In an industry which has struggled with year-on-year rises in the number of vendor-imposed software compliance audits, it can be tempting to see SaaS software, with its subscription pricing models, as a panacea. If we can replace a complex web of installation, site, and user-based licenses with a set of simple subscriptions, won’t that make the compliance challenge much simpler?
Unfortunately, it’s not as straightforward as that. This white paper (pdf, opens in new tab) by industry watchdog BSA – The Software Alliance – explores the breadth of ways it’ll be possible to breach terms and conditions of SaaS software.
A basic SaaS subscription for a simple client application might seem very easy to manage. BSA’s document, however, effectively arms auditors with a checklist of breaches to look for, including:
- Accessing the service from prohibited geographies.
- Sharing user accounts.
- Allowing systems to pose as users.
- Providing access to non-employees (e.g. contractors) where such access is prohibited.
For companies working with Cloud Service Providers, BSA goes into significant detail on the challenges they may face in retaining compliance with their existing licensing agreements: a range of challenges including IP challenges, geographical limitations, and providing auditors with required access to Cloud infrastructure environments.
BSA represents many of the most assertive organizations involved in license audits, and this document suggests, firmly, that the challenge of audits will not be disappearing soon. As the document states, while Cloud-based software “solves some license compliance challenges, it also creates new ones”.
Evolving ITSM 
Saas does not mean the end of SAM or License advisory either. As the BSA paper highlights, it just means a change in focus.
No matter what the deliver model (Saas, on-premise, pay-per-use, etc) users & advisers will always try to find ways to get more value and the vendors will try to constrain it.
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