Software License Compliance – a risk not worth taking? In a recent press release on the Business Software Alliance’s Web site, the BSA’s UK-based Michala Wardell reminds anyone listening that not paying attention to compliance can results in penal costs that far outstrip the nominal cost of the software in question. The offending Scotland based organization … Continue reading License Compliance not going away as significant risk issue
IT Asset Management – multiple areas of RoI The commonly cited and generalized reasons for making the effort with ITAM are reducing risk and reducing cost. Less often quoted, but equally valid, is an increase in user productivity. In a short white paper that you’re welcome to download (no registration required), we set out in … Continue reading The breadth of opportunity for RoI in IT Asset Management
Has your organization ever sold a retired computer with applications still installed? Have you ever purchased software this way? A recent court ruling in Seattle has sent a chill down the spine of many IT Asset Managers around the world as the U.S. District Court upheld that software publishers can prevent their products from being … Continue reading Court ruling hikes pressure on Software Asset Management
IT Asset Management – foundation for action Vector’s quarterly strategy review was held in our Montreal office over the second half of last week and Saturday, and at a lodge hotel out in the country on Sunday until we had to head for the airport. As usual, we considered short term needs, medium term objectives, … Continue reading ITAM – basis for effective and pro-active control
Software Inventory Analysis with Black and White Lists One of the most basic – and most immediately useful – uses for rich software inventory information, is white list and black list reporting. A white list of applications which every PC should have installed, and a black list of applications that should not be found on … Continue reading White List – Black List – SAM
As an IT professional, how bad do you think the non-compliance situation is in your organization? In very many organizations today, the top brass still hasn’t got the message on the potential cost savings from a strong SAM program, or on the risk reduction, or simply on the organization’s legal obligations to its suppliers as well … Continue reading Non-compliance in licensing – it’s so easy!
iPad as an IT asset: does the iPad make the grade in your organization? Your organization may be one of those in which a section of employees, and users of the IT resource you provide or manage, have decided they could work more productively if they had iPads. Have they been able to present a … Continue reading Should the ITAM office worry about ipads?
Software Asset Management: fundamentals for compliance Many organizations are grappling with the twin problems of adequately identifying the software they have installed, and correctly interpreting the usage entitlements defined in the pages and pages of software licenses they hold. New laptops and netbooks will often come pre-loaded with suites of utilities – some of them … Continue reading Pirated software: are you sure you are in the clear?
Software License Management for Compliance Organizations which have successfully tackled the challenges of accurate software inventory often turn their attentions to getting to grips with the wide range of license documents they hold. For compliance, the fundamental question at any point in time is – “Have we got enough documented entitlement to cover the number … Continue reading License Management: Static Recording is not enough
Many of our customers are becoming more pro-active in the management of their software assets, driven by the twin concerns of shelf-ware and escalating vendor audit activity. No two organizations take precisely the same approach to the topic. Those just emerging from an expensive audit cycle are looking primarily to ensure that a repeat event will not be so … Continue reading Software License Compliance and ISO 19770-1