Licensing Concerns

[Gibson335]

Does anyone here raise licensing issues with SLT only to have them ignored? If so, what do you do to protect yourself from any comebacks if audited?

[AIT]

Does anyone here raise licensing issues with SLT only to have them ignored? If so, what do you do to protect yourself from any comebacks if audited?

stand your ground. if you are in charge of licensing then you have to say no.

[garethedmondson]

Out of interest - has anyone ever been audited?

GJE

[Gibson335]

stand your ground. if you are in charge of licensing then you have to say no.

Not possible. I can only advise and make recommendations.

[AIT]

Not possible. I can only advise and make recommendations.

Then you would not be held to blame.

And yes we have been audited. Hence why I stand my ground on every occasion.

[garethedmondson]

Then you would not be held to blame.

And yes we have been audited. Hence why I stand my ground on every occasion.

Who audited you?

Gareth

[Gibson335]

Then you would not be held to blame.

And yes we have been audited. Hence why I stand my ground on every occasion.

I guess what I'm saying is how would people 'prove' they have raised concerns and made recommendations. I was wondering whether anyone goes as far as having a 'get out of jail free' document signed by SLT or just keep all relevant e-mails.

[AIT]

Basically a student sold the license keys from the side of the pcs on ebay.


so we got audited. by:

Business Software Alliance.

[john]

The LEA audited us, they asked how we control it, log it, register it and know whats occuring, I had to show a folder of licences and they checked that I had core stuff such as MSFT stuff (so we just showed them the order for the 12 month Schools Agreement Sub) which they were satisfied with but we were told this was probably the start of a more in-depth style, think how they audit your Finance Department and check there stuff over.

[Gibson335]

The LEA audited us, they asked how we control it, log it, register it and know whats occuring, I had to show a folder of licences and they checked that I had core stuff such as MSFT stuff (so we just showed them the order for the 12 month Schools Agreement Sub) which they were satisfied with but we were told this was probably the start of a more in-depth style, think how they audit your Finance Department and check there stuff over.

Was that just your generic software or all faculty-based software as well?

Cheers.

[KeithMPhoenix]

The auditing side of things within schools does seem to be on the up - it used to be that the BSA or LEA's would be looking to do audits however currently there are some vendors themselves out there asking schools to declare their estates.

[nephilim]

We have been audited twice in 4 years.

Once by the LEA and once by The Business Software Alliance.

Both times, a few teachers got screwed because unbeknown to me, a few teachers had been installing limewire / kazaa / utorrent and had a MASSIVE amount of films, software etc (this was no more than a month after getting a new laptop). I could not take responsibility as I was given a document by the head asking for me to allow the staff to install what they wanted to make the laptops "feel like there own" for the duration they were at the school.

The machines now come locked down as much as possible to prevent any software installs, and the machines themselves come with Windows 7, Office 2007, Smartboard, McAfee Antivirus (provided free by the LEA), Malware bytes, Adobe Acrobat Reader and Filezilla (for SFTP access).

They get NOTHING beyond that unless they come to me with a written request to install software, a copy of the licence and proof of purchase. If they have those, then I will install the software.

[john]

Was that just your generic software or all faculty-based software as well?

Cheers.

As this seemed to be a skimming over it just looked at the core stuff IE the Microsoft stuff, but I insist that I hold all software and licences for all departments, fine if they need the CD they can hold it / a copy of it (if that's permitted to do under the agreement) but I must have a photocopy of the Licence Agreement if they need to keep hold of it physically then I have the proof if we get a stronger audit.

[theriver]

What a stressful situation.

Although you say that you can only advise and make recommendations, are you sure that's how it would be seen if there was an audit/investigation? What does your job description say, for example?

As a minimum, make sure your concerns are expressed in writing and can be verified (e.g. official email) so that if bad things happen you can point to it and say: "Look, I TOLD you."

[Gibson335]

What a stressful situation.

Although you say that you can only advise and make recommendations, are you sure that's how it would be seen if there was an audit/investigation? What does your job description say, for example?

As a minimum, make sure your concerns are expressed in writing and can be verified (e.g. official email) so that if bad things happen you can point to it and say: "Look, I TOLD you."

Fortunately, nothing in my job description covers licensing - it's just an accepted part of my job. I have covered myself so far with reports in which I explain the situation, provide a variety of options, and make recommendations. After mailing them I then insisted on obtaining a reply stating it had been read and contents noted. I was just wondering if I'd covered myself enough and what other people did.

Cheers.