Just as a counter-point, I still have a Hotmail eddress, and I use it when I sign up with any sites that will likely generate newsletters, service updates, etc. I have other eddresses that are used for personal correspondance and for job hunting. All that said, I've found that Hotmail started doing a great job of junk-mail filtering a number of years ago. I rarely see real spam in my Inbox. In fact, I far more spam lands in my Gmail Inbox, though that's still an unusual occurance these days. Both of them tend to load the junkmail folder, however. I have to imagine that there are better filters out there that can figure out how to block the dozens of Nigerian scams (and the variants) I receive each day in the Junkmail folder of each service.
Many employers hire people for what they know, not simply to do some set task (though tasks must be completed). That "pay for performance" model goes against all of the "old school" and "face time" management styles. So long as you get your assigned tasks done and are a team player, you're doing what you were hired to do. If your peers feel you have way too much free time, be sure that management will hear about it. Most people I've know who work in such environments don't want to be bored out of their minds. They do, however, tend to work in spurts of intense activity followed by periods of more relaxed time (when the time pressures are not so great). Even in my life of day-to-day IT as my employer's only IT guy, I have weeks where I put in 80 hours and hardly have time to breathe, and other weeks where there's hardly a request for my help and I can catch up on other projects while keeping my Scrabble window open on one of my monitors. Someone not familiar with my workload or responsibilities might assume I'm a slacker, but some weeks I've put in more evening and weekend hours than our "top performers" put in Monday through Friday. So long as the boss is happy, I'm happy, and I have quite a bit of freedom.
There's also a good chance that some of the new guy's peers, especially the coders, are doing work while out of the office, too. I was in one such environment where management expected to see everyone in the office during the day, but many on the team got their best work done at home on nights and over weekends--usually after playing a few hours of Half-Life or whatever the game du jour was at the time.
You hit on a major point. I don't know of any IT help desk or Tier II group that want's to be responsible for installing multiple packages, often multiple times a day. Where major headaches come into play is when, along with the "no admin rights" mantra, you get execs who start chanting "approved software packages only". This works fine for the typical desk drone, but it does not work for most developers, or even for some power users in other industries (e.g., CAD designers in manufacturing). When you start forcing every install to be reviewed, tested, approved, and installed by IT, you have a recipie for a never-ending traffic jam. Developers who are on a deadline can't wait a week until the IT support folks have time to come and install one debugger or supplemental tool.
The VM and temporary share solution sounds wonderful, but most organizations that are cracking down on Admin rights likely also will have disabled file and printer sharing.
I'm sorry, but I'm guessing that you've not spent much time supporting software developers in a Windows environment. That best practice (no admin rights) is great in theory, but it can cripple a Windows developer. If concerned about security, isolate them on a seperate VLAN, or implement other compensating controls unless you want to go through the hoops of setting up granular security for every one of the tools they use and the circumstances they may encounter.
Apart from packing your bags, will you have any say in the decision? If not, it's either get on the train, or prepare to be run over.
I can see pro- and con- for uniforms or a dress code. Yes, it can portray a common front for a department that is often "unseen" by others in positions of power. The users you serve likely know you and your team members well. It could be a move by management to help other senior staff recognize your presence in their departments, too.
I would be interested in finding out the real motivation for the change. Does anyone on your team tend to dress inappropriately or stretch the boundaries of the casual environment too far? If so, talk to your manager to make sure the entire team is not getting punnished for the actions of one. Others have raised the concept of the employer buying the uniforms. That's been done in many places, but don't hold your breath. If anything, it would be reasonable to expect at least one free shirt (I'm assuming pants will still be up to you, but might need to be a certain color or type--excluding jeans, for example). There certainly will be tax rules regarding required uniforms. My employer reimburses for 'x' uniforms a year (I don't remember how many because my department does not use uniforms), and for 50% of required safety shoes for those who need them. Be sure to get all expectations or details of the new policy in writing, especially as it pertains to costs, reimbursements, and expectations.
