Software Inventory Configuration and Asset Management: Read this whitepaper to learn an effective approach to software compliance.

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THE BUSINESS CHALLENGE

Introduction
Software has become a vital component to the success of a company’s operations.This valuable asset must be accurately tracked and efficiently managed. Yet very few organizations have an effective process for managing their software assets. As corporations continue to grow, so do the number of software licenses and the IT budget dedicated to purchasing and managing those licenses.

Developing and maintaining an effective and efficient software compliance program is vital for the management of software and essential in today’s business environment. Organizations must implement a solution that ensures compliance with current software license agreements and consistently scans for potential violations. By effectively managing software licenses, companies can avoid paying penalties and dealing with possible legal issues while significantly cutting software licensing and maintenance costs.

The Regulatory Environment
The current regulatory environment causes investors, acquirers and corporate officers to be concerned with safeguarding against legal and financial exposure for regulatory non-compliance of software. Under pressure of law, publicly traded companies, financial institutions, health care and other regulated industries must maintain accurate reporting on IT assets and the associated system information within their environment.

Increased Risk of Vendor Audit
"In a time of slow software sales, the risk that vendors will use license compliance audits to extract revenue from their installed bases increases."

Worldwide, the software industry loses approximately $13 billion dollars on pirated software with the most common violation being the number of licenses purchased is less than the number of licenses deployed. Unauthorized software usage is the culprit.

When identifying and preparing to implement an effective and efficient compliance program, it is important that the program include four key elements — policy, people, process and technology.

A. Software Policies
Developing a standardized policy for software license usage is the first step in implementing a sustainable software
compliance program. Without well defined and understood policies, everything else is difficult to manage.

An effective software policy should include:



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