Corporate policy on managing software for administrative computing

Scottish Borders Council
Corporate policy on managing software for administrative computing

Part 1 – our policy

Our policy is to manage our software assets to get the most out of them. To make sure that we do, we and our agents must do the following.

Keep to relevant laws and regulations, including the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, whenever we get, copy, distribute or use computer software.
Keep only legal software on our computers and computer networks.

UK copyright laws protect all software from the time it is created. We use licensed copies of computer software, from a variety of publishers. We are allowed to make a back-up or archive copy of software which is correctly licensed to us. Any other copying of software breaks current UK copyright laws and is against this policy.

This policy applies to all councillors, employees, contractors, volunteers or other agents who have access to our computers or computer networks.

Members of the public can use the ‘People’s Network’ in libraries under specific terms and conditions that they have to accept when they log on. The same management arrangements (as set out in this policy) apply to software on the People’s Network as on our other equipment. The Director of Education & Lifelong Learning must make sure that software loaded by a member of the public is removed after it has been used.

The Director of Education and Lifelong Learning manages the software used in schools as part of the curriculum. This software may have its own licensing requirements which he is responsible for.

Part 2 – why this policy is important

Everyone this policy applies to must keep to it so that we can make sure we are keeping to all relevant laws. Legal action could well be taken against us if we didn’t keep to all relevant laws.

Part 3 – responsibilities of all who use our computers and computer networks

If you think any software being used or distributed within the council does not have a proper licence, you must tell your line manager, IT liaison officer or the Head of IT as soon as possible.

You must not copy, lend or give anyone any software licensed to us, regardless of the terms and conditions of the supplier’s licence.

You must not use or distribute software that does not belong to us on our computers or computer networks.

You are not allowed to download or install any software onto our equipment. This includes ‘freeware’ and ‘shareware’ that may be available without a licence. If you think you need to download or install any software in order to carry out your work, you must speak to your line manager or IT liaison officer.

If copies of software are available for a trial period, you must not use them after the trial period has ended. The person who arranged for the trial must make sure the software is uninstalled and, if necessary, returned to the supplier when the trial period ends.

You may be held responsible if your work computer contains any software we do not have an appropriate licence for. IT liaison officers are responsible for laptops and other equipment held for general use in their portfolio.

Before members of the public can use our computers (for example, in libraries) they must agree to our terms and conditions when they log on.

Remember, you should also be familiar with our ‘Computer security policy and standards’,our ‘Policy and guidelines on using e-mail and the internet’, and our ‘Data protection quick guide’. All these, as well as a series of guidance notes on making best use of computer facilities, are available on our intranet.

Part 4 – extra responsibilities of councillors, the Chief Executive, directors, heads of service and line managers

You are responsible for making sure that you, your staff and any contractors, volunteers or other agents under your supervision who use our computers or computer networks know about, understand and keep to this policy. If you are a line manager, you are also responsible for telling the Chief Internal Auditor and Head of IT if you know, suspect or are told that this policy has not been followed.

Part 5 – extra responsibilities of project managers

For any project which involves new software, or could change the licensing requirements of existing software, you are responsible for making sure the project produces a Software Licensing Statement setting out the necessary licensing requirements. This statement must be signed off by the IT Customer Support Manager, IT Systems Support Manager, or relevant IT Liaison Officer (as appropriate) for the software products involved.

Part 6 – extra responsibilities in the IT Unit

The Head of IT is responsible for preparing this policy.

The Head of IT is also responsible for introducing a software management process which will help us to keep to relevant UK copyright laws.

Part 7 – keeping people informed of their responsibilities

The IT unit will place an up-to-date copy of this policy on our intranet. The unit will also e-mail a copy of the policy to all staff and councillors with access to our computer network when this policy is adopted and when it is updated.

The Staff Induction Pack new employees receive from Personnel Services will refer to this policy. Local induction packs and procedures issued by portfolios will include more detailed information on how the policy applies to members of their staff who use our computers or computer networks.

The initial training session the IT Unit gives to new users will include an explanation of this policy. If a line manager decides that a new member of staff does not need the initial training session, the portfolio’s IT Liaison Officer will be responsible for making sure this policy is explained to that new member of staff. IT liaison officerswill also answer any questions staff have about the policy.

Authorised staff who ask for accounts for new users will be responsible for making sure that the new user understands this policy. Existing users may be asked to confirm in writing that they understand and accept this policy so they can continue to use our computers.

Part 8 – the process of managing the software assets

In order to achieve the aims of this policy, we have adopted the following Software Asset Management Process. The process consists of three main elements:

creating an environment the process can succeed in;
reviewing the software on our computers; and
keeping this policy up to date, and taking action if this policy or any laws are not met.

A - Creating an environment the process can succeed in

All software and software upgrades (including bundled software) to be used on our computers or computer networks must come through the IT Unit. Your IT liaison officer can get approved software for you from the IT Unit by filling in an order form, as part of a formal project, or under the terms of an existing statement of service for a named system.

The IT Unit will not get the software for you until it has been confirmed that we hold, or will hold, an appropriate licence. For bundled software, the IT Unit will need confirmation that we hold an appropriate licence to use bundled software, or are authorised to distribute the software for others to use.

An up-to-date record of software licences, hardware, original CD-ROMs, diskettes and user information will be maintained by the IT Unit or the IT Liaison Officer. This record will be held in a secure place. We will use software management programmes to automate record-keeping where appropriate.

All original software licences, disks, CD-ROMs, and documents (including copies of filled-in registration cards) will be stored securely. Responsibilities for storing individual items are as follows.

The IT Systems Support Manager is responsible for:

all systems and associated support products covered by a current Statement of Service with the IT Unit for live application support (see our intranet).

The IT Customer Support Manager is responsible for:

all Microsoft products (see ‘Standard desktop products’); and
all other products needed to provide the current desktop computer and communications systems.

IT liaison officers are responsible for:

all other software products used by their portfolio.

The Head of IT will keep a list of people authorised to install software on our computers or computer networks. No other person is allowed to install, upgrade or distribute software on our computers.

The people authorised to install or distribute software are only allowed to do this if we have the appropriate licence.

They must not install any software upgrade on a computer where the original version of the software is not already installed. They must destroy the original back-up copy of the upgraded software during the installation process.

The Head of IT will arrange for designated people to destroy all copies of software that are no longer used or which we do not hold the appropriate licence for, unless the Head of IT gets the appropriate licence. If the Head of IT gets an appropriate licence, the user’s department will generally pay any cost involved.

B - Reviewing the software on computers

As part of our Software Asset Management Process, from time to time the Chief Internal Auditor will check whether this policy is being followed. This will be done during an internal audit.

From time to time, the Head of IT will also check what software is used within the council. These checks may be done using an automated software management system or by portfolios filling in forms.

C - Keeping this policy up-to-date and taking action if this policy or any laws are not met

The Head of IT, with the Head of Legal Services and the Chief Internal Auditor, will review this policy each year and amend it if necessary.

If any person fails to keep to this policy, the matter will be investigated and appropriate action taken. The action taken will depend on particular circumstances, but could result in:

disciplinary action, including dismissal (for employees);
loss of contract and fines (for contractors or agents); or
the matter being referred to the Standards Committee (for councillors).