Software Audit
A software audit, in the strictest sense, compares the number of software licenses purchased by an organization with the actual number of copies of software installed and/or utilized.
Software audits are occasionally conducted by software publishers in order to determine whether an end-user organization is compliant with its license agreements; if the vendor-initiated software audit reveals that the licensee is out of compliance, it generally requires the organization to "true up," or purchase additional licenses. If a copyright infringement lawsuit is filed by the software publisher, end-user organizations can receive penalties of up to $150,000 for each infringed-upon application.
Software audits are frequently conducted by third-party entities such as the Business Software Alliance (BSA) or the Software Industry Information Association (SIIA), on behalf of software publishers. The BSA, in fact, offers rewards of up to $1 million for employees that "blow the whistle" on their own organizations for engaging in software piracy.
Organizations can also perform periodic internal software audits to ensure and demonstrate to publishers that they don’t have unlicensed software. This process typically includes:
- Discovering and identifying installed commercial software.
- Matching discovered software with license information.
- Identifying deficits between discovered software and licenses purchased.
- Purchasing additional licenses to correct any deficits that exist.
Ideally, the software audit process should also include an audit of software usage in order to ensure that licensed applications are being utilized effectively, and that more licenses are not purchased than are actually needed.
Software Audits Made Easy
Express Software Manager is a powerful software audit tool that collects both software inventory and usage information and integrates it with imported license information. Express Software Manager provides detailed, comprehensive compliance reports showing exactly where you are under- or over-licensed so you can take corrective action.
Dan J. Pfennig, Senior Technical Analyst, Verizon Wireless