My personal guess is that one of your corporate officers spent a lot of time in line at Best Buy (or a similar location) before Christmas. He probably noticed all of the associates in their blue polo shirts and tan pants, except for the Geek Squad which was wearing it's black and white motiff. "Management by standing in line" may well be the new "management by magazine". Either that, or someone who can make the decisions has a laid off sister-in-law who just happened to start an embroidery business...
Get him hooked on Lego robotics sets. Logo (if they are still using it) is not that hard to master), and it can be a doorway to broader programming interests.
Helping him start his own web page with some JavaScript or other dynamic items could be another way.
Online retailers best watch out before our legislative bodies make an end-run around the issue. It would not take much for legislation to be crafted that would require online retailers to report sales information to State revenue/taxation departments. These reports would then be used by those departments to calculate Use Tax in those jurisdictions where it is required. The requirement would not require online retailers to collect taxes, but would allow States to collect taxes where presently they collect none. If a consumer files a tax return without disclosing the purchases that are subject to Use Tax, the States would have the ability to handle it just as they would for taxpayers who do not disclose income that has been reported on a W2 form.
The online retailers will need to decide whether it will look worse for them to collect the sales taxes or to be seen as turning over their purchase information to State goverments (even if compelled to do so under law).
I can't address your specific issues. All I know is that our SVP recently got an Android device (from T-Mobile), and he had me configure it for numerous mail accounts--a Gmail account, his ISP POP account, and our corporate Exchange account (Exchange 2007, with OWA). Apart from the initial configuration, I've not had to spend any time addressing issues regarding the email services. The user has had no problems to report.
The first generation Android phones were effectively bricks for most POP mail other than Gmail, and seemed to particularly hate Exchange/OWA. Newer releases play nice with POP and work well with Exchange/OWA. Third parties introduced apps to get G1s working with POP and Exchange, but not before some of us had major headaches with execs who wanted the newest toys. Not having full POP and Exchange support from the start was a huge strategic error. Luckily for them, most consumers have short memories once their eyes see a shiny new toy.
I'm a long-time T-Mobile user, so I'm interested to learn what your problems have been. A bit over a year ago, I was ready to drop them because I felt their sevice along I-94 through Wisconsin, and in Madison was horrible. I talked to my rep, and he suggested that it was my Samsung phone. He suggested that the Samsung phone I used (and many of the Samsung models) had poor antenna design. He gave me a free upgrade to a Nokia, and we took the same trip the following week with no coverage issues at all. Unless I'm traveling in the hinterlands, T-Mobile's coverage has been fine; their customer service has been great. They have an extensive network of roaming agreements and I have never incurred a roaming fee. I have two family phones through them, and my office BlackBerry is on their network. We have half of our office phones through T-Mobile, and half through Verizon. The general consensus is that Verizon has better signal strength overall, but their data network is much slower than T-Mobile's. Our installers who spend a lot of time in manufacturing facilities and food processing plants prefer the Verizon phones for their voice coverage (some of the T-Mobile users could not complete or maintain calls in the bowels of some facilities), but most of our mobile data users prefer the T-Mobile phones because the data service seems to be at least 4x as fast (based on casual observations).
I really had to stop for a minute and double-check the posting date. I thought that I certainly would see an April 1 designation somewhere. This is just too sad. Now we not only have nanny states, but we also will have nanny softare companies.
Logon Process
1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del
2. Enter Logon ID and password
3. Step on the scale
4. If weigh is a healthy value, process logon; if not, recommend a gym membership (all in the name of keeping employer-paid health insurance costs down).
You'll probably spend more time reviewing the suggestions and comments that appear here than it would take for you to whip something together (since you mentioned that you code).
I went through the same thing about 18 months ago when I became the sole IT guy at a new employer. While there likely were tons of available tools out there, I spent about a half hour throwing together a simple task tracker in Access. My development skills are very limited. My database does not have subtasks, but that would be just like an order details subform (and associated table) in an orders/inventory database (I think there's a template with that logic included with Access, or it is in the wizard). It's nothing fancy, but it let me quickly log all tasks, and allowed for easy reporting to the boss man.
