Will you pass the Software
Compliance test?
Most managers, auditors, accountants, and computer systems staff
are aware of software licensing issues and the requirements to manage
software licenses so that you can demonstrate that you have
legitimately purchased what you have installed.
However some are still
not up to speed on the issues, and some find it difficult to budget for resources (labour and software tools) to enable checking to
occur across an organization, as it is not seen as a priority issue to
consider.
If you can answer the following questions and are better than 90%
confident you know what is installed can be verified by proof of purchase
records etc, then don't bother taking the quiz!
Here is a small sample of the questions -
•
Are sounds, images and fonts subject to copyright laws?
•
Does your company include software compliance "rules" in
your terms and conditions of employment?
•
If they have, can they legally do this?
•
Do you know what you have installed and can you match these with asset
and proof of purchase records?
•
Have you or your staff installed at work your own software to make you
more productive at work?
•
You've just been transferred/promoted to a new role. When you take
control of the PC, will you expect an audit to be conducted to verify
it was a clean "legally compliant" machine before you take
it over?
•
Have you seen a recent management policy/memo/circular about
copying/installing software?
and so on....................
This questionnaire will open your eyes to a wide range of areas that you may never have considered as an auditor in terms of management and
verification of licensing issues on your systems. The issues you face with licensing are becoming even more complex as Linux (that was once FREE) is now being challenged through the courts by SCO in terms of making requests to
large organizations for a sum of $US699 per server for a license fee for software that you had already installed under "free license conditions
that existed before"! The ground has shifted under your feet and many have no idea where you are in terms of licensing!
You may be able to use this as a business case justification for strengthening your requests to management for a better (or even
funding for) audit program which allows you the time and resources to assess the
risk and reduce the risk within your organization! Ask your CEO/CIO/CFO/MD to take
the test and see how they fare!
Take the test by
downloading the zip file
by clicking on the image below and then start working out how you are
going to manage the risks you face with the state you are in!
- PCProfile
now offers the CDROM based Software Compliance Toolbox (C)
2005 Rob Harmer Consulting Services Pty Ltd as
a comprehensive and unique set of self-help procedures and papers
and tools (NO SOFTWARE) on managing software and other files
(images, fonts, sounds etc) across and within any
organization. The
Software
Compliance Toolbox
offers a pragmatic approach to the task offering a sound
management perspective that can be simply applied for all
organizations to easily reduce risk!
-
- The
Software Compliance Toolbox provides detailed information and
guidance on how you can manage software compliance affairs across
the whole organization with a large set (over 70 articles) of self
help articles that are based on audit experiences and knowledge
gained over 15 years in this industry. To gain this level of
detail most sites traditionally engage consultants at expensive
hourly rates to gain the same level of awareness. The
details in the Software Compliance Toolbox (templates, policy,
declarations etc, resources and tools) are designed to enable
sites to "do it themselves", saving costs all round by
focusing on getting back to business basics.
-
Try
the LIMITED RUN e-BOOK Version of the Software Compliance Toolbox
(small selection of files included)
