Usage audits

A usage audit uses a monitoring program installed across an organisation's computers to log which programs are installed and when each one is opened or used. The monitoring program quietly records, for every machine, the software found on it and the times that software is launched, then reports back. Over a few weeks this builds a picture of what is actually being used, rather than what people say they use.

What the log shows

Because the monitoring program timestamps every launch, the audit can flag programs that have not been opened recently: staff set a threshold, such as a term, and anything untouched within it appears in the report. A program that nobody has started on any computer for months is a strong signal that it is not needed. Each flagged program can then be investigated: perhaps one team still relies on it occasionally, or perhaps it was left behind when a project finished. If no one needs it, it can be uninstalled.

For example, a college's monitoring program might show that a video editing package was opened regularly until a media project ended, and has not been launched on any of the college's computers since. IT staff check with the media tutor, confirm the project is finished, and remove the software.

Why this supports the acceptable software policy

• Reducing vulnerabilities: every installed program is another piece of code that could contain a security flaw. Removing software nobody uses takes away those flaws before an attacker can exploit them.
• Avoiding licence costs: many programs are paid for per installation or per user. Uninstalling unused copies means the organisation stops paying to license idle software, and can renew fewer licences.
• Evidence, not guesswork: the log gives concrete proof of what is installed and used, so decisions to remove software are based on recorded facts and no one loses a tool they depend on.

In each case the audit makes the acceptable software policy easier to enforce, because it shows which software is present, who is using it and whether it earns its place.