News

Software licensing

• February 11, 2013 11 Feb'13

  Australia to quiz tech giants on pricing

  The Australian parliament has summoned Microsoft, Apple and Adobe to appear before a committee investigating pricing

• January 29, 2013 29 Jan'13

  VMware cuts jobs as sales increase but profits disappoint

  Virtualisation software supplier VMware has announced 900 job cuts despite increasing its sales by 22% in the past year

• January 09, 2013 09 Jan'13

  Expect two or more supplier audits this year

  A recent survey by CA has reported that 40% of IT decision makers expect to be audited by their software provider up to twice a year

• January 08, 2013 08 Jan'13

  Are software audits good for your health?

  The Business Software Alliance's claim that 90% of all audit letters sent in 2012 were the result of tips from whistle-blowers is a wake-up call to CIOs

• January 07, 2013 07 Jan'13

  Barclays' Linux programme not a snub to suppliers

  Barclays says it is not snubbing any supplier by developing a private cloud infrastructure and using Linux to cut software development costs by 90%.

• December 18, 2012 18 Dec'12

  Mott MacDonald rolls out Microsoft software globally

  Engineering firm Mott MacDonald is rolling out Microsoft products globally over the next year as it moves towards a Microsoft-centric business strategy

• December 17, 2012 17 Dec'12

  Surrey County Council finds SAP cost savings with Enterprise Support

  Surrey County Council is saving time and reducing user despair in its SAP usage, according to Tahiana Jefferis, SAP competency manager

• December 07, 2012 07 Dec'12

  Citrix buys corporate MDM tool company Zenprise

  Citrix has bought mobile device management (MDM) company Zenprise for an undisclosed sum to boost its corporate mobile tools portfolio

• November 29, 2012 29 Nov'12

  Deloitte and KPMG face litigation over HP/Autonomy deal

  Two of the big four accounting firms have been named in a lawsuit following HP's $8.8bn write-down of Autonomy

• November 28, 2012 28 Nov'12

  Forrester: Microsoft licence hike makes no sense

  Windows users can expect a 15% increase in the cost of licensing key Microsoft products from December, as the software giant raises its prices

• November 20, 2012 20 Nov'12

  SAP users need more clarity on latest cloud, mobile and BI efforts

  SAP customers continue to express confusion about the supplier’s more advanced initiatives, including cloud migration and recent acquisitions

• November 13, 2012 13 Nov'12

  Big Switch Networks enters SDN race

  Silicon Valley start-up Big Switch Networks debuts its first software defined networking (SDN) products

• October 31, 2012 31 Oct'12

  Government dips toe in water for single ERP

  The government is to test the feasibility of moving to a single enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform across Whitehall

• October 29, 2012 29 Oct'12

  BSA fines First Choice Facilities after licence shortfall following an M&A

  Safety specialist First Choice Facilities has been fined £18,000 for unlicensed software following completion of an acquisition

• October 25, 2012 25 Oct'12

  Microsoft launches Windows 8

  Microsoft has finally released Windows 8, Windows RT and the Windows Store at a packed launch event in New York

• October 10, 2012 10 Oct'12

  Case study: End of BMC sponsorship a blessing for Toyota Motorsport IT

  Toyota Motorsport went to the market for a new ITSM system when a sponsorship deal with BMC came to an end, and has been reaping the benefits ever since

• October 10, 2012 10 Oct'12

  SAP users voice licensing concerns, call for greater clarity

  SAP users in the UK and Ireland demand more transparency in licensing and better value for money from the supplier.

• October 05, 2012 05 Oct'12

  Samsung promises profit despite Apple patent battle

  Samsung claims its profits will almost double this quarter, despite its high-profile court case with Apple over iPhone and Galaxy S3 patents

• September 12, 2012 12 Sep'12

  Huddle gets US federal government breakthrough

  US public sector workers get cloud-based collaboration software from Huddle after two major US government departments sign up

• September 11, 2012 11 Sep'12

  Ten killer questions for choosing an HR IT system

  Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) chose a cloud-based HR system, to manage its 3,700 disparate global staff, on the basis of 10 killer questions

• September 04, 2012 04 Sep'12

  In-depth: Windows Server 2012 goes after VMware

  The general availability of Windows Server 2012 today will see Microsoft’s strongest push yet to target VMware users

• August 15, 2012 15 Aug'12

  SMEs driving $2.2bn cloud industry growth

  The global cloud industry is set to be worth an extra $2.2bn before the end of the year, according to KPMG

• August 10, 2012 10 Aug'12

  Case Study: Welcome Break Group revamps HR with SuccessFactors

  Welcome Break Group is starting a project to deploy SuccessFactors, the cloud-based HR system from SAP.

