In an interesting twist in the battle against software piracy, Microsoft UK is promoting the benefits of Software Asset Management (SAM) under a scheme which rewards honesty - richly. It says the voluntary self-start SAM programme it introduced last November can save businesses a significant sum on licensing fees - in addition to giving them peace of mind.

"The initial feedback from customers is that they can save an average of 30 per cent on licence fees because they are only paying for what they use," says Ram Dhaliwal, licensing programme manager at Microsoft UK.

Dhaliwal says the initiative aims to give its customers greater control over their software. "It gives them better security and ensures they are receiving all their maintenance upgrades. We see it as a way of improving long-term customer satisfaction."

He acknowledges that the voluntary audit also cuts back on the amount of policing Microsoft has to do to stop illegal software use. The Business Software Alliance, for example, claims that 27 per cent of software currently in use is unlicensed. ®

Matt Fisher vice president at Centennial Software, one of Microsoft's trusted SAM partners, alluding to the gamble some users may now fancy, acknowledges that checking software use is too big a job even for Microsoft. "Microsoft does not have the resources to go after each and every company. At the same time companies do not want to be visited by the software police. The self-start scheme means companies can buy themselves some protection and policing efforts can concentrate on real offenders."

Fisher adds that SAM tools such as Centennial's can pretty much guarantee compliance by scanning hard disk storage and register entries.

The self-start SAM scheme is part of a wider effort by Microsoft to cut back on illegal software use.

Related stories

• Symantec buys compliance firm (9 March 2007)
• Microsoft's WGA changes today (20 February 2007)
• Court smack down for Russian piracy epic (15 February 2007)
• Microsoft settles counterfeiting suit (19 December 2006)
• Vista plugs piracy hole (15 December 2006)
• MS climbs down over Vista licensing (3 November 2006)
• Microsoft goes for eBay pirates (31 October 2006)
• Microsoft keelhauls customers in WGA snafu (4 October 2006)
• Microsoft sets attack dogs on 20 'illegal' dealers (19 September 2006)