I worked as an independent contractor for years, and at one point also ran a business that hired six independent contractors in three states, so I have some experience with these matters, though IANAL.
That said, if the employer dictates the hours, provides the workspace, and the tools to do the job, then this person is likely a statutory employee under law. Just because you have an independent contractor agreement doesn't mean you're automatically an independent contractor. Independent contractors must have a certain level of autonomy. Some employers try to use independent contractor agreements as a way to get around payroll taxes, but if they get caught, they'll pay far more in back taxes and fees than they ever would have incurred by maintaining someone in employee status
That said, if the person is a contractor, then s/he screwed up if the contract didn't address on-call or after-hours duties. It would have been reasonable to include a per-incident fee for all after-hours calls, and/or a different rate for night and weekend work. Chalk it up to a learning experience, and submit a new contract for review if you want things to change. You'd best be ready to walk if you plan to do that, however. The employer does not need to accept any new contract. I sure hope you listed a contract renewal period, or process for ammendments and changes.
Even though the companies incur almost zero cost (okay, Linux fanboys, apart from reputational costs) for shipping with Windows after creating a disk master image or disk burning process, the company does incur administrative costs when processing refunds for people who decline the EULA. While these costs would not be significant, they could easily add up to $20-$25 (the cost of employee wages, benefits, overhead, technology, recordkeeping, and the issuance of the credit). It appears that these companies are simply reducing their credits by their cost of operation--similar to a restocking fee for returns of physical goods.
While I, too, would prefer to see clean (no-OS)PCs on the market, and prices that reflect having no OS (vs. subsidized OS installs), it's unfair to villianize the vendors who bear the brunt of the administrative responsibility in processing a refund for a declined EULA.
On a tangental note, I'm waiting to see a court case where someone claims they never accepted the EULA(s) on their PC because the PC was set up by one of their minor children. In most jurisdictions, minors cannot enter into contracts, so that would be the angle taken by the defense.
It might be the case, but most management sees the threat of an IRS audit as much more likely than a software license audit, so there's a good chance that they are saving receipts and POs if nothing else.
When I went through tracking down our prior technology spend, the biggest problem I found was that purchases were miscategorized. The records were there, but some items were recorded as "office supplies," while others were listed as "computers," and some were even listed with the total costs for a building project (since the new workstations and the associated software were part of the expansion). If the bookeeping is sloppy, then you're stuck starting a new system of recordkeeping and sticking to it. You might be stowed over past purchases and assumed license status, so you may end up having to pay for things a second time. That's management's fault, if they didn't see to carrying out their oversight of Accounting and IT.
I agree fully. I was in a similar situation (though not as severe) with my current employer, and purchasing records were a huge help.
I was lucky that my predacessor, who handled IT duties because there was no one else at the time, put together a good system and was tracking most everything. I did find a few surprises along the way, but he made it much easier. I have had to fight battles with some consultants, though, who proposed, for example, buying license for a cloud-hosted I'm just glad management decided to side with me on keeping it all legit. I was ready to go, even though I didn't have anything lined up.
There are already tons of posts saying either "document it" or "find another job". Here's what I recommend.
1. Take a software inventory. Figure out what is installed where, and which license codes/CD keys are being used.
2. Pull records. We get a lot of our PCs pre-loaded with MS apps and Acrobat. Those OEM installs stay with the machines, though many places try to move them forward from machine to machine (thus creating the impression that "we must have bought it sometime").
3. Check online sites, like Microsoft's eOpen site, or contact specific vendors (e.g., call Autodesk or your VAR) and ask them to send you a summary of your current licenses.
4. Document your level of usage against your level of compliance. Include all costs for becoming compliant. Be sure to include one time costs (e.g., buying additional seats) and any recurring costs (e.g., maintenance, back maintenance, reinstatement fees).
5. Educate management that software is licensed, not purchased.
6. Include information regarding the legal liability related to pirated software. Include references to any cases you can find, including actual fines, as well as potential fines (caps). Note the reputational risk to the company as well.
