At least one large software vendor will audit most enterprise companies this year. Unfortunately, many of these companies are too busy to define and maintain a compliance strategy. As a result, hefty compliance penalties are common. In this article, we will discuss 5 of the most common software compliance issues.
1. Accidental Overuse
Most companies do not properly monitor or measure the use of their software licenses. Often, companies share user accounts or use applications on more devices than allotted. This leads to accidental overuse. And, if not managed correctly, it can lead to non-compliance.
2. Misinterpreting Licensing Agreements
Licensing agreements continue to grow in complexity. This complexity combined with new vendor terminology makes it easy to unintentionally violate their terms. Thus, it is important to familiarize yourself with all of your vendors software licensing agreements.
3. Changes to Product Usage Rights
Vendors can change their product use rights without notifying you. As a result, unless you proactively look for changes, you can easily end up out of compliance. Therefore, to avoid potential software compliance issues, make sure to regularly inspect product use rights.
4. Upgrading and Downgrading Software
Which product use rights apply when you upgrade or downgrade your software? The rights from the original purchase, or the rights from the upgrade or downgrade? Unfortunately, it varies by vendor. So, it is important to determine if there are any changes to the product use rights before upgrading or downgrading software licenses. By doing so, you will be able to prevent any potential software compliance issues.
5. Virtualized Environments
Virtualized environments add another level of complexity to software compliance. They have vastly different rules for how hosts and software are both coupled and managed. Of course, many of the rules are unknown to software customers. Therefore, to avoid costly non-compliance charges, make sure to validate the compliance implications of virtualization.
Are currently dealing with any of the above scenarios? Are you looking to learn more about implementing a compliance strategy? If so, check out our Savings as a Service solution! We can help get your business on the right track to software compliance and reduce costs.