For organizations, software compliance management is highly important in order to avoid IT audits. In the recent years, more and more companies are facing increased software audits due to disputes with license vendors and other noncompliance claims. With stringent terms and clauses in the license agreements, it has become easy for auditors to find loopholes and spot under licensing. Software audit activities have further witnessed an up-rise because of the use of multiple virtual machines and applications over single physical resources. IT companies are facing the risk of litigations due to the increased practice of virtualization, external usage and multiplexing. Furthermore, inactive user accounts and accidental deployment of unlicensed software are also adding to the woes.
Taking a closer look at software audits:
The main reasons for facing audits are related to the inability of organizations to meet the software license compliances. Problem crops up when businesses deploy software both within their premises and externally (for example, by clients and suppliers). In this situation, vendors demand that additional licenses be bought for the external users as well, failing to do which can result in software audit.
The process of multiplexing, in which a particular application receives some of its data from some other application of process, is also a big source of non-compliance. Since two applications are sharing resources and license is available for users of one application even then licensing terms are breached. In addition to his situation, software assigned to inactive user accounts or deployed as unlicensed copies in multiple devices also lead to audits and increased expenditure.
Virtualization- Boon or bane?
One of the biggest IT trends in the past few years has been virtualization of servers and applications in order to cut costs and improve scalability and flexibility. This new technology has made it possible to run multiple operating systems and software applications on the same physical hardware simultaneously. The advantages of virtual platform are many including less expenditure, greater flexibility, optimized performance and less administrative requirements.
However, with ease in provisioning virtual machines the risk of becoming non-compliant has also increased. The virtualization policy has actually put companies at a risk of software audits because many license vendors have put limitations on the virtual environment being supported. This has made the software license compliances more complex because now it businesses are required to track the licenses contained both on the virtual environment and on the physical devices.
Virtualization and server management
Virtualization, especially of mid-range servers have made it possible to use minimum physical servers to run multiple applications and OS. In virtual server, creation of new machines is quite simple and their permissions can also be easily acquired. In such a case, the provisioning controls usually required in a physical environment are generally absent. This factor demands proper virtual server management so that organizations do not drift away from compliance standards. With complex licensing policies and ease in provisioning, the need of efficient server management and software asset management tools have gone up. For organizations to reap the benefit of virtualization, it has become imperative for them to use tools like Lepide Software Asset Management in order to ensure that their virtual servers are compliant. Such tools are also important to bridge the gap between the physical and virtual licensing requirements.
Summary:
With the rise in the virtualization technology, more businesses prefer to use multiple virtual applications on single physical resources. This has not only complicated server management and license compliances but has also increased the risk of facing software audits.
Piyush
piyush@lepide.com
