Unlicensed software use at 60% in India

Commercial value of such software is Rs 17,900 cr

Even though security threats for computer users have increased, use of unlicensed software continues in a big way in India. A striking 60 per cent of the software installed on personal computers in India in 2013 was not properly licensed, said a survey.

According to the BSA Global Software Survey conducted for BSA by IDC, the rate at which PC software was installed without proper licensing in India was 60 per cent in 2013, a 3 percentage point decrease from 2011.

Though there has been a drop of three percentage point, the cost implications are still high. The commercial value of that unlicensed software totaled over Rs 17,900 crore ($2.9 billion).

 

Global finding

The global rate at which PC software was installed without proper licensing rose from 42% in 2011 to 43% in 2013

The commercial value of unlicensed PC software installations totaled $62.7 billion globally in 2013

APAC emerged as the region with the highest overall rate of unlicensed PC software installations in 2013 at 62%

Central and Eastern Europe had the next-highest rate of unlicensed software installations at 61%

Latin America at 59% and the Middle East and Africa, also at 59% came next

"We have often seen cases where enterprises may not even be aware that they are using unlicensed software. With software licensing becoming increasingly complex, compounded by fast-paced cloud adoption and proliferation of devices through BYOD [bring your own device], organizations require a fresh approach in the way they manage licenses," said Vipin Aggarwal, BSA India Committee chair.
Only 33 per cent of companies in India have written policies in place requiring use of properly licensed software, said the report. IT managers around the world express understandable concern that unlicensed software may cause harm, yet less than half say they are very confident that their company's software is properly licensed.

The chief reason, said the report, computer users around the world cite for not using unlicensed software is avoiding security threats from malware. Among the risks associated with unlicensed software, 64 per cent of users globally cited unauthorized access by hackers as a top concern and 59 per cent cited loss of data.

"Unlicensed software use is an organizational governance issue, and this study shows there is a clear need for improvement," said BSA President and CEO Victoria Espinel.

The BSA Global Software Survey is conducted every other year for BSA by IDC, which this year polled computer users in 34 markets including nearly 22,000 consumer and business PC users and more than 2,000 IT managers.