Using Managed Services for License Compliance

Law firm Scott & Scott, of Dallas, is encouraging managed services providers to add software license compliance and asset management to their remote monitoring and management offerings.

And the firm has just the thing for it. Scott & Scott the week of March 26 released its Managed Compliance Services, a software asset management package that includes a tool called Compliance Manager. The tool automates and simplifies asset discovery, software license reconciliation and ongoing software license compliance.

Scott & Scott Managing Partner Rob Scott said software license compliance is a perfect add-on for managed services offerings. Compliance services, he said, address an important need and, therefore, represent a big opportunity.

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Scott & Scott’s technology makes it possible to run monthly inventories of client networks and perform quarterly reconciliations of software license entitlements. The tool allows administrators to prepare reports on assets such as network hardware, software installations, license entitlements, software license compliance details and recommendations for software license optimization.

The goal, Scott said, is to reduce software asset management and IT costs, eliminate disruptive IT projects, and allow clients to focus on their core business as opposed to IT needs.

In addition, the compliance tool helps prevent discrepancies between installed software and software licenses that can lead to legal trouble.

Scott & Scott, which has been active in the MSP Alliance and worked with MSPs to write managed services customer contracts, has many provider contacts that Scott said will prove valuable in getting the firm’s Managed Compliance Services into the market.

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“Fortunately we have relationships with many of the most prominent managed services providers in the industry,” he said. “It’s not a coincidence that the managed services model is the model of choice for Scott & Scott. It’s a model we believe in wholeheartedly.”

Through managed services, providers remotely take over some or all of their clients’ IT functions, charging them monthly, quarterly or yearly fees for the services.

“For many businesses, managed services is a cost-effective and secure way to implement a comprehensive compliance program without overtaxing IT resources,” said Charles Weaver, director of the MSP Alliance, in Chico, Calif.

Scott & Scott’s Managed Compliance Services conform with the ISO 19770-1 International Standard, a set of guidelines for auditable software asset management practices.