Software Piracy: The Untold Tales [Infographic]

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Gurmail Singh

When it comes to torrents and illegal software and music downloads, there are two sides of the story. One is of course about the companies who lose money on this at any given time of the day. The other side is the “freeware community” that is constantly debating that software should be free like aspirin. Sure, you can pay money for it, but it shouldn’t be copyrighted. It’s a complicated thing really, and when you start looking into the details of it, it’s hard to keep focused on the main issue. I have seen my songs around the Internet and even included in karaoke machines from which I don’t receive any royalties, so the piracy is more widespread than you could ever imagine.

StarMedia Communications put together a detailed riddled infographic that will take you from the very first software patent to where we are today. If you only knew what goes on behind the scenes, you would quickly know that it’s a game played using millions of dollars every year. Some companies, like Adobe for example, actually like their software being spread through illegal downloads, to some extent that is. Why? Because that makes their software the top choice for many people, and it keeps them at the top constantly.

I think I have mentioned it before, but music labels around the world actually asked Napster (when it was the hottest thing around) to seed their songs in order to spread the word about them. That no doubt kicked up sales by a whole lot, and I wouldn’t be surprised if software companies around the world are doing the very same thing. I know that Apple for example dropped the dongle for Logic (music sequencer software) only to allow people to be able to spread the software making it the number one used in studios around the world. Surprisingly it worked, and Apple is now developing the software that super producers use for making their music. A close second is of course Pro Tools which is used by top producers as well. The only difference is the price, and to some extent, the quality. So, what do you think? Should software be free?

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SAM= Security + support + changeManagement + VendorAudits + x

Posted on September 11, 2010 by Gurmail Singh

When organisations today talk about SAM they tend to think COMPLIANCE, however the underlying processes involved in implementing SAM means a business can really get on top of a number of other key priorities on their IT white board. By carrying out a discovery and a reconcilliation exercise on a monthly/quarterly cycle organisations can :

re-harvest new licensing requirements, rather then buy new unecassary licensing
maximise IT needs for new projects in aligning existing infrastructure with new
Identify hardware and software refresh needs from Discovery data
Support systems with up to date information from Discovery exercise
Negotiate contracts with vendors when purchasing volume licenisng
Ensure they comply with ISO and other industry standards
Reduce IT budget
Determine if a thin client or thick client delivery is useful
consider ‘Cloud’ computing opportunities
and many more

According to Gartner, businesses are missing out on upto 30% savings in IT budget through SAM.

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Virtualisation – Don’t Let Software Licensing be the Show Stopper

Posted on September 4, 2010 by Gurmail Singh

By: Patrick Gunn, Flexera Software
This year almost two-thirds of UK companies intend to extend their current use of server virtualisation and about one-third of UK CIOs will start implementing some form of desktop virtualisation. This is according to the Citrix Virtualisation Index. While these numbers show a healthy rate of adoption of these technologies, there are areas of concern. Software licensing is the second biggest concern, behind security, for both server and desktop virtualisation, as revealed in the same Citrix survey. Software license management is complicated enough in the physical world due to complex license models, use rights and restrictions. With virtualisation, software license management becomes even more challenging—the virtual environment is more dynamic, and there are new rights and restrictions. What’s more, desktop virtualisation is inherently user-centric, while traditional software license models are device-based. This desktop virtualisation licensing issue has yet to be addressed by software publishers.

For those of you who are looking at rolling out desktop virtualisation, there are at least three potential license metrics that you could use for virtual desktop applications: pay-per-device (desktop, laptop, or thin client), pay-per-user authorised to access the application, or pay-per-user who actually uses the application. Under the standard Microsoft license model, enterprises still have to pay per computer that is used to access an application—meaning that every device that could be used for access must be licensed. However, it is in your interest to be able to pay per user that actually uses the application. After all, not everyone who has access may use a given application, and one of the benefits of desktop virtualisation is giving users the flexibility to access applications from any PC, not just their own. Software licensing should not be a hindrance, and organisations should demand alternative licensing approaches from software vendors.

