Business Software Alliance has announced a new certification that will validate that an organisation is indeed using licensed and genuine software. At present, the piracy levels in India are pegged at about 64 per cent.
The certification, and the processes that go alongside, will give organisations the ability to map their software requirements with the number of licences that are already available internally. Simply put, it will tell organisations whether they are 'under or over licensed' in the context of software packages. That is: Do they own more software licences than actual users, or vice versa.
Business Software Alliance (BSA) officials say that the new certification would allow user organisations cut unnecessary costs as it gives them the ability to match the actual software needs and the licence availability.
For instance, unknown to organisations, the obsolete notebooks they dispose of may actually have valid and expensive software loaded onto them. The certification can help plug such gaps.
Security issues
Another reason for companies to go for the certification will be IT security issues, argues BSA. Having such a certification will ensure that the IT infrastructure is not exposed to cyber threats, since organisation would be able to immediately detect counterfeit software, which do not automatically download security updates. Once certified, the user organisations will also be free from software audit requests by software vendors.
The new programme `Certified in Standards-based Software Asset Management for organisations' is available in India from Tuesday. It will be rolled out globally in coming months. Incidentally, India is the first market where BSA has launched the certification program and Symphony Services is the first organisation to get certified under it. Symphony Services, which is into outsourced software development, has over 4,000 employees.
"India is a vital and growing market. At the same time it has a high maturity level when it comes to adoption of standards," said Ms Jodie L. Kelley, General Counsel and Vice-President of anti-piracy for BSA. BSA is a software advocacy body whose members include Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, and Autodesk among others.
BSA, however, did not disclose just how much user organisations will have to invest for reaching the compliance levels necessary for the certification. The amount could vary depending on the size and requirements of an organisation, Ms Kelley said.
She said the outsourcing and BPO companies could be among the early adopters for the new certification as they deal with international clients and also handle sensitive client information.