Software piracy is not just about downloading illegal software, getting it “for free” from a friend or installing counterfeit software. It’s more than that. Piracy is about stealing intellectual property. And, software licensing at the enterprise level – though called “compliance” – is a form of piracy. Though in the case of enterprise software, it’s more than likely that the non-compliance is not deliberate.
This Microsoft video is overly dramatic, but well done.
SearchOracle.com just wrote an interesting piece this week on the trials and tribulations of going through an upgrade process on existing enterprise software.
Mark Brunelli emphasizes the importance of doing your research ahead of time – know what the new features are, or what features may have been done away with – before making the decision to upgrade. Just because it’s called an upgrade, doesn’t always mean that it will serve as an advantage to your business.
Another important factor to keep in mind is that sometimes older versions don’t come with support on maintenance and security functions – so an upgrade may be necessary.
Being one of the first adopters of a new version of software can sometimes be scary – some hold back until it’s been “tested” by others and then take the plunge.
The key is a strong relationship with your Oracle CRM so that problems and fixes can be executed on quickly. Upgrades have been put in place to make the software work better, for example Oracle 10g Release 2 has two features called Oracle Data Vault and Oracle Audit Vault, which actually help business remain SOX compliant.