A further complication with device-based virtual application licensing involves the situation where one version of the software is installed on endpoint devices and another version is installed on the application server. For example, if a desktop computer has a lower version than the one installed on the server, then a license for the server version is required for that desktop device when it is used to access the virtual application. Therefore, you need to carefully manage the reconciliation between local installations and software that can be accessed using the virtual desktop technology.
Using an enterprise license optimisation solution is perhaps the only reliable way to ensure compliance and minimise software costs in virtual environments. Also, the use of such a tool will provide you with leverage to negotiate the most economical licensing model with software.

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Software licenses are assets and investments and should be managed as such. SAM helps you control costs and optimize these investments as your organization evolves.

Posted on July 18, 2010 by Gurmail Singh

Software Asset Management (SAM) is an industry best practice that helps you control costs and optimize software investments across your organization and throughout all stages of their life cycles. Administered through an ongoing plan, SAM makes it easier to identify what you have, where it’s running, and whether redundancy may exist. A fully implemented SAM plan can help you cut costs, improve security and compliance, and also anticipate future software needs.

SAM also helps organizations accurately capture the costs and benefits associated with IT projects that enable a competitive advantage. If your business relies on its IT operations to operate smoothly and efficiently, you are probably well aware of the complexities of managing software across an entire organization. What is the best way to control costs and manage business and legal risks? Could you do more with the software you already have? Will your current IT infrastructure be able to expand as your company grows? SAM is a proven industry best practice of business and IT processes and procedures combined with technology that can help your organization: Control cost and business risk for a stronger, healthier financial position. Optimize existing software investments, to enable you to do more with what you already have. Grow with your company’s expanding needs through a core foundation with increased flexibility and agility. Build a healthier financial position SAM can help you control both the “hard” monetary costs of software and the “soft” costs of IT management. It helps ensure that you have the best licensing programs for your organization’s specific needs, and the most effective IT forecasting and budgeting. It can help you centralize your IT and software asset tracking, automate manual processes for increased efficiency, prepare for technology upgrades, and reduce support costs. SAM can also help you control business and legal risks that are often related to improper software deployment. Use SAM to identify security vulnerabilities and keep track of the latest software updates, as well as achieve compliance with standards and government regulations.

Do more with what you already have With SAM, you can get the most out of your software investments by reducing redundancy, standardizing processes, and giving your employees the tools they need. SAM can help you implement IT with business best practices and optimize software assets, enabling you to pay only for the software you use. SAM helps you optimize IT resources by standardizing processes, improving automation, and defining procedures to increase the efficiency and agility of your IT staff. Lay a scalable foundation for business growth As your company needs grow, you need an IT infrastructure that can expand with you.

The SAM optimization model provides a solid, scalable foundation for business growth. A fully implemented SAM plan creates efficiencies that enable you to adapt quickly to market opportunities, plan for future software needs, and engage in IT and business best practices that drive value. At its highest level, SAM helps organizations become more agile by making better use of resources, even in times of changing business conditions. Infrastructure Optimization and the SAM Optimization Model The goal of Infrastructure Optimization (IO) is to build an efficient, secure, and optimized IT infrastructure. IO can help your organization better understand and move toward a more secure, well-managed, and dynamic IT infrastructure that will help you reduce costs, use resources more efficiently, and make IT a strategic asset for the business.

IO is a four-step process that can take your organization from a non-managed, reactive state to a proactive, optimized, and dynamic state. SAM is a key step in IO that can help your organization gain control over what IT assets are being used and where.

Visit Microsoft’s Infrastructure Optimization site to learn more

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SAM & Virtualisation

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Gurmail Singh

Virtualisation is increasingly common as businesses look to reduce hardware costs and introduce efficiency savings. However, with this, virtualised licensing brings its own challenges, including the threat of virtualised ‘sprawl’ as it becomes simple to copy a virtual machine and all the applications associated with it.

ComplianceConsole allows virtual systems to be linked to physical hosts, enabling a hierarchy to be established which facilitates the ability to record the relationship between virtual and physical systems whilst the Rules Engine validates licensing requirements.

Many vendors have different licensing rules between physical and virtual machines, but with ComplianceConsole Data Center’s extensive library and Concorde’s unparalleled experience, you will have all the latest information and scenarios at your fingertips, meaning you can easily and accurately establish and maintain licence positions for applications on virtual operating systems.