Corporate Desktop Software Policies

[DomitianX]

Does anybody have an example of a desktop software policy for the corporate environment?<br>
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I have the lovely duty of drafting such a document and I was wondering if I could get some examples of what other companies have used.<br>
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We want to put a policy in place that outlines what the policies are for users installing personal software or shareware off the webon their work computers.<br>
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Thanks in advance,<br>
Mike

 

[Zelandakh]

Help yourself to the following acceptable use policy that I drafted a few years back...<br>
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Your company Computer Systems – Acceptable Use Policy<br>
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This AUP identifies the actions that Your company (Your co) considers to be abuse and therefore strictly prohibited. In addition to the other requirements of this AUP, any staff member, past, present or future, full time or contract/