London Borough of Merton Fends Off BSA Inspection

Added: (Thu Mar 14 2002)

Pressbox (Press Release) - London local authority calls for government IT departments throughout the UK to act now and defend against aggressive BSA licensing campaign

London, 14 March 2002 - The London Borough of Merton is today calling for local government institutions across the UK to act now to protect themselves from the aggressive software license inspection campaigns that Microsoft and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) have brought to bear upon the UK's network of local government authorities.

The London Borough of Merton was recently targeted by Microsoft for a license inspection of its software inventory. The IT Services division of the local authority chose Centennial DiscoveryÒ inventory tracking software supplied by Networld UK, a Centennial Discovery reseller. The software helped to underpin the policies and working practices by identifying what licenses were in use, which licenses were redundant and which areas of the software inventory required new licenses, prior to the inspection.

The London Borough of Merton worked closely with Networld UK to ensure that it was given a clean bill of health following a rigorous inspection by Microsoft appointed agents. The local authority uses approx. 2000 software licenses that cover the use of software applications across the organisation.

"In order for us to resolve our software licensing issues quickly, we had to rely heavily on Centennial Discovery software. It empowered us to swiftly identify and track all areas of our licensing requirements and rectify areas of non-compliance prior to the inspection - an achievement that would not have been possible with our existing systems," comments Gurmel Bansal, Head of IT Services. "It is clear from the events surrounding the BSA's inspection of another council in January* that this is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed immediately by all local government organisations. "He also added that all organisations should have a clear set of policies regarding software licencing. "Given the complexity of software deployment in large organisations, it is now essential to have a software tracking tool such as Centennial Discovery to ensure compliance to licence terms and conditions."

Glenn Stephens, managing director, Centennial, added, "The threat of legal penalty following a license compliance inspection from the BSA has never been more real. Large organisations, like local government authorities, simply can not afford to wait until the BSA threatens them with an inspection, rectifying a disorganised license inventory can take a considerable length of time.

The introduction of a software inventory tracking platform like Centennial Discovery can provide huge cost savings in IT consultancy fees alone, regardless of the possibility of any legal fines that could arise from an inspection."

-ends-

* http://www.bsa.org/uk/press/newsreleases//2002-01-10.849.phtml

About Centennial
CentennialÒ is a leading supplier of technology inventory management solutions to major organisations around the world. Based in Swindon, England, the company was formed in 1997 by a team of highly skilled software engineers with years experience in developing operating systems and network applications. Working together initially at Digital Research, the team was responsible for the award-winning DR-DOS operating system, and following the acquisition by Novell, developed components of the industry standard Novell NetWare™ product. Centennial's first audit product, Centennial 2000, helped major organisations manage the Y2K risk within their distributed computing environments. With more than 2 million licenses of Centennial audit products sold, it is one of the best selling products in its class.

Centennial Discovery is the latest evolution in the audit product range that adds unique features to allow companies to locate, audit and track all the changes to their corporate IT assets.

For more information please consult www.centennial.co.uk

About Networld UK
NetWorld UK is a specialist organisation consisting of many business specific units, concentrating on the diverse needs of organisations to provide a proactive and continuous supply of IT services to the business in which they practice. NetWorld UK provides management tools and networking products accompanied by a tailored technical service that will assist any organisation to ascertain and continually control the huge investment in Information Technology that is demanded by today’s top companies.

For more information please consult www.networlduk.com

Paul Rogers
Cobalt Blue PR
E: mailto:Paulr@cobaltblue.com
T: 01252 728 040
F: 01252 728 041



THIS RELEASE HAS BEEN DISTRIBUTED BY WEBITPR (www.webitpr.com)

Disclaimer:

Whilst WebitPR.com Limited endeavour to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this Release, WebitPR.com Limited cannot accept any liability for:-

· the inaccuracy or otherwise of any information contained in this Release; or
· any loss liability or expense which may be suffered by any party in consequence of acting or omitting to act as a result of any information contained in or omitted from this Release.; or
· any loss or suffering which may be caused by or to any party either as a result of the information contained in this Release or such information contained in this Release being inaccurate or otherwise misleading.

