BSA Completes ‘software asset management leadership’ program in karnataka

Bangalore
The Financial Express
Business Software Alliance (BSA), the world’s leading trade body that represents the commercial software industry announced the successful completion of the Software Asset Management Leadership program, where 65 small and medium companies within the IT and ITES sector in Karnataka participated in the assessment program to review the quality of management of their organizations’ software assets. On July 10th 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. 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.

This program, the first ever of its kind to be launched in India in this unique format, was driven by the BSA with invaluable support from the Centre of e-Governance, Government of Karnataka in a drive towards helping companies in Karnataka become leaders in Software Asset Management, (SAM), a key aspect of sound IT and Corporate Governance and for achieving IT competitiveness. 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.

Educational seminars were also conducted in Bangalore on Software Asset Management where a set of experts spoke on SAM which included a case study by a company, who has deployed and experienced SAM. An in-depth tutorial and workshop on SAM was provided to the participants by KPMG, who was a key partner to BSA on the subject SAM Program.

The BSA is confident that this program and many such initiatives will help in promoting strong corporate governance standards, making the local and regional industry more globally competitive, secure, and efficient, which will translate into higher legitimate revenues for the industry, more taxes to government, and more hi-tech high wage jobs.

This unique program which debuted in Karnataka will help establish a model state within India that promotes organizational productivity and network security through the implementation of model SAM practices within businesses and will also encourage innovation through the promotion of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection to fight software piracy. Karnataka being a frontrunner and pioneer in many of the important IT milestones in the country, including the launch of multiple e-governance schemes and programs was an ideal State for BSA to develop an association to promote the value of SAM.

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”

Keshav Dhakad, Chair of the BSA India Committee said, “BSA extends its gratitude towards the Centre of e-Governance for supporting us which helped this program’s objectives to receive the much required credibility. We also thank all the companies that participated in this program for their proactive leadership, initiative, and time in enabling their organizations to incorporate world class governance standard, such as SAM. The BSA is committed towards helping the industry in Karnataka become globally competitive and leaders in IT governance by implementing standards such as SAM. Taking a cue from what we learnt from this program, the BSA looks forward to partnering with other states in India and to continue its commitment to help industry optimize the management of their software assets, realize value from the use of genuine software, and remain globally competitive.”