Software license compliance is vital to the security and prosperity of your business. Software copyright, piracy and compliance are strictly governed by federal law. And that law dramatically favors the best interests of software companies, almost entirely.
The financial and operational consequences of not auditing and maintaining your company's software licensing can be catastrophic. It can literally destroy your business.
Relying on the "assumption" that you are compliant, will get you sued.
Without conducting regular, certified internal audits, your company is likely non-compliant, and facing thousands, if not millions of dollars in liability.
One simple method of quickly surmising your organization's liability, is to directly ask the individual responsible for your operation's software purchasing and procurement, the following question:
"Are we compliant?"
If any answer to a question about your organization's software compliancy contains the words "possibly," "probably," "I think," "I don't know," "I'll get back to you," or "I'll have to research that," you are facing extreme liability.
If you get a blank stare, or silence... you are likely facing catastrophic liability.
The only answer that is appropriate is one that resembles, "We have conducted a certified, internal audit within the last 45 days, and the results of that audit are..."
In short, if your organization cannot effectively respond to an adversarial third-party inquiry within 48 hours; which includes precise inventories, an effective response letter, detailed software load locations, user access tables and cross-referenced licensing documents... you are probably NOT compliant.
The only way to know that you are compliant, is to conduct certified, internal audits on a regular basis.
Sadien, Inc. is a consulting group that specializes in software management, software compliance, software piracy, compliancy auditing, intellectual property, Sarbanes-Oxley and various other operational protocols. Sadien is not a law firm, rather an attorney-driven organization dedicated to helping their clients better utilize software management practices and avoid compliance liability issues. Sadien has decades of combined experience in technology, software and intellectual property.
To learn more, visit us at www.Sadien.com, or call us at 615-869-0022.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Are We Compliant? - Sadien on software piracy, software management & license compliance
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