The Software Industry Research Board (SIRB)

The Software Industry Research Board’s members include organisations that are amongst the most influential in the IT industry today. They have come together to research common issues around Software Asset Management (SAM), Software Licence Management (SLM), compliance and emerging technologies.

Below are just a few of the drivers behind the SIRB:-

• The current messages around SAM, SLM and compliance, plus the range of vendor licensing programmes and governance that exists within the marketplace, can make it difficult for end users to determine which advice to follow.
• SAM, SLM and IT governance are taking up more and more of CIOs’ and IT departments’ time.
• Many organisations are missing out on the benefits of effective licence management because they perceive it to be difficult and expensive to achieve.

The SIRB research project will run annually. The initial survey that was completed at the end of July targeted both private and public sector organisations to assess their current understanding of licensing practices, their attitudes towards software acquisition, their perception of new technologies and to understand where they will make changes to benefit from a more cost-effective and risk-free environment in the future.

The analysis of the resulting data was reviewed by the Board to give them a deeper understanding and appreciation of the challenges the end user faces and intelligence about the influences that have created the customer’s current attitudes and interpretations. The Board has worked together to define a series of 4 white papers designed to address and simplify the issues raised. Each white paper will be supported by a sequence of webinars which will be delivered by the SIRB members.

The first white paper ‘Maturity of SAM Practice in the UK Market – Perception & Reality of Risk!’ was released in November ‘08 and the first webinar was delivered on the 16 December ’08 by SIRB member, FrontRange Solutions.

The release of white papers 2, 3 and 4 and future webinar dates will be announced through the press, the FAST IiS and SIRB members’ websites, electronic direct mail (EDM) and the FAST IiS bulletin service . All FAST IiS members will be notified direct.

For more information about SIRB activities, benefits and membership, please contact Roz Parkinson, Business Development Manager at roz.parkinson@fastiis.org