That ticking sound you hear is the time bomb waiting to go off in your company's IT organization, where more likely than not your company is at risk of failing a software audit.
According to a new study conducted by King Research, most companies have failed to take appropriate steps to ensure they're in compliance with the license agreements for software they have deployed. Failure to do so could lead to hefty fines from software providers looking to clamp down on "piracy" wherever they find it.
"Most IT organizations want to be in compliance, but they are struggling with the effort to discover software assets, track license assignments, reconcile purchased licenses to installed software, and take the necessary steps to ensure compliance," observes Diane Hagglund, author of the King Research study. The problem could be somewhat relieved, the study suggests, by introducing a systematic process for tracking software license compliance, but to date only 8% of all respondent companies have done so.
73 percent of IT executives and managers who are not prepared for a software audit
69 percent who are not confident they are in full compliance with software license agreements
67 percent who do not believe their companies have taken appropriate steps to ensure compliance
60 percent who believe they are using unlicensed software
56 percent who track software license agreements either manually or not at all
8 percent who have a fully automated process for tracking software license compliance
Source: King Research
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