7. Prepare a plan for bringing the company into compliance. Include possible stop-gap measures and alternatives (e.g., limiting the number of users with a specific pieces of software, buying one additional license per year, using OpenOffice).
8. Compile everything into a well-documented report/memo (depending on your company's preferred style), and be sure to present it personally (don't just email it off). Offer to meet at another time, if necessary, but you must make it clear how important this is. Offer to meet with the entire management team. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
9. Let management know you don't plan on blowing the whistle (they'll surely say "nobody knows, so we're fine"), but make them aware that any disgruntled employee could make a call in to the piracy hotline. If you have the intestinal fortitude to do so, you could even make it clear (if it reflects your beliefs) that you value your integrity and that you cannot, in good conscience, help the company steal software/violate contract terms. Of course, that means you need to be ready to put up or shut up.
All that being well and good, you can take some practical steps to start getting things into compliance going forward:
Commit to buying licenses for all new software requests.
Keep good inventory records of hardware (and associated OEM software) and software.
Start buying machines with appropriate OEM software (if small enough where volume licensing doesn't make sense), and consider buying shrink-wrap software on the same order (this might let the financial eggheads depreciate the entire purchase - IANATA)
Adopt free software that is not limited to home/personal/educational use, like Comodo Internet Security and OpenOffice.
The problem is with the way copyright law changed. It no longer protects just the content, but also how the content is presented. Thus, they are claiming that the documents they have that currently store the statutes are protected under copyright law, and they are claiming that their new system will be so protected as well. But they'll offer access to that for free--aren't they nice?!
The courts will need to weigh in and make a clear ruling on these cases. I believe that any claims of copyright on a collection of policy statements is ludicrous. I used to work for the Federal Reserve System. We had to pay annual licensing fees to receive monthly updates to a CD-based collection of regulatory documents. It seemed absurd because they were all technically part of the public record. When I proposed that we just create a web-based catalog that did the same thing (we'd input changes as they were announced at a cost far less than our subscription), it was shot down, on the claim that only the authorized vendor had the right to present the data in compiled form.
It was an absolute pile of crap, but it made perfect sense to an organization entrenched in bureaucracy.
Slashdot Mirror
Just as a counter-point, I still have a Hotmail eddress, and I use it when I sign up with any sites that will likely generate newsletters, service updates, etc. I have other eddresses that are used for personal correspondance and for job hunting. All that said, I've found that Hotmail started doing a great job of junk-mail filtering a number of years ago. I rarely see real spam in my Inbox. In fact, I far more spam lands in my Gmail Inbox, though that's still an unusual occurance these days. Both of them tend to load the junkmail folder, however. I have to imagine that there are better filters out there that can figure out how to block the dozens of Nigerian scams (and the variants) I receive each day in the Junkmail folder of each service.
Many employers hire people for what they know, not simply to do some set task (though tasks must be completed). That "pay for performance" model goes against all of the "old school" and "face time" management styles. So long as you get your assigned tasks done and are a team player, you're doing what you were hired to do. If your peers feel you have way too much free time, be sure that management will hear about it. Most people I've know who work in such environments don't want to be bored out of their minds. They do, however, tend to work in spurts of intense activity followed by periods of more relaxed time (when the time pressures are not so great). Even in my life of day-to-day IT as my employer's only IT guy, I have weeks where I put in 80 hours and hardly have time to breathe, and other weeks where there's hardly a request for my help and I can catch up on other projects while keeping my Scrabble window open on one of my monitors. Someone not familiar with my workload or responsibilities might assume I'm a slacker, but some weeks I've put in more evening and weekend hours than our "top performers" put in Monday through Friday. So long as the boss is happy, I'm happy, and I have quite a bit of freedom.
There's also a good chance that some of the new guy's peers, especially the coders, are doing work while out of the office, too. I was in one such environment where management expected to see everyone in the office during the day, but many on the team got their best work done at home on nights and over weekends--usually after playing a few hours of Half-Life or whatever the game du jour was at the time.
