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FICCI-BSA launch software asset management campaign for Maharashtra

Dhwani Pandya, Principal Correspondent
The Federation of Indian Chamber Commerce and Industry (FICCI) along with Business Software Alliance (BSA), has announced the launch of its software asset management (SAM) campaign for Maharashtra state's small and medium businesses (SMB). The campaign is part of FICCI's "Progressive Maharashtra" campaign, supported by the Government of Maharashtra. Through this campaign, FICCI and BSA plan to improve IT governance standards for software assets of Maharashtra's small and medium enterprises.

The SAM campaign aims to establish Maharashtra as a model state in India by promoting organizational productivity and network security. This will be achieved through implementation of ISO recognized SAM best practices within businesses, promotion of intellectual property rights (IPR), and encouraging use of genuine software.

Describing the significance of software assets, Keshav Dhakad, chair of the BSA committee India says that SAM is critical since software accounts for 25% of an organization's IT budget. Today, intangible organizational assets like software IPR are more valuable than physical assets (to the tune of 80:20).

Stressing the importance of protecting Indian IPR, Dinesh Jotwani, the co-chairperson of BSA explains how SAM standards can help improve organizational security. Citing a recent KPMG report, Jotwani says that free software downloads pose high risk security threats like malware and botnets. Of the surveyed organizations, 39% report security incidents due to

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non-genuine software, while 35% of organizations cite ready availability as the main reason for usage of non-genuine software.

Earlier, FICCI had conducted such a campaign for the State of Karnataka. It is now gearing up to launch SAM campaigns for Karnataka state's public sector units.


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