Customers might be spending more money on software but that doesn't mean they feel they are getting the most of it with a large number wrestling with the feeling that the applications are being incorrectly deployed.
Almost no one asked by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) disagreed that software is important to the running of the business, with 98% in agreement, but when it came to being confident it was correctly deployed across the business only 7% of those financial directors quizzed could hold their hands up.
Rather disappointingly only 12% felt that intellectual property was valued, revealing just how much further education is required in the battle against software piracy, and 30% agreed that illegal software could be on their company systems.
For the channel the other titbit was the revelation that 85% of financial directors were responsible for software licensing making them the people for resellers to focus their sales efforts on.
The financial directors surveyed by the BSA also indicated that spending on software has gone up but with a lack of confidence and a belief that they are not seeing value for money as a result of bad deployment there is a challenge for the channel to help customers overcome those problems.
"In order to get the most out of their investments, FDs need to take a longer-term view about managing their software assets. Good planning will help mitigate the risks associated with unlicensed software use, such as operational continuity problems, brand and reputational damage and financial risk, all of which are potentially threatening to SMEs," said Julian Swan, director, compliance marketing EMEA at the BSA.
The fact that 30% of FDs believe they have pirated software in their organisations is worrying, but perhaps not too surprising. With a multitude of different rules and terms associated with each individual license, and users often unaware of the implications of using unlicensed software, managing the myriad of software licenses across an organisation is no easy task. FDs need to take charge of the situation by deploying adequate software asset management so they can not only ensure they are properly licensed for every application they use, but to also better use the licenses they have. With software asset management in place, FDs will not just avoid the expensive fines if they’re fond to be unlicensed, but will gain the ability to use their software licenses more intelligently, as they can dynamically re-deploy licenses to users as and when they’re needed, ultimately saving money for the business.