You hit on a major point. I don't know of any IT help desk or Tier II group that want's to be responsible for installing multiple packages, often multiple times a day. Where major headaches come into play is when, along with the "no admin rights" mantra, you get execs who start chanting "approved software packages only". This works fine for the typical desk drone, but it does not work for most developers, or even for some power users in other industries (e.g., CAD designers in manufacturing). When you start forcing every install to be reviewed, tested, approved, and installed by IT, you have a recipie for a never-ending traffic jam. Developers who are on a deadline can't wait a week until the IT support folks have time to come and install one debugger or supplemental tool.
The VM and temporary share solution sounds wonderful, but most organizations that are cracking down on Admin rights likely also will have disabled file and printer sharing.
I'm sorry, but I'm guessing that you've not spent much time supporting software developers in a Windows environment. That best practice (no admin rights) is great in theory, but it can cripple a Windows developer. If concerned about security, isolate them on a seperate VLAN, or implement other compensating controls unless you want to go through the hoops of setting up granular security for every one of the tools they use and the circumstances they may encounter.
Apart from packing your bags, will you have any say in the decision? If not, it's either get on the train, or prepare to be run over.
I can see pro- and con- for uniforms or a dress code. Yes, it can portray a common front for a department that is often "unseen" by others in positions of power. The users you serve likely know you and your team members well. It could be a move by management to help other senior staff recognize your presence in their departments, too.
I would be interested in finding out the real motivation for the change. Does anyone on your team tend to dress inappropriately or stretch the boundaries of the casual environment too far? If so, talk to your manager to make sure the entire team is not getting punnished for the actions of one. Others have raised the concept of the employer buying the uniforms. That's been done in many places, but don't hold your breath. If anything, it would be reasonable to expect at least one free shirt (I'm assuming pants will still be up to you, but might need to be a certain color or type--excluding jeans, for example). There certainly will be tax rules regarding required uniforms. My employer reimburses for 'x' uniforms a year (I don't remember how many because my department does not use uniforms), and for 50% of required safety shoes for those who need them. Be sure to get all expectations or details of the new policy in writing, especially as it pertains to costs, reimbursements, and expectations.
My personal guess is that one of your corporate officers spent a lot of time in line at Best Buy (or a similar location) before Christmas. He probably noticed all of the associates in their blue polo shirts and tan pants, except for the Geek Squad which was wearing it's black and white motiff. "Management by standing in line" may well be the new "management by magazine". Either that, or someone who can make the decisions has a laid off sister-in-law who just happened to start an embroidery business...
Get him hooked on Lego robotics sets. Logo (if they are still using it) is not that hard to master), and it can be a doorway to broader programming interests.
Helping him start his own web page with some JavaScript or other dynamic items could be another way.
Online retailers best watch out before our legislative bodies make an end-run around the issue. It would not take much for legislation to be crafted that would require online retailers to report sales information to State revenue/taxation departments. These reports would then be used by those departments to calculate Use Tax in those jurisdictions where it is required. The requirement would not require online retailers to collect taxes, but would allow States to collect taxes where presently they collect none. If a consumer files a tax return without disclosing the purchases that are subject to Use Tax, the States would have the ability to handle it just as they would for taxpayers who do not disclose income that has been reported on a W2 form.
The online retailers will need to decide whether it will look worse for them to collect the sales taxes or to be seen as turning over their purchase information to State goverments (even if compelled to do so under law).
Is it truly an anti-technology message, or a warning against the misuse of technology?
I can't address your specific issues. All I know is that our SVP recently got an Android device (from T-Mobile), and he had me configure it for numerous mail accounts--a Gmail account, his ISP POP account, and our corporate Exchange account (Exchange 2007, with OWA). Apart from the initial configuration, I've not had to spend any time addressing issues regarding the email services. The user has had no problems to report.
The first generation Android phones were effectively bricks for most POP mail other than Gmail, and seemed to particularly hate Exchange/OWA. Newer releases play nice with POP and work well with Exchange/OWA. Third parties introduced apps to get G1s working with POP and Exchange, but not before some of us had major headaches with execs who wanted the newest toys. Not having full POP and Exchange support from the start was a huge strategic error. Luckily for them, most consumers have short memories once their eyes see a shiny new toy.
