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Compliance |
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Our certified compliance specialists are trained to conduct a thorough audit of the software currently owned and running on your computers.
This includes systems that are connected to the corporate network, systems located in remote facilities that may or may not be connected via a wide area network or the Internet, as well as standalone systems such as laptops and company-owned systems that may be in use at employee homes or the clients premises.
In order for SMS to provide a proper and complete accounting of all the systems, it is critical that the client be in a position to provide accurate information concerning: Location of and access to all company owned systems (PC’s and Servers) Location and accessibility to all documents and media necessary to provide proof of legal ownership for all software installed on company-owned systems (this includes software installed on systems that may not be in active use but have installed software anyway) Availability of a Network Administrator with Administrator privileges in order to properly install and deploy the inventory software on all systems As the audit engagement date approaches, SMS suggests that clients take the following steps to insure that the process goes as quickly and smoothly as possible. The timing of when to begin these steps is dependent upon the size of the organization, number of locations, and the degree to which the client has accurate records to establish legal ownership of the installed software.
The most trusted name in software asset recovery.™ |
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Software is everywhere today. It’s in every corner of your business, every department and every desk.
There’s little “control” over copying programs today. Almost 37% of all software applications in use today are not licensed and one in every four business PC’s house at least one illegal copy. More than half of the respondents to a recent survey said they were unaware of their own corporate policies regarding intellectual property. Of the same group, 54% claimed they didn’t know if it is permissible to share files. (KPMG June 2009)
In the next five years, licensing and ownership issues will directly affect businesses of every size and type. Companies prepared to embrace these changes efficiently will gain a competitive edge.
100%
compliance is coming.
In the past 24 months millions of dollars in fines have been assessed on US companies of all sizes for the use of non-licensed software. These companies come from all sectors and industries, both public and private. The list is long and includes manufacturers, technology companies, advertising agencies, consultants, accountants and even law firms.
The fines are levied in Federal Court and the penalties range from a low of $22,000 (a small travel agency in Atlanta) to a chart-topping $480,000 (a technology consulting firm in Chicago). The companies fined are from New Jersey to Los Angeles - Seattle to Miami. They range in size from as few as 10 employees to large organizations. In some cases management was aware that unlicensed software was in use in many cases management had no idea.
Most of the companies that were fined were investigated after an ex-employee called the BSA and turned the company in. |
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©2009 SMS, Inc.™ is an ITGS™ Company and a trademark of SMS, Inc. all rights reserved all other trademarks are property of their copyright holders SMS, Inc. Redmond, WA 98052 toll free (877) 790-5002 terms of use | sitemap | legal |
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