Business leaders in Thailand are being urged to legalise their software assets by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) through its "Legalise and Protect" campaign, seeking to end corporate use of unlicensed software.
The use of unlicensed software is a common practice among corporations and the IT sector in Asean, whether due to indifference, intent or neglect.
However, unlicensed software poses serious security and legal risks, where companies could be sued by software licence holders or be vulnerable to viruses or security breaches by downloading software of dubious origins.
To address this, the BSA, a global trade association of software publishers founded by Microsoft, is launching the Legalise and Protect campaign in Asean.
The BSA works with governments and other partners to educate companies about the significant risks they face when they use software that is not genuine or is not fully licensed. BSA members' software products are used in a wide range of industries, including but not limited to manufacturing, IT, finance, professional services, construction, healthcare, consumer goods, engineering, architecture and design.
As part of its campaign, BSA is working with the Thai government to educate business leaders about the risks of illegal software. BSA's database contains thousands of companies in Thailand under watch for possible violations. In the months ahead, the BSA will launch public education efforts to ensure business leaders are aware of the risks of using unlicensed software.
"By legalising their software, companies can protect data security, competitiveness and their reputations -- and protect against the risk of legal consequences," said BSA senior director Tarun Sawney. "The sooner companies legalise, the sooner they can protect their operations and ultimately protect their bottom lines."
Asia-Pacific has the highest rate of unlicensed software use in the world at 57%. A problem of this scale is best tackled by changing attitudes and behaviour to encourage self-regulation and voluntary compliance, said the BSA.
Therefore, the group has oriented its campaign primarily to discourage companies from installing and using unlicensed or illegal software – not just for fear of enforcement, but because it is in the companies' best interest.
BAD FOR BUSINESS
Chief information officers (CIOs) are finding unlicensed software is increasingly risky and expensive. Business leaders can increase profitability by transitioning to legal software. IDC estimates that when companies take pragmatic steps to improve their software management, they can boost their bottom line by as much as 11%.
Organisations now face a 33% chance of encountering malware when they obtain or install an unlicensed software package or buy a computer with unlicensed software on it.
Each malware attack can cost a company US$2.4 million on average and can take up to 50 days to resolve. As infection leads to company downtime, or lost business data, it can also seriously affect the company's brand and reputation.
The cost for dealing with malware that is associated with unlicensed software is growing too. It can cost a company more than $10,000 per infected computer, and cost companies worldwide nearly $359 billion a year.
Avoiding security threats from malware is now the No.1 reason CIOs cite for ensuring the software on their network is fully licensed.
Improving software compliance is now both an economic and security imperative. With growing costs from malware, business leaders are increasingly turning to fully licensed software that can be patched with the latest updates as a key line of defence against crippling malware incursions, data breaches and other security risks.
Organisations can take meaningful steps to improve software management. To access these benefits, organisations can implement proven software asset management (SAM) best practices to get more out of their technology. SAM not only helps CIOs ensure that software is running on their network is legitimate and fully licensed, it can also help decrease debilitating cyber-risks, improve productivity, reduce downtime, centralise license management and reduce costs.
Studies show organisations can achieve as much as 30% savings in annual software costs by implementing a robust SAM and software licence optimisation programme, said the BSA.
