SAM Boot Camp - TWO SAM Credentials for the Price of One - March 2017

The Institute for Technology Asset Management will be holding a SAM Boot Camp during the week of March 20-24th, 2017 on the Virginia Beach, VA/USA campus of Infotech/ECPI University.  This program delivers both the SAM Core Competency AND the SAM Advanced Enterprise Infrastructure credentials in a single week-long live delivery - at ~50% off the standard price – certification exam included.

Use code 1016 when you register at TAMInstitute.org.

Institute / Infotech SAM Boot Camp Coverage:

SAM Core Competencies:

• Extended Copyright Compliance Q&A
• Core License Compliance Issues
• Stepping Through a Punitive Audit
• Detailing & Mitigating the Right to Audit Clause
• Foundation Audit-Related License Clauses
• Compliance Assurance Tools – Discovery and Uninstall
• Developing the Proactive/Reactive Software Audit Team
• Detailing Proofs of Possession
• Foundation Document Management System
• Establishing the Internal Whistle-Blower Program
• The Hidden Threats of License Activation
• Internal Compliance Assurance Wall of Due Diligence
• Calculating Actual Punitive Audit Costs
• Software & Copyright Compliance Enforcement Players
• Developing Effective Basic SAM Policies
• Conducting the SAM Initiative GAP Analysis
• Copyright-Related Laws, Acts, & Regulations
• Risk Management & Mitigation – Level I

SAM Advanced Enterprise Infrastructure:

• Detailing 42+ Critical Software License Types
• Detailing 36+ Critical Software Agreement Clauses
• Chartering the SAM Initiative
• Cloud & SaaS Services
• IT Cost Reduction Opportunities
• Effective Acquisition Process Framework
• Vendor Management Framework I
• Gaining & Retaining Executive Buy-In
• Basic SAM Negotiations Methodologies
• Stakeholder Analysis & Management for SAM
• Human & Organizational Change Management for SAM
• Project & Initiative Success Factors for SAM
• Core Leadership & Motivation Framework for SAM

It’s the Knowledge You Need to Succeed!

TAMInstitute.org

Has Your Business Been Victim of a Technology Disaster? Learn How to Prevent Being Hammered Again.

When nature slams your business, a repeat disaster could easily follow—this one of man-made origin. This 5-part Briefing Series helps you minimize the inevitable post-disaster software piracy audit risks. From where we stand there isn’t a whole lot we can do to relieve the misery each of you has encountered, but The Institute wants to help where we can. So, here is our offer: We can help you prevent the next catastrophe with advice and guidance via the Internet.

It is now painfully obvious to all business technology consumers that computers, software, documentation, and electronic data make pretty lousy submarines. In the average disaster, the very core of your business is most likely gone or virtually unrecoverable. You are about to rebuild your technology infrastructure from scratch—be it two computers or twenty thousand computers—and, if you aren’t extremely careful, the con artists are going to set you up to get hammered yet again. You do not deserve that kind of abuse, so our primary goal is to provide advice to help you avoid future software piracy and non compliance punitive audit experiences courtesy of the software police and copyright cops. Our secondary goal—a very close second—is to enable you to save money when you re-invest in new technologies.

This article series was originally posted on our site for the benefit of victims of Katrina and other disasters. However, we quickly discovered a serious need for accurate, vendor-neutral advice on acquiring technologies after crippling events. Read on and consider what we have to offer individuals and companies that have been disaster victims.

Hello! I’m Alan Plastow, founder of The Institute for Technology Asset Management. After a disaster, when you buy your new computers, very frequently you’ll be looking for maximum product at minimum price. You’ll have little choice: Money is going to be tight. Although this is a perfectly normal reaction to the misery you’ve gone through, you need to be extremely careful of the operating systems, software, and other copyrighted products placed on those computers. From where I stand, I can predict with nearly 100% certainty that within a year of any significant disastrous event (18 months at the most) the software police and copyright cops will conduct mass software piracy, copyright violation, and license non compliance punitive audits in the areas of devastation.

Companies that are trying to recover from a disaster are going to fall prey to the “easy licenses” and “bargain costs” of counterfeit software and other products—including hardware. As well, these same companies, with their limited financial clout, are going to begin using shareware products to delay some computer-related expenses. The result? You will be setting yourselves up as easy targets for litigation by the nearly thirty members of the software police and/or copyright cops that are active in the U.S.—nearly 100 globally.

Another key issue you will need to become aware of is that the documentation from your software purchases is very closely scrutinized during a software non compliance, or piracy, audit. If, when you purchase your new copyright protected products, you do not receive the correct license; proofs of purchase; stamps, emblems, marks, or certificates of authenticity, or master media you will become a potential disaster target all over again.

Of all the businesses in the world, you are in a unique position. As demoralizing as your experience has been, you now have the opportunity to rebuild your business into something bolder and better than it may possibly have become prior to the disaster. Please permit me, at no cost, to guide you with advice in avoiding the software piracy audits that can easily follow your efforts to rebuild.

