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Background
Software purchased through the procurement department will have all necessary licence requirements taken care of. Software licenses may have a variety of restrictions in place such as:
The maximum permitted numbers of concurrent users;
- The ability to transfer software;
- The need to record which PCs the software is installed on and so on.
Software can be acquired relatively easily by staff, both by purchase and download from the Internet
Security policy prohibits unauthorised download of software however technical staff may need to install software that fixes software faults. Similarly, business software may need to be purchased by staff to meet an immediate business requirement. Staff can install some software without special privileges.
Correct licensing of software is necessary to avoid breach of legal agreements, fines and damage to the corporate reputation. Failure to meet licence obligations may result in forced removal of the software, which may be critical for some applications. Failure to comply with legal requirements is also a criminal offence which may result in prosecution of Directors.
Scope
The policy applies to all commercially licensed software and the use of shareware.
Policy Principles
All software must be procured if at all possible, through the authorised purchasing department;
- Only authorised and licensed software should be used on company systems, and on systems used for processing company information – including third parties and home use;
- Software that is not centrally purchased must be authorised by the relevant manager and comply with IT support requirements and software licensing requirements defined in this policy;
- The licence obligations and restrictions must be complied with and communicated to those involved in installing, deploying and using the software;
- A software asset inventory must be maintained that holds details all purchased software, licence details, limitations and restrictions;
- Sufficient evidence of software licences must be retained as appropriate, e.g. purchase orders, invoices, licence certificate, packaging, media;
- The software licence entitlement must be reconciled with installed software on a regular basis to ensure that the licence entitlement has not been exceeded;
- Installed software should be regularly audited to ensure that only authorised software has been installed;
- Unused software should be identified by regular monitoring and re-assigned wherever possible;
- Software must only be transferred if there is adequate licence entitlement and the inventory is updated;
- Backups of software should be undertaken in accordance with the licence entitlement;
- Staff who breach software licensing policy may face disciplinary action.
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