News release: 1E, the global leader in IT efficiency software today announced the results of an independent study of IT professionals in the United States and United Kingdom into software efficiency. The study, commissioned in association with the International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers (IAITAM) and the Federation Against Software Theft Investors in Software (FASTIiS) conducted by Opinion Matters, revealed that software waste is endemic in organizations today, preventing cost efficiencies and unnecessarily draining IT budgets….The results of the software efficiency study were broadly similar in both territories. The study found that just 8 percent of UK organizations and 9 percent of US organizations systematically reclaim unused software licenses to save money. Respondents cited concerns about user reaction, business risk and lack of tools as reasons against action; however, the report found a clear financial imperative for every organization to do so:

• Almost three quarters of organizations (UK=68; US=71 percent) admit to having software waste
• An overwhelming majority (UK=92; US=83 percent) have undeployed software licenses, more commonly known as shelfware
• Four fifths (UK=80; US=84 percent) agree that there is more than $100 worth of installed but unused software per PC
  Furthermore, the study found that:

• On average, at least 10 percent of all software purchased is destined to become shelfware – at a cost of between $145-155 per user per year for each organization
• The majority of respondents (UK=85; US=72 percent) feel that software asset management is too complex and over two thirds in both the UK and US (66 percent) find preparing for vendor audits challenging
• Half (UK=50; US=52 percent) of enterprises still use spreadsheets to record software licenses
• Approximately one in ten (UK=9; US=12 percent) still use paper-based filing systems, while some (UK=14 percent; US=12 percent) staggeringly even admitted to not having a process in place at all.”