Monitor the Taminstitute.org blog site to access these full Disaster Recovery Knowledge Briefings. It’s free and you, your employees, and your company will benefit through short- and ling-term cost and risk reductions in technology asset management. This is the place for Disaster Survivors where I will answer your questions and provide no cost advice. Don’t suffer through the pain of recovering your business technologies only to be blind-sided and hammered all over again for incorrectly licensed copyrighted products after you are back in operation. We can provide the advice that you need.

With great respect for what you are enduring,

Alan L. Plastow

Founder

SAM Practitioners: Watch Out for This Source Code Escrow Disaster

When your enterprise acquires a mission critical software package or suite it is vital that you include a “software code escrow" clause in the license agreement. This practice is intended to ensure that, should the software publisher shut down, go out of business, or become the victim of a buy-out, you will still have access to the original source code for your application. Essentially, the full source code is placed in storage with an independent third party for later recovery and use. Unfortunately, the source code escrow safety net concept has frequently become a casualty of sharp business practices.

Government Software Asset Managers: Be VERY aware of source code escrow. This single contractual clause is nearly as critical to your ongoing operations as the software products themselves. Also, to be fully compliant with FITARA and/or MEGABYTE, this clause should always be utilized as a key element of due diligence in technology spending.

The way escrow was originally designed to work is as follows: The software publisher places the code for your specific version/release of the application in secure storage. If, or when, the software publisher goes out of business you have the right to acquire the source code so that your mission critical application doesn’t fade away. Then, if the software publisher fades away, your enterprise can download the code and continue using the product, theoretically without interruption.

Real World: We’ve seen at least multiple instances of major software publishers that have been bought out by competitors who have immediately ceased all support of the acquired publishers’ applications with the specific intent of forcing consumers to acquire an entirely new product line when the first is no longer available. Source code escrow is the only recourse for a consumer who finds their applications have been phased out.

In recent years, however, the way escrow has been working has been anything BUT effective. On one hand, software publishers tend to be hesitant to genuinely deliver working source code to the escrow holding service. Instead, they may (intentionally, or not) deliver the wrong code, or they deliver code that is defective. On the other hand, software publishers may actually deliver valid code, but that code is never checked to ensure that it transferred accurately.

The bottom line is that, when the consumer attempts to access the code, it is essentially useless – it won’t work at all or the code is for the wrong product, version, or release. The end result is a source code escrow safety net that literally fails to provide its intended value – leaving the consumer holding a mission critical application that is gradually failing to function.

Resolution: When negotiating for ANY mission critical application, always include a source code escrow process. Fully define that process and include very specific procedures for conducting periodic code reviews to ensure that the code you THINK is available for your safety net genuinely IS available and is the correct version/release to match the product you are using. Also, ensure that you allow for transfer, storage, and testing of any future upgrades, patches, fixes, or modifications to the base code. 

All of this is even more critical when we plug so-called cloud services into the mix. Keep in mind that a clear majority of cloud storage service contracts include a clause that permits the service provider to re-locate your stored data to another server - anywhere on the planet - without either notifying you, or without your consent. The end result is that you will simply not be aware of the condition of, or location of, your code - possibly (probably?) a significant disaster scenario.

Failure to take these basic steps during the original negotiations with the original software publisher can expose your enterprise to sharp practices – whether deliberate or unintentional – that could easily spell complete failure of a mission critical application in the long term.

As usual, there is much more to source code escrow than we can cover in this briefing. For additional software life cycle management training, check in at TAMInstitute.org for additional strategies and tactics that genuinely work in the real world.

Data Center Consolidation in Your Near Future? Watch Out!!

If your organization is planning on merging, consolidating, or moving a data center, you need to become very aware of the hidden risks involved in the process. As enterprises grow/expand – even minimize – they find themselves involved in significant modifications to traditional data centers.

Is your organization impacted by FITARA or the MEGABYTE Acts? These professional development programs are precisely what you need to succeed.

Here’s Your Warning: “Renegotiate – or negotiate – ALL software agreements to integrate potential data center modifications without additional costs into the terms and conditions of the license, support, and/or maintenance agreement.” Failure to do so can easily double, even triple, your software costs.”

As an effective software asset manager (SAM) or IT asset manager (ITAM) you should already have done this. Unfortunately, very few SAMs have been trained to competence in managing data center-sized issues. Oh... And don't expect your acquisitions or purchasing people to address these issues (very frequently, they simply don't know about the long term licensing risks).

Failure Factor? Your mainframe-related software publishers can – and WILL – void your licenses when you make changes to the data center environment. (They’ll cite “breach” but, like many other software issues, it’s all about how much money they can siphon out of your enterprise.)

Real World: During a recent data center merge, a major mainframe software publisher voided all licenses due to the change and demanded the enterprise re-purchase all products. Cost? Over $12 million – and that was only one of the dozens of software publishers with products on the systems.

Resolution: If you are negotiating new software agreements, or updating old agreements, ensure that you include a VERY CLEAR clause permitting changes to the data center – with no penalties. Also ensure that no clause or agreement is permitted to supersede your negotiated license agreements.

Want to know more? Look over the Institute professional development programs: Core SAM & Extended SAM cover more Software & Copyright Compliance Assurance and Software Life Cycle Management competencies than any other programs in this class.