Business Continuity Services (BCS) has made available version 4 of its Software Organiser tool designed to help organisations with software licence compliance. The new release adds the capability to track upgrade licenses for existing applications as well as manage client access licences (CALs).

Software Organiser provides a standardised way to store licence details, and can reconcile those licences against a network audit report generated by asset discovery tools such as Visual Audit Pro and Centennial. The tool is Fast-approved and compliant with both ISO 19770-1 and Itil guidelines, according to BCS.

One of the key features added to version 4.0 is the ability to track upgrade licences by associating an underlying licence with the new one for the upgrade, according to BCS.

"Reconciliation is not enough to stay compliant – you need to manage ongoing purchases of software and licences," said Andrew Fisher, director of business development at BCS.

For example, if a company purchases an upgrade from Office 2000 to Office 2003, the new licences will only be valid if the company can produce the original "base" licences as well, he said.

Another key benefit of Software Organiser is that it can sift through the audit report and identify assets that may have been reported more than once, giving administrators a more accurate picture of licence compliance on their network.

Software Organiser may require some customisation by a reseller to adapt it to the specific mix of licences being used in each organisation, BCS said.

The tool is licensed according to the number of administrators that need to run Software Organiser, with a single seat starting at £1,795 and 10 seats costing from £6,895.

"For large companies, this is a small price to pay to be able to prove licence compliance," said Fisher.