In the event that any information contained in this Release is inaccurate or misleading then please contact WebitPR.com at the above e-mail address.



London local authority calls for government IT departments throughout the UK to act now and defend against aggressive BSA licensing campaign

London, 14 March 2002 - The London Borough of Merton is today calling for local government institutions across the UK to act now to protect themselves from the aggressive software license inspection campaigns that Microsoft and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) have brought to bear upon the UK's network of local government authorities.

The London Borough of Merton was recently targeted by Microsoft for a license inspection of its software inventory. The IT Services division of the local authority chose Centennial DiscoveryÒ inventory tracking software supplied by Networld UK, a Centennial Discovery reseller. The software helped to underpin the policies and working practices by identifying what licenses were in use, which licenses were redundant and which areas of the software inventory required new licenses, prior to the inspection.

The London Borough of Merton worked closely with Networld UK to ensure that it was given a clean bill of health following a rigorous inspection by Microsoft appointed agents. The local authority uses approx. 2000 software licenses that cover the use of software applications across the organisation.

"In order for us to resolve our software licensing issues quickly, we had to rely heavily on Centennial Discovery software. It empowered us to swiftly identify and track all areas of our licensing requirements and rectify areas of non-compliance prior to the inspection - an achievement that would not have been possible with our existing systems," comments Gurmel Bansal, Head of IT Services. "It is clear from the events surrounding the BSA's inspection of another council in January* that this is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed immediately by all local government organisations. "He also added that all organisations should have a clear set of policies regarding software licencing. "Given the complexity of software deployment in large organisations, it is now essential to have a software tracking tool such as Centennial Discovery to ensure compliance to licence terms and conditions."

Glenn Stephens, managing director, Centennial, added, "The threat of legal penalty following a license compliance inspection from the BSA has never been more real. Large organisations, like local government authorities, simply can not afford to wait until the BSA threatens them with an inspection, rectifying a disorganised license inventory can take a considerable length of time.

The introduction of a software inventory tracking platform like Centennial Discovery can provide huge cost savings in IT consultancy fees alone, regardless of the possibility of any legal fines that could arise from an inspection."

-ends-

* http://www.bsa.org/uk/press/newsreleases//2002-01-10.849.phtml

About Centennial
CentennialÒ is a leading supplier of technology inventory management solutions to major organisations around the world. Based in Swindon, England, the company was formed in 1997 by a team of highly skilled software engineers with years experience in developing operating systems and network applications. Working together initially at Digital Research, the team was responsible for the award-winning DR-DOS operating system, and following the acquisition by Novell, developed components of the industry standard Novell NetWare™ product. Centennial's first audit product, Centennial 2000, helped major organisations manage the Y2K risk within their distributed computing environments. With more than 2 million licenses of Centennial audit products sold, it is one of the best selling products in its class.

Centennial Discovery is the latest evolution in the audit product range that adds unique features to allow companies to locate, audit and track all the changes to their corporate IT assets.

For more information please consult www.centennial.co.uk

About Networld UK
NetWorld UK is a specialist organisation consisting of many business specific units, concentrating on the diverse needs of organisations to provide a proactive and continuous supply of IT services to the business in which they practice. NetWorld UK provides management tools and networking products accompanied by a tailored technical service that will assist any organisation to ascertain and continually control the huge investment in Information Technology that is demanded by today’s top companies.

For more information please consult www.networlduk.com

Paul Rogers
Cobalt Blue PR
E: mailto:Paulr@cobaltblue.com
T: 01252 728 040
F: 01252 728 041



THIS RELEASE HAS BEEN DISTRIBUTED BY WEBITPR (www.webitpr.com)

Disclaimer:

Whilst WebitPR.com Limited endeavour to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this Release, WebitPR.com Limited cannot accept any liability for:-

· the inaccuracy or otherwise of any information contained in this Release; or
· any loss liability or expense which may be suffered by any party in consequence of acting or omitting to act as a result of any information contained in or omitted from this Release.; or
· any loss or suffering which may be caused by or to any party either as a result of the information contained in this Release or such information contained in this Release being inaccurate or otherwise misleading.

In the event that any information contained in this Release is inaccurate or misleading then please contact WebitPR.com at the above e-mail address.