How to Manage Software Licenses

Large private companies and public-sector industries often purchase many software licenses in order to legally install software on hundreds, if not thousands, of computers. However, it's not unusual to find that software has been installed beyond the licensing allowance. With the rising number of licensing compliance audits and the large fines that can be levied for being out of compliance, it's extremely important that companies have policies in place to manage their software licenses.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Software usage policy
• Ongoing software inventories/logs

1. Establish procedures for registering, purchasing and installing software. Have all purchasing requests go through a central location so that there are detailed records as to what software was purchased and from whom.

2. Make sure you or your IT department knows the boundaries of the licenses of each software package. Adhere to these boundaries when installing on multiple machines and, if possible, have an employee attend a workshop on software license management.

3. Limit the number of people allowed to install software and appoint a specific person to manage the installation inventory. That person should keep a software log with all product information including: publisher, version, proof of and date of purchase, names of users and the serial numbers of their computers, as well as the serial number of the software.

4. Institute a software usage policy addressing the circumstances under which employees may use the software for which licenses have been purchased. Your policy should take a stance on downloaded software as well. A software audit is tricky enough without having your network taken down by a virus disguised as free, unlicensed software.

5. Ask employees to sign a document verifying they understand the consequences of violating the software usage and installation policies. You may want to include an explanation of the financial ramifications of piracy and misuse of licenses.

6. Inventory software regularly. Keep track of what computer is running what software, how frequently and under what license. The most important thing to know is whether a particular software package is installed beyond its license capacity.

7. Take advantage of the automated inventory software that is commercially available to help keep records of previous inventories.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure to research the limitations of any commercially available management software before making an investment. Check to see if you would allowed to submit it as evidence if you were to be involved in a software audit.

• Though your company can still be held liable for the misuse, check with an attorney about the legality of holding an employee partially responsible for reimbursing the company if he has installed software illegally.

• A hefty fine can be levied per machine on which software is illegally installed.