Software License Deployment Rights
Having to work in a few vendors environment, I realize there are many things that customer are not aware when purchasing any software licenses.
I have experience or came across those customer that have presence in several countries to seek for quotation or pricing from the respective countries to compare which countries would provide a better cost saving in order to purchase from for their entire or if not a specific country usage.
There is nothing wrong with this however most of the software licenses pricing differ depending on countries in terms of taxes and rebates , etc.
However most customer are not aware, if you purchase a licenses from 'A' country and used it in 'B" country, you might end up violating licenses agreement without knowing it. In terms of audit and compliance, this is in turn results in a violation.
Some companies have been caught and fined not knowing the reason behind. Some software houses, do send auditors to check on companies randomly. So what must be take note of?
From the above scenario, you would have to ensure your contract or agreement with the software vendor, should contain a "Global Deployment Rights". This may be call something else for different software vendors.
Without the above rights in your agreement, customer are violating their agreement by buying from one country and using it in another.
In my personal opinion, it best to know your contract details clearly. Often I see some mis-selling closing a deal and not informing customer that some sort of deployment rights is required if used outside the country where is it purchased but only answer 'Yes' it can be done. Not knowing what the customer needs is also the reason sometimes.
Other outcome, imagine when you purchase license in 'A' country and use it in 'B' country. When 'B' country encounter some issues and needed the personnel from 'B' country for assistance, due to the purchase wasn't in 'B' country, the personnel will have to direct this back to 'A' country.
Wouldn't the above cause you a hassle. Try to see this this way if this two countries are of a different timezone. This would be a real pain.
This does not just applies to any software in specific nor just software. It can also happens to hardware or anything that often done via this method.
The next time doing a purchase other than specifying your intention, also make sure the agreement does cover it as well.
I have experience or came across those customer that have presence in several countries to seek for quotation or pricing from the respective countries to compare which countries would provide a better cost saving in order to purchase from for their entire or if not a specific country usage.
There is nothing wrong with this however most of the software licenses pricing differ depending on countries in terms of taxes and rebates , etc.
However most customer are not aware, if you purchase a licenses from 'A' country and used it in 'B" country, you might end up violating licenses agreement without knowing it. In terms of audit and compliance, this is in turn results in a violation.
Some companies have been caught and fined not knowing the reason behind. Some software houses, do send auditors to check on companies randomly. So what must be take note of?
From the above scenario, you would have to ensure your contract or agreement with the software vendor, should contain a "Global Deployment Rights". This may be call something else for different software vendors.
Without the above rights in your agreement, customer are violating their agreement by buying from one country and using it in another.
In my personal opinion, it best to know your contract details clearly. Often I see some mis-selling closing a deal and not informing customer that some sort of deployment rights is required if used outside the country where is it purchased but only answer 'Yes' it can be done. Not knowing what the customer needs is also the reason sometimes.
Other outcome, imagine when you purchase license in 'A' country and use it in 'B' country. When 'B' country encounter some issues and needed the personnel from 'B' country for assistance, due to the purchase wasn't in 'B' country, the personnel will have to direct this back to 'A' country.
Wouldn't the above cause you a hassle. Try to see this this way if this two countries are of a different timezone. This would be a real pain.
This does not just applies to any software in specific nor just software. It can also happens to hardware or anything that often done via this method.
The next time doing a purchase other than specifying your intention, also make sure the agreement does cover it as well.
Comments