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50 | INSIGHT | F INANCE AND MARKETS
AV O I D I NG THE PI T FA LL S O F S O F TWA R E L I C E N SING
Sue Malthouse, a partner at leading education law firm Veale Wasbrough Vizards, looks at how to deal with the issues involved in software use within higher education
Business software Many universities will have been using business software since the advent of ERP systems. Use of proprietary software is widespread in finance, procurement, inventory and supply chain management. In the new age of big data many
universities are also turning to the main global software providers for solutions to collate, integrate and manage their ever-growing data repositories. These solutions offer the opportunity to make sense of the data, derive value from them or simply manage them in compliance with regulatory requirements. Software audits can be very expensive
for institutions, with all the main providers rigorously enforcing their
audit rights and seeking penalties from those customers who are underlicensed or non-compliant with licence terms.
The problem Software procurement is often managed by the IT team or the procurement service, or a combination of the two expert teams. More often than not, the deal is controlled not by the customer but by a highly motivated supplier sales team driven by quarterly targets, rather than a willingness to examine and understand the customer’s requirements. This results-driven approach can leave litle time or opportunity for sponsors and users to undertake a considered evaluation of the options and the legal
and commercial implications of the deal. What follows are suggestions of practical strategies for avoiding the pitfalls.
The right team Assembling the right, dedicated team to manage the procurement will help ensure that objectives are met. Ideally this team should include a commercial procurement lead with experience in the specific software. In the absence of such a person, then organisations like Gartner can provide similar services. His or her objective is value for money. The team should also include one or
more representatives from the IT team to translate the user requirements into a technical specification (know your
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