SME employees are happy to grass up their bosses over their use of illegal software, according to the British Software Association (BSA).
Research from the BSA revealed that more than a third of Europe’s SME employees would report illegal software use, with UK staff some of the most conscientious.
Those trying to protect the software industry have encouraged whistleblowing as an enforcement tool for decades and it seems that the message has got through.
Most quizzed by the BSA revealed they would want a reward for reporting an issue.
The BSA has a long track record of settling with businesses that have been found to have used illegal software and have settled with the organisation to prevent the case going through the courts.
Sarah Coombes, managing director compliance and enforcement at BSA EMEA, said that the figures were good news for the Channel.
The data shows that more than a third of Europe’s SME employees would report illegal or unethical IT practices in their workplace so businesses need to be quick to ensure they are fully compliant.
“Effective software and IT asset management should be the first line of defence for businesses in safeguarding against unlicensed software and, as always, this is where resellers can really help”, she said.
“The channel can help businesses purchase legitimate software, however there’s also an opportunity to provide consultation and regular support on becoming and staying compliant”, she added.
The channel can also provide support in other related areas of the business lifecycle such as cyber threat resilience and data regulation compliance.
“This is all particularly timely given that the new ISO ITAM standard (19770-1) has just been published and could be well used as a blueprint for the development of a robust IT management system”, said Coombes.
