Most software contacts make no mention of functioning in a virtualized environment. Without careful examination of the contracts compared to the actual usage, organizations will exacerbate their compliance issues. Not all licenses and contracts will be impacted by this change, but a contract that does not mention virtual environments is a risk.
“Software contracts, like any other contract, are permissive documents,” stated Barbara Rembiesa, President of the International Association of IT Asset Managers, Inc. (IAITAM). “If the contract is silent on a specific point, you cannot assume that you are allowed to use the product in that specific way.”
Organizations that have virtualized servers and desktops will need to rely heavily on the quality and sophistication of their discovery product in order to identify the applications in use in the virtual environments, tracking where the software is installed and how it is being used. This information is vital to determine the compliant usage of licensed software.
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