IT mgmt programme for SMEs launched

Business Software Alliance (BSA), a non-profit organisation sponsored by technology companies, on Thursday launched its software asset management programme aimed at 1,200-odd small and medium companies in and around Hyderabad.

The free-of-cost programme is designed to help SMEs improve their overall IT governance through education, training, counselling and certification, according to Keshav Dhakad, chair, BSA India committee.

He said, “Business growth is now critically dependent on hardware and software but licensing has become increasingly complex.”

In this context, ISO put together a set of best practices, including use of genuine software, to bring down the total cost of ownership and to improve efficiency of software assets. These have evolved into software asset management, he said.

The programme, which runs for three to four months, involves seminars, workshops, training, assessment and certification.

Dhakad said the BSA certification would be a sign of IT maturity and competence when pitching for global deals. The programme works with proprietary as well as open-source software.

Andhra Pradesh is the third state for the BSA programme after Karnataka and Maharashtra where it began in 2008-09 and 2009-10 respectively. It worked with 700 and 500 companies in the two states.