Software Asset Management (SAM) Discussion

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has continued its crackdown on channel firms by issuing court orders against PC suppliers RedPC Services and Overclockers. The anti-piracy body suspects both firms of using illegal software and claims they have failed to cooperate with its enquiries. The announcement comes just two weeks after the BSA revealed it had reached an out-of-court settlement with security distributor e92plus The BSA claims it contacted London-based RedPC Services and Staffordshire-based Overclockers to complete a software audit, but did not receive satisfactory responses. The claims - which relate to the use of unlicensed Microsoft and/or Adobe software are expected to amount to tens of thousands of pounds and are set to be heard in court in early August.

Microsoft has created and announced the SAM Optimization Model to help organisations assess
their current SAM programs and to set goals for future program improvements. This model is
based on the ISO/IEC 19770-1:2006 standard and is a stepping stone to conformance with that
standard. The details of the program will be presented in more detail at the Microsoft Worldwide
Partner Conference the week of July 7, 2008.

For more information on the SAM Optimization Model, please see Michael Beare’s web cast at the
Microsoft Momentum site:
http://msevents.microsoft.com/ (http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032369765 EventCategory=5 culture=en-US CountryCode=US)
EventID: 1032369765