Home : Software Licensing 101 : Lesson 3

Lesson 3: Educate your Employees

In the previous lessons we have discussed the details of a software license and the risks involved with software piracy and illegal software usage. In the following lessons we will turn our attention to methods you can employ to protect your company from the risks involved with illegal software licensing.

Small Business Limitations

A small business has several benefits and difficulties as compared to a large corporation. Generally, the small business operates from one central location. Everyone in the small business generally knows everyone else as well. This makes it much easier for a small business to communicate with it's employees. One hurdle though is the lack of extensive resources. You purchased software to assist you in your business processes for making money. You did not buy it so that you would have to sink a lot of resources into managing it. The key question then is, how can you manage your licensing without sinking to many resources into it?

The answer is three-fold: educate your employees, track your licenses, and audit the actual software usage on your computers.

Setup an Corporate Software Policy

Your employees are the ones who use the computers regularly. They know what software they need and what software they want. Most companies have at least one or two employees that feel they are qualified to download and install software on their own so that they can "do their job better". The easiest way to educate your users on the proper usage of software is with a corporate software policy

The software policy should be written in simple terms so that employees can easily understand it. In the policy the proper usage of the software should be listed:

• The software is licensed to the organization, and is not owned by the organization
• The organization does not have the right to reproduce the software except for back-up purposes without written consent of the software developers.
• Installation of software can only be authorized by (list of officers that can authorize the installation of software). Employees cannot install any unauthorized software.
• Employees cannot copy, upload, download, or reproduce the software in any way without prior authorization.
• Any employee with knowledge of misuse of software should report it to (officers or department heads).
• Any employee with questions regarding the authenticity of any software should raise their questions with (officers).
• The organization does not condone the illegal duplication of software.
• Employees not following the software policy can be disciplined as appropriate at the time. Such discipline may include termination of employment.

This is just a sample list of guidelines that can be adjusted to fit your organization, you might need to vary the list for your organization. In addition to having your employees sign off on these guidelines, you occasionally will want to send out a reminder to keep them fresh in the employees mind. How often is a matter of preference. I always found once a year plenty often.

In the guidelines you probably noticed a lot of references to the officer in charge of software licensing. Many small businesses play it by ear when ordering software. By centralizing the officer in charge of purchasing and managing software, your organization will benefit by more accurate tracking of software licenses. This will save time in the long run, and money (I'll show you how in lesson 6).

Quick List

• Small businesses have the advantage of a centralized environment, but generally have more limited resources for software management than large corporations.
• The easiest way to educate your users is by putting together a software policy.
• Send out an occassional reminder of the software guidelines for the employees.
• Centralize the purchasing and management of software licensing to help save you time and money.