I'm a long-time T-Mobile user, so I'm interested to learn what your problems have been. A bit over a year ago, I was ready to drop them because I felt their sevice along I-94 through Wisconsin, and in Madison was horrible. I talked to my rep, and he suggested that it was my Samsung phone. He suggested that the Samsung phone I used (and many of the Samsung models) had poor antenna design. He gave me a free upgrade to a Nokia, and we took the same trip the following week with no coverage issues at all. Unless I'm traveling in the hinterlands, T-Mobile's coverage has been fine; their customer service has been great. They have an extensive network of roaming agreements and I have never incurred a roaming fee. I have two family phones through them, and my office BlackBerry is on their network. We have half of our office phones through T-Mobile, and half through Verizon. The general consensus is that Verizon has better signal strength overall, but their data network is much slower than T-Mobile's. Our installers who spend a lot of time in manufacturing facilities and food processing plants prefer the Verizon phones for their voice coverage (some of the T-Mobile users could not complete or maintain calls in the bowels of some facilities), but most of our mobile data users prefer the T-Mobile phones because the data service seems to be at least 4x as fast (based on casual observations).
I also have T-Mobile and have not noticed any disruption in services. If there was a disruption, it was short-lived and while I was sleeping.
I really had to stop for a minute and double-check the posting date. I thought that I certainly would see an April 1 designation somewhere. This is just too sad. Now we not only have nanny states, but we also will have nanny softare companies.
Logon Process
1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del
2. Enter Logon ID and password
3. Step on the scale
4. If weigh is a healthy value, process logon; if not, recommend a gym membership (all in the name of keeping employer-paid health insurance costs down).
You'll probably spend more time reviewing the suggestions and comments that appear here than it would take for you to whip something together (since you mentioned that you code).
I went through the same thing about 18 months ago when I became the sole IT guy at a new employer. While there likely were tons of available tools out there, I spent about a half hour throwing together a simple task tracker in Access. My development skills are very limited. My database does not have subtasks, but that would be just like an order details subform (and associated table) in an orders/inventory database (I think there's a template with that logic included with Access, or it is in the wizard). It's nothing fancy, but it let me quickly log all tasks, and allowed for easy reporting to the boss man.
A presently dying star cannot mimic the death of our own star, since it has not happened yet. How about using "foreshadows" instead?
It depends. Will you be working for Letterman?
I worked as an independent contractor for years, and at one point also ran a business that hired six independent contractors in three states, so I have some experience with these matters, though IANAL.
That said, if the employer dictates the hours, provides the workspace, and the tools to do the job, then this person is likely a statutory employee under law. Just because you have an independent contractor agreement doesn't mean you're automatically an independent contractor. Independent contractors must have a certain level of autonomy. Some employers try to use independent contractor agreements as a way to get around payroll taxes, but if they get caught, they'll pay far more in back taxes and fees than they ever would have incurred by maintaining someone in employee status
That said, if the person is a contractor, then s/he screwed up if the contract didn't address on-call or after-hours duties. It would have been reasonable to include a per-incident fee for all after-hours calls, and/or a different rate for night and weekend work. Chalk it up to a learning experience, and submit a new contract for review if you want things to change. You'd best be ready to walk if you plan to do that, however. The employer does not need to accept any new contract. I sure hope you listed a contract renewal period, or process for ammendments and changes.
Even though the companies incur almost zero cost (okay, Linux fanboys, apart from reputational costs) for shipping with Windows after creating a disk master image or disk burning process, the company does incur administrative costs when processing refunds for people who decline the EULA. While these costs would not be significant, they could easily add up to $20-$25 (the cost of employee wages, benefits, overhead, technology, recordkeeping, and the issuance of the credit). It appears that these companies are simply reducing their credits by their cost of operation--similar to a restocking fee for returns of physical goods.
While I, too, would prefer to see clean (no-OS)PCs on the market, and prices that reflect having no OS (vs. subsidized OS installs), it's unfair to villianize the vendors who bear the brunt of the administrative responsibility in processing a refund for a declined EULA.
On a tangental note, I'm waiting to see a court case where someone claims they never accepted the EULA(s) on their PC because the PC was set up by one of their minor children. In most jurisdictions, minors cannot enter into contracts, so that would be the angle taken by the defense.
Will it stand against a house full of toddlers?
It might be the case, but most management sees the threat of an IRS audit as much more likely than a software license audit, so there's a good chance that they are saving receipts and POs if nothing else.
When I went through tracking down our prior technology spend, the biggest problem I found was that purchases were miscategorized. The records were there, but some items were recorded as "office supplies," while others were listed as "computers," and some were even listed with the total costs for a building project (since the new workstations and the associated software were part of the expansion). If the bookeeping is sloppy, then you're stuck starting a new system of recordkeeping and sticking to it. You might be stowed over past purchases and assumed license status, so you may end up having to pay for things a second time. That's management's fault, if they didn't see to carrying out their oversight of Accounting and IT.
I agree fully. I was in a similar situation (though not as severe) with my current employer, and purchasing records were a huge help.
I was lucky that my predacessor, who handled IT duties because there was no one else at the time, put together a good system and was tracking most everything. I did find a few surprises along the way, but he made it much easier. I have had to fight battles with some consultants, though, who proposed, for example, buying license for a cloud-hosted I'm just glad management decided to side with me on keeping it all legit. I was ready to go, even though I didn't have anything lined up.
1. Take a software inventory. Figure out what is installed where, and which license codes/CD keys are being used.
2. Pull records. We get a lot of our PCs pre-loaded with MS apps and Acrobat. Those OEM installs stay with the machines, though many places try to move them forward from machine to machine (thus creating the impression that "we must have bought it sometime").
3. Check online sites, like Microsoft's eOpen site, or contact specific vendors (e.g., call Autodesk or your VAR) and ask them to send you a summary of your current licenses.
4. Document your level of usage against your level of compliance. Include all costs for becoming compliant. Be sure to include one time costs (e.g., buying additional seats) and any recurring costs (e.g., maintenance, back maintenance, reinstatement fees).
5. Educate management that software is licensed, not purchased.
6. Include information regarding the legal liability related to pirated software. Include references to any cases you can find, including actual fines, as well as potential fines (caps). Note the reputational risk to the company as well.
7. Prepare a plan for bringing the company into compliance. Include possible stop-gap measures and alternatives (e.g., limiting the number of users with a specific pieces of software, buying one additional license per year, using OpenOffice).
8. Compile everything into a well-documented report/memo (depending on your company's preferred style), and be sure to present it personally (don't just email it off). Offer to meet at another time, if necessary, but you must make it clear how important this is. Offer to meet with the entire management team. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
9. Let management know you don't plan on blowing the whistle (they'll surely say "nobody knows, so we're fine"), but make them aware that any disgruntled employee could make a call in to the piracy hotline. If you have the intestinal fortitude to do so, you could even make it clear (if it reflects your beliefs) that you value your integrity and that you cannot, in good conscience, help the company steal software/violate contract terms. Of course, that means you need to be ready to put up or shut up.
All that being well and good, you can take some practical steps to start getting things into compliance going forward:
The problem is with the way copyright law changed. It no longer protects just the content, but also how the content is presented. Thus, they are claiming that the documents they have that currently store the statutes are protected under copyright law, and they are claiming that their new system will be so protected as well. But they'll offer access to that for free--aren't they nice?!
The courts will need to weigh in and make a clear ruling on these cases. I believe that any claims of copyright on a collection of policy statements is ludicrous. I used to work for the Federal Reserve System. We had to pay annual licensing fees to receive monthly updates to a CD-based collection of regulatory documents. It seemed absurd because they were all technically part of the public record. When I proposed that we just create a web-based catalog that did the same thing (we'd input changes as they were announced at a cost far less than our subscription), it was shot down, on the claim that only the authorized vendor had the right to present the data in compiled form.
It was an absolute pile of crap, but it made perfect sense to an organization entrenched in bureaucracy.