In India, our practice works closely with top software companies, the government and corporate clients to curb software piracy and misuse within the region through various compliance initiatives. Our team comprises a total of over 75 professionals from diverse backgrounds including software engineering, IT security, legal, law enforcement, risk management, computer forensics, data analytics, cybercrime and forensic accountants.
Significant cost savings and leveraged buying power can result from a successfully executed Software Asset Management (SAM) programme. Implementation of even small steps can produce immediate returns leading to long-term value for the business.
We view software as strategic business assets, which means that the goals of any successful programme to manage software assets, need to be driven by the wider business vision. Key to the success of a programme is a clear charter from senior management as to the vision, strategies and policies for prioritisation, management and control of these assets.
Our software licensing compliance programmes include:
Software licence reviews (SLR): We are closely associated with leading software companies in their compliance initiatives, to conduct independent third-party reviews for assessing potential gaps in licensing positions and licensing management processes.
Proactive licensing management (PLM): In order to proactively enable our clients to address issues around managing software assets, we have developed a structured programme to help manage, control and protect software assets through all stages of the software lifecycle.
This programme includes:
Many organisations are adopting the active management of their third-party contracts as best practice. Despite this, a significant proportion of organisations do not exercise their contractual right to audit the third party. Our experience shows that implementing a programme of routine contract compliance examinations reduces mischarging, eliminates contract interpretation issues and enhances the relationships.
We assist our clients in reviewing actual sales of OEMs to ensure that the appropriate royalies are paid to them. We help them safeguard revenues by ensuring royalty compliance and identifying financial recoveries arising due to misrepresentation and erroneous sales reporting.
Channel partners are valuable to OEMs in generating revenue. Many companies develop lucrative channel incentive programmes to support their sales objectives. However, risks and rewards introduced by these programmes must be balanced by a consistent process to monitor and ensure compliance.
These efforts help keep a check against counterfeit products in the market. They also facilitate a better distribution channel and create a stronger relationship between partners, thus yielding higher profitability.
We assist our clients in reviewing channel partner compliance for various contractual agreements.