of ladies lingerie that has taken the best part of 4 months of design and endless testing and refining. The silk is the very best you could get for that price performance range and the lace is hand woven by a small supplier you located in Wales. The range is featured in the top 5 fashion magazine editorials and even the local 6 o’clock news reader comments on the brave designs during the 20 second news slice you got through good promotion. Your retailers just can’t get enough stock.

A month later glancing in the Sunday glossy magazine you see an advert that features your products, or at least they look like yours but the brand is not yours. It’s a clear copy. Horror, how could someone do that to you? How do you enforce your design rights? It’s neither ethical or fair. We often ask that question when someone takes an idea, a design, a strategy or a vision and calls it their own – just because they can.

Most people will have some empathy with that designer, as we all create intellectual property in one format or another. This defines a differential for us to out perform our competition. Quite often our Intellectual property details are stored electronically. This brings me to the point of software as an asset of the company and its designs are its intellectual property that decides, if, they will have a viable business next year or not. So why do companies not invest in the receptacle that holds their lively hood? Almost like carrying your laptop in a supermarket carrier bag.

Adobe has a significant number of customers in the advertising, publishing and engineering industries in the UK. Our solutions have enabled them to compete and win sizeable business in their respective markets. Many of these customers use licensed and therefore legal software. However others feel it is acceptable to “defer purchasing” until they can afford it. In the meantime they continue to develop and design their ideas using unlicensed software.

Our customers are key to our future development. Without sustainable demand we could not invest in research and development and providing better solutions with each successive release of software. By developing unique intellectual property we create the confidence our customers demand. Yet, if asked, the illegal user of software would defend their own copyright vigorously. They do not work for free. Their drawings or graphical creations are sold to unsuspecting customers who believe they belong to the seller when in reality they probably don’t.

In addition if the buyer were to copy the creative idea from the drawing or the plan they have purchased, they would face strong opposition from the seller, as the seller would be promoting it as their copyright. The mistaken belief is that any work you create using software is your property, even if the software is stolen or copied. However, only work created using legally licensed software gives the creator peace of mind that their hard work is secure.

The vast majority of our customers pay a lot of attention to licence compliance and ensure they work closely with their Adobe dealer to ensure they only deploy legal software. They are vital to our future and we will continue in our efforts to safe guard their interests by investing in compliancy messages and enforcement.

Najeeb Khan
Anti Piracy Manager
Adobe Systems UK Ltd

So many angles to such a diverse topic, to know more about Software Asset Management and the overall business and user benefits, attend our quarterly SAM seminar register at: www.softcat.com/events or call our specialist SAM team who are on hand to advise you on the best initial step towards compliancy and SAM procedures on 01628 403 403.

Further info:
Flash demonstration on License Manager: www.centennial-software.com/license_manager_demo

Source: Gartner, “Life Cycle Management Underpins IT Asset Management,” August 6, 2004