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Open source projects: Why it pays to keep quiet

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Published: 25 Nov 2005 15:15 GMT

...will vary by each customer, depending on their agreement type, license type, and the number of software licences purchased," says Charlebois.

To audit, or not to audit?
Organisations can also be concerned about publicising a migration to open source, due to a perceived risk of this being followed by Microsoft asking to audit their software. Gavin Beckett, Bristol City Council's IT strategy manager, said at last month's OASIS conference in London that this is one of the reasons why companies are reluctant to go public about an open source migration.

"There is a worry that Microsoft will then say they would like to come and audit your software," said Beckett at the conference, although he added that this did not happen when Bristol announced its move from Microsoft Office to StarOffice last year.

Sirius' Taylor says that publicity around his clients' open source migrations has sometimes been followed shortly afterwards by a request for an audit by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a trade group supported by a number of companies including Microsoft, which tackles the issue of unlicensed software worldwide.

"I have certainly seen timing coincidence with publicity and software audits," says Taylor. "This has happened with a reasonable proportion of my clients, but whether it is a cause and effect, who can say?"

One executive from a large vendor that works with open source confirmed that the fear of software audits can dissuade a company from publicising an open source project. However, other open source consultants Brucherseifer and Seigo both say this has not happened to any of their customers.

Microsoft's main focus is on working with customers to ensure they are compliant, says Charlebois: "Microsoft as a company does not encourage software reviews or audits to be the basis for its customer discussions. We are focused on engaging with more of a consultative approach around Software Asset Management (SAM), which results in not only the customer becoming compliant, but also allows the customer to have full control over their IT assets and therefore, be able to more effectively manage what they have and plan for future technology needs."

Siobhan Carroll, BSA's regional manager for Northern Europe, says she is not aware of any link between software audits and open source migrations, telling ZDNet UK: "It is news to me that this is taking place".

Most of the leads that the BSA follows-up come through its Web site, which is primarily used by employees or former employees of companies misusing software, she claims. "Only a very, very small percentage come from our members."

The BSA does not carry out software audits...

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