That could prove to be a very costly assumption, though. Not knowing which programs are running on your network’s machines has consequences — especially if it turns out that employees are running pirated or unauthorized versions of programs. According to the Business Software Alliance deliberate and unintentional piracy and theft costs organizations millions of dollars every year in fines, not to mention possible criminal penalties.
If the threat of legal action from software developers isn’t reason enough to know and maintain the software licenses on your business machines, here are several other good reasons to conduct regular software audits.
Cost Savings
Not only does auditing software identify unauthorized software operating on your network, it also identifies those programs that are going unused, or are inadequate for their unintended purpose, allowing you to make more affordable replacements. Many software developers are moving toward a software monetization model that includes usage monitoring, which allows companies to pay only for those features that are being used instead of a whole suite of unnecessary applications. Audits also contribute to cost savings by:
·Identifying licenses that are no longer in use. These can be transferred to other machines or users, or saved until needed.
·Identifying programs in which shared licensing may be appropriate. For example, a department could maintain a shared computer on which employees could access a rarely used, but still necessary, program only when necessary, thus negating the need for multiple licenses.
Enhanced Security
Experts note that about 90 percent of employees in most organizations do not need administrator privileges on their machines. However, in many companies, employees have those privileges and are able to download or install any programs they wish without approval. This is dangerous, because there a greater risk of piracy, and it’s possible that employees could download unapproved software that is full of malware that puts the network security at risk. The FBI notes that there is an almost 100 percent chance that inexpensive versions of popular programs that aren’t purchased from authorized sellers contain some form of malware, and for a business, the result of that infection could be devastating.
A software audit identifies those unapproved programs for further investigation and if necessary, removal. It can also help identify those machines that contain unwarranted administrative privileges, allowing you to restrict those privileges to better protect the network and curb unauthorized software.
Conducting regular software audits as part of an overall software management plan helps ensure compliance, not only with the laws and regulations of the software industry, but also with your own internal policies. Employees are less likely to attempt to circumnavigate the rules if they know that their activities are being monitored and if they do break the rules, there are clear consequences. Should an outside agency like the BSA investigate your company for suspected software violations, having a written policy and a history of audits may help provide a defense against serious fines and penalties.
Establishing a procedure for regular software audits might seem like an overwhelming and frankly not very enjoyable task, but once the process is in place, it becomes easier to accomplish on a regular basis. Given the benefits of auditing your programs, it is sure to be time well spent.