License Management

In the Netherlands, a quarter of the installed software is used illegally. This is usually not deliberate, but it is because there is too little knowledge about the available software and software licenses. A large part of the employees has no idea whether there is a policy with regard to licenses within an organization and more than half of the employees who lack such a license policy say that they frequently use software without the corresponding license. Only 30% of Dutch companies have a formal policy regarding the use of legal software.

All in all, that amounts to a commercial value of more than € 500,000,000 (in 2013) and that amount is still increasing every year.

More extensive than drug crime

Cybercrime is bigger than the global black market in marijuana, cocaine and heroin put together, and recent research shows a strong link between unlicensed software and malware. IT managers have long been convinced of the potential damage that illegal software can cause. Yet less than half say he / she is convinced that the software has the correct licenses within their company.

BSA

The BSA (Business Software Alliance) regularly sends letters to companies to indicate good license management. This does not mean that they think you are doing it illegally, but they want to avoid problems. If during an audit of the BSA it appears that you do not have the correct licenses, the costs that you should have paid for the licenses plus a fine will be calculated retroactively. In addition, legal costs may be charged and you will have to ensure that your licenses are in order (by still purchasing the correct licenses).

All in all, the damage of an incorrect licensing policy can add up to costs. And this does not yet include indirect costs such as image damage and loss of turnover as a result of this image damage.

Prevention is better than cure

DATAXXS can take the licensing policy off your hands. We hereby identify which licenses you have in-house, which software is on the equipment and where the differences are. With this you always have an up-to-date overview of the software used and you are sure that you have the correct licenses. In addition, you are also sure that you do not pay unnecessarily for licenses.