45 SMEs in Karnataka finish S/w asset review

BANGALORE: About 65 small and medium companies within the IT and ITES sector in Karnataka participated in an assessment program to review the quality of management of their organizations' software assets.

Business Software Alliance (BSA) has announced the successful completion of the Software Asset Management Leadership program and over 45 companies who completed the steps of assessment were awarded an official BSA certificate by the Centre of e-Governance, Government of Karnataka in Bangalore.

In November 2008 BSA, with support from the Center of E-Governance, State of Karnataka, had launched the SAM Leadership Program under which BSA reached out to approximately 700 IT & ITES SME companies with education, awareness materials, and information on Software Asset Management, a 2006 ISO Standard and its key benefits, BSA shares in a press release. The program also included voluntary SAM Reviews where participating companies were offered complimentary SAM Reviews/Audits and an opportunity to be recognized through a certificate.

The objective of the campaign was to educate and engage businesses in Karnataka on the importance of using genuine software as a valuable IT asset. It also accentuated on the advantages of implementing a Software Asset Management (SAM) practice in their organization to maximize the value of their software licenses. This promotes increased productivity with optimal procurement resulting in greater employee satisfaction and uptime, and effective security with less vulnerable environment for IT systems and minimized legal and financial risks.

Commenting on the successful completion of the program, M N Vidya Shankar, Principal Secretary, Department of E- Governance, Government of Karnataka said, "We congratulate BSA on the successful completion of the "Software Asset Management Leadership" program in Karnataka. The Center of E-Governance was pleased to support the BSA program which was aimed at promoting Karnataka's dynamic IT/ITES sector to enable strong corporate governance within organizations by adopting mature software asset management practices. Innovative campaigns such as these help in promoting IT innovation and also help industry in Karnataka become globally competitive by adhering to international governance standards. The Department of E-Governance encourages such programs for the industry which enable growth, increased productivity and greater organizational security and stability.

He further added, "With usage of software becoming all pervasive, inherent and critical to conduct business successfully with computers and internet, whether small or big, it is logical that the international community evolved an ISO standard for managing software as an asset for companies and organizations, which is platform neutral. In view of the growth which companies have experienced in the past and will experience as we emerge from recession, governance standards such as SAM will only add to their efficiency, productivity, cost savings and security to their IT infrastructure and overall business goals"