• July 20, 2012 20 Jul'12

  Microsoft reports first loss since 1986

  The software giant recorded an operating loss of $492m in the fourth quarter of its 2012 fiscal year

• July 05, 2012 05 Jul'12

  CW500: Agile techniques for software development

  Using agile development methodologies can speed software development and reduce the likelihood of errors, IT leaders heard at the CW500 Club

• June 28, 2012 28 Jun'12

  Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude vows permanent rein on IT spending

  The government will keep a permanently tight rein on spending controls, says Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude

• June 27, 2012 27 Jun'12

  Microsoft hikes software costs by four times for some charities

  Specialist charities such as housing associations face paying nearly four times as much for Microsoft software due to licensing changes.

• June 27, 2012 27 Jun'12

  Windows 8 in the enterprise: From tablet to desktop PC

  During the Windows preview day in Amsterdam, Microsoft explained how it plans to change the way everyone uses computers in its so-called "beautiful experience"

• June 25, 2012 25 Jun'12

  Government slashes SAP and Microsoft spend by £150m

  The government expects to slash licence and maintenance spend with Microsoft and SAP up to £150m by 2015, via a framework renegotiation.

• June 22, 2012 22 Jun'12

  Government Procurement Service tenders for £1bn IT services

  The Government Procurement Service has published a £1bn tender for IT services

• June 19, 2012 19 Jun'12

  Oracle reports strong profit growth

  Oracle reported an 8% increase in profits on a 1% increase in sales for the fourth quarter of its 2012 financial year

• June 18, 2012 18 Jun'12

  Microsoft customers react to July licence fee hike

  Microsoft’s decision to increase the costs of volume licensing agreements demonstrates the power software suppliers wield over their customers

• June 06, 2012 06 Jun'12

  Microsoft publishes its response to government open standards consultation

  Microsoft has become the first major IT supplier to publish its submission to the government's consultation on the use of open standards.

• June 01, 2012 01 Jun'12

  Microsoft softens July licence blow

  Microsoft has lowered the price hike planned for July, but businesses still face paying up to 25% more for their software.

• May 24, 2012 24 May'12

  Google Android does not breach Oracle patents, court finds

  A US court has found that Google's Android mobile platform does not infringe Oracle's Java patents

• May 21, 2012 21 May'12

  Global software piracy increasing rapidly, study shows

  Global software piracy is increasing rapidly in the absence of any effective deterrence, a survey has revealed.

• May 11, 2012 11 May'12

  Adobe Muse offers websites without code

  The software helps users build websites without them having to know HTML

• May 03, 2012 03 May'12

  Microsoft hikes volume licensing prices by up to 33%

  UK organisations buying Microsoft volume licensing will see up to 33.5% price hikes from July as the firm attempts to harmonise European prices.

• May 03, 2012 03 May'12

  Motorola Mobility wins injunction against Microsoft in Germany

  Motorola Mobility has been granted an injunction against the distribution of key Microsoft products in Germany

• May 03, 2012 03 May'12

  European copyright ruling good for IT innovation, say lawyers

  The top European court's ruling on copyright is good news for innovation, say lawyers

• April 27, 2012 27 Apr'12

  Microsoft conflict forces Cabinet Office to extend open standards consultation

  The Cabinet Office has extended its ICT strategy public consultation on open standards after learning its facilitator was being paid by Microsoft.

• April 24, 2012 24 Apr'12

  Facebook profits fall; buys AOL patents from Microsoft for $550m

  Social networking giant Facebook reported a fall in profits for the first three months of this year as its anticipated IPO gets nearer.

• April 23, 2012 23 Apr'12

  What is the future of open source in government?

  While the pace of the move to open source in the public sector has been slow so far, a number of factors are converging to determine the blueprint for its future use in government IT.

• April 18, 2012 18 Apr'12

  Government unaware how much it pays for e-mail services

  Government departments do not know how much they are spending on e-mail services, according to research by Computer Weekly.

• April 10, 2012 10 Apr'12

  Microsoft bolsters patent arsenal in $1bn deal with AOL

  Microsoft is to acquire most of AOL's patents in a deal worth $1.06bn that covers more than 800 technological innovations

• April 02, 2012 02 Apr'12

  Knight Frank selects Virgin Media Business network for switch to fat clients

  Property consultant deploys faster WAN to avoid Citrix server farm upgrade and improve unified communications

• March 27, 2012 27 Mar'12

  Global SaaS spend to reach $14.5bn in 2012

  Global software-as-a-service sales are forecast to reach $14.5bn (£9bn) in 2012, rising to $22.1bn by 2015

• March 26, 2012 26 Mar'12

  BSA fines Coverteam UK £6,000 for unlicensed Microsoft and Adobe software

  The BSA has fined power conversion company Converteam UK £6,000 for using unlicensed copies of Microsoft and Adobe software

• March 16, 2012 16 Mar'12

  Microsoft cuts the price of Azure and Office 365

  Microsoft has cut the price of Windows Azure by 12%, and Office 365 by 20%, as competition in the cloud computing market increases

• March 13, 2012 13 Mar'12

  Businesses at risk from fake computer parts

  Factories in China are supplying substandard memory devices, claims corporate investigator.

• March 05, 2012 05 Mar'12

  NHS trusts to be freed from CSC contract commitments

  The Department of Health has proposed a deal with CSC to release trusts in the National Programme for IT from their contractual obligations to use software from the troubled supplier.

• February 27, 2012 27 Feb'12

  Salesforce.com revenues jump almost 40%

  Software-as-a-service supplier Salesforce.com has reported strong growth in the final quarter of its latest financial year.

• February 19, 2012 19 Feb'12

  Government launches CloudStore and names G-Cloud suppliers

  The government has launched its CloudStore, a catalogue of 1,700 cloud-based, pre-approved IT services now available for the public sector to buy.

• February 10, 2012 10 Feb'12

  Government takes on proprietary software lobby in open standards battle

  The government wants to push through open standards against vested interests keen to maintain the dominance of proprietary systems.

• February 07, 2012 07 Feb'12

  Oracle rejects SAP settlement and seeks new trial

  Oracle has rejected a $1bn reduction in a jury verdict it won against rival SAP and is seeking a new trial for copyright infringement.

• January 30, 2012 30 Jan'12

  Government inconsistency on ERP costs is 'inexcusable'

  Whitehall departments are spending up to three times more than others for the use of near-identical software, Computer Weekly can reveal.

• January 30, 2012 30 Jan'12

  Oracle and SAP worst for government ERP cost differences

  Oracle and SAP have been singled out as having the most inconsistent prices for ERP systems across government departments.

• January 25, 2012 25 Jan'12

  SAP reports bumper results

  Business software giant SAP has reported strong double-digit growth in sales and profit for last year, with software leading the charge.

• January 04, 2012 04 Jan'12

  What’s in store for IT in 2012?

  The global economy is creating an atmosphere of uncertainty in the IT sector, but what can we expect in 2012?

• January 04, 2012 04 Jan'12

  Microsoft sting adds to Comet’s woes

  Microsoft has filed proceedings against retailer Comet after it was discovered to have created and sold over 94,000 copies of Windows Vista and XP recovery CDs.

• January 03, 2012 03 Jan'12

  Warwickshire County Council's move to the cloud

  Warwickshire County Council CIO Tonino Ciuffini talks about why moving to an on-demand services model is the best way for councils to slash costs.

• January 03, 2012 03 Jan'12

  Licensing implications of bringing your own device to work

  Given the pace of change in gadgets that people wish to bring to work, we look at the issues around software licensing.

• December 23, 2011 23 Dec'11

  Top 10 business software stories of 2011

  Businesses and software suppliers are adopting new models, strategies and technologies in an increasingly cloud-based IT world.

• December 05, 2011 05 Dec'11

  CIOs slam Microsoft and Oracle for milking the licence-fee cash cow

  Paul Cheesbrough and David Jack, two CIOs who have pioneered cloud computing, have slammed traditional software suppliers for sticking with “cash cow” licensing models.

• November 25, 2011 25 Nov'11

  Government opens consultation on definition of IT open standards

  The UK has put its open standards policy up for public consultation after opposition from the British Standards Institution and software vendors.

• November 22, 2011 22 Nov'11

  Thames Water uses refresh cycle to pilot virtual desktops

  Thames Water is piloting desktop virtualisation with 500 users following a successful initial 40-user pilot.

• November 21, 2011 21 Nov'11

  SAP user group calls for better engagement from SAP

  SAP UK & Ireland User Group chairman Alan Bowling has called on business software maker SAP to continue to focus on customer engagement and communication.

• November 17, 2011 17 Nov'11

  Microsoft swoops on UK pirates as BSA reveals the damage

  Microsoft has settled out of court with five UK companies selling illegal copies of its software as part of its global crackdown on pirates.

• November 03, 2011 03 Nov'11

  Trinity Mirror chooses Google Apps over rival IBM and Microsoft cloud services

  Trinity Mirror Group is rolling out Google's enterprise cloud e-mail and collaboration service to replace a Lotus Notes-based on-premise e-mail system for 6,500 staff.

• February 09, 2011 09 Feb'11

  Gartner: open source software gives businesses flexibility

  IT departments are increasingly deploying open source software as part of their IT strategy to improve flexibility and lower licensing costs, a report from analyst Gartner has found.

• January 14, 2011 14 Jan'11

  Microsoft to halve school licence fees

  Many schools will have their software licence fees cut by more than half as Microsoft changes its method for calculating payment.

• December 17, 2010 17 Dec'10

  Oracle makes $2bn software sales as executives talk up hardware

  Oracle sold $2billion new software licences in its second quarter of 2010. Software license updates and product support revenues were up 12% to $3.6...

• November 25, 2010 25 Nov'10

  SAP improves customer relations, but still faces price and licensing issues

  New leadership of German enterprise software maker SAP is pursuing a transformation agenda and a more customer-focused strategy in an attempt to rebuild trust.

• November 01, 2010 01 Nov'10

  Oracle starts court battle for $2.3bn in damages from SAP

  Oracle's court battle with SAP is set to begin today in Oakland, California as it seeks at least $2.3bn in damages for unauthorised access of its systems by an SAP subsidiary. In a suit filed in 2007, Oracle alleges that SAP's now-defunct support ...

• August 12, 2010 12 Aug'10

  Linux Foundation releases open source compliance tests

  An open compliance programme has been launched by the Linux Foundation to help people using open source software comply with licensing.

• July 14, 2010 14 Jul'10

  Government scraps £80m Microsoft licensing deal with NHS

  The government has scrapped the long-running NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) enterprise agreement (EA) software licensing deal with Microsoft after deciding there was no business case or budget to renew it.

• May 11, 2010 11 May'10

  Businesses warned of software licensing clampdown

  Businesses are under threat of legal action and compulsory audits as cash-strapped software suppliers take a tough line on software licensing.

• December 18, 2009 18 Dec'09

  Oracle boosts software and services revenue with SAP business

  Oracle has increased its software licence and product support revenue by 14% to $3.9bn for the second quarter of 2009, at the expense of SAP.

• October 21, 2009 21 Oct'09

  Citrix changes XenDesktop licensing after user pressure

  Citrix has reacted to criticisms from IT departments of the user-based licensing of its XenDesktop 4 product and introduced more flexibility into its payment options.

• August 10, 2009 10 Aug'09

  Video: Windows 7 - Businesses can upgrade now

  Enterprise users with Microsoft Software Assurance subscription licensing can now download and install Windows 7 Enterprise Edition.

• July 15, 2009 15 Jul'09

  Microsoft slashes licence fees up to 40%

  Microsoft is to streamline and simplify its licensing structure, saving customers up to 40% of their licensing costs.

• April 24, 2009 24 Apr'09

  Government departments to swap spare software licences

  The government is setting up a software swap-shop to allow government departments to use spare software without paying extra licensing costs.

  The pool,...

• March 26, 2009 26 Mar'09

  Recession leads to more business for Red Hat

  Red Hat has reported rising licensing revenue as it benefits from increased customer interest in open source sparked by the recession.

  There has been...

• March 19, 2009 19 Mar'09

  Oracle boosts software licence revenue

  Oracle has reported a rise in software licence sales for Q3 2009.

• March 06, 2009 06 Mar'09

  Save costs by understanding your ERP licences

  One area companies rarely consider for cost saving, but where there is a lot of potential, is ERP software licences…

• November 14, 2008 14 Nov'08

  Infor helps Nakheel reach for the sky with world's tallest building

  Nakheel has bought extra licences worth $3m for Infor 's...

• August 29, 2008 29 Aug'08

  Credit crunch drives software audits

  More frequent software audits and new licence conditions likely as software houses seek to shore up revenues against the economic downturn.

• July 18, 2008 18 Jul'08

  Open source in technology merger and acquisitions

  Open source technology is simply an evolved class of licensing under which wider, more permissive rights are given to users. Crucially, access to source code is given enabling user support and development of the code. While the open source ...

• July 01, 2008 01 Jul'08

  Microsoft debuts Select Plus flexible enterprise licensing

  Microsoft has introduced the Select Plus software licensing package for larger firms that want a more flexible organisation-wide agreement.

• April 01, 2008 01 Apr'08

  Thus returns to Thresher

  Retailer Thresher is to extend its contract with telco Thus to run the communications services for its 1,800 licence sites and head office.

• March 06, 2008 06 Mar'08

  How to negotiate virtualisation licensing

  IT managers negotiating the price of virtualisation licences with software suppliers such as Microsoft, SAP and Oracle could get cheaper deals if they audit software use beforehand.

• January 28, 2008 28 Jan'08

  Firms weary about software licensing models, report says

  Firms continue to find the software licensing models of their suppliers a source of headaches, according to a report published by analyst Forrester.

• November 23, 2007 23 Nov'07

  Free Software Foundation develops open licence to cover SaaS

  The Free Software Foundation has developed an open licence to cover on-demand software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications.

• November 16, 2007 16 Nov'07

  Software to become a buyer’s market, says Gartner

  Competitive forces are converging to reduce software licence fees, says Gartner

• October 12, 2007 12 Oct'07

  Shadow promises mainframe saving

  Mainframe middleware firm Data­Direct Technologies has developed technology to enable businesses running IBM z/OS mainframes to save on software licensing costs by offloading applications on to dedicated mainframe processors.

• September 24, 2007 24 Sep'07

  E-tailer cuts licensing costs with Linux server

  An online retailer has saved more than £56,000 in software licensing costs after moving its IT platform from Microsoft Windows to Linux.

• July 30, 2007 30 Jul'07

  DVLA reduces costs by 30% with online service

  The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) expects to save £50m over the next eight years, as it begins to reap the benefits of technology to enable customers to pay their car tax online.

• July 19, 2007 19 Jul'07

  Gartner: MS subscription licence may become ‘mandatory’

  Microsoft is likely to make changes to the way its products are licensed that could, in effect, make its Software Assurance subscription licensing programme mandatory by 2009, analyst firm Gartner has predicted.

• July 15, 2007 15 Jul'07

  Microsoft Software Assurance deals questioned by IT chiefs

  One in four companies that bought into Microsoft’s Software Assurance licensing programme in 2004 are being deterred from renewing the three-year deal because they perceive it to be poor value, a study by Forrester Research has revealed.

• July 10, 2007 10 Jul'07

  Microsoft Software Assurance renewals in doubt

  Users are still seeing little value in Microsoft's Software Assurance (SA) subscription licence programme, a new report from Forrester Research suggests.