Franz Neumeier, editor-in-chief of the magazine Computer im Mittelstand (CiM) in the editorial of the most recent issue asks a delicate question: “Do you have a complete overview of the software effectively installed on the computers in your company?” People who can answer this question in the affirmative are the exception.
Most of the time there are “only vague ideas and the hope that everything is ok”. Thus, the people in charge of a company´s IT unnecessarily expose themselves to penal risks. The problem consists in the lack of licences. More frequent, however, are the cases in which companies spend money on licences, “which are not exploited at all” or “which after massive layoffs are not needed any more”. Some administrators prefer to play it safe and buy some additional licences in case of doubt. By the use of appropiate stock taking software this problem could quite easily be got under control. In addition, the fear that, “for instance, a dismissed employee might take revenge for his dismissal by denouncing you to the software producer on the grounds of lacking licences” will disappear. 