It had been a while since I had seen anyone write about software compliance. However, from what I've seen within organizations and from I've heard information security and compliance folks talking about, the challenges for ensuring software compliance still exist, and in many ways are more hard to tackle with all the emerging ways in which end users can load software onto their computers they use for business. This article provides a nice summary list of actions that organizations of all sizes, from the very smallest to the largest, and in every industry can take to help ensure licensing compliance.

Making your personnel aware of the issues is an important part of the compliance process and necessary for successful compliance. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has some great awareness and training tools available at their site that all organizations can use for their education efforts. Small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) in particular, with their typical limited resources and lack of staff specializing in information assurance issues, should find these very useful. Here are just a few of the resources:

· BSA Training Video: A downloadable "short, educational video to present that emphasizes the important issues about software piracy."

· Software Asset Management (SAM) Checklist (PDF): "Follow these five simple steps to prevent software piracy roulette."

· Software Needs Analysis Form: "A sample form."

· SAM Tips/Best Practices (PDF): "Tips and best practices at your finger tips."

· SAM Power Point for Employees: A presentation to "communicate to your employees the importance of software audits, software compliance and licensing. It will help prevent the risks associated with workplace software piracy."

· SAM Employee Policy: "An employee policy on software management can help a business avoid the risk."

· SAM Employee Memorandum: "This memo is a companion to the employee policy."

· Workroom Posters: "Ten Reasons It's Important to Be A Responsible Software User" & "7 Tips for Preventing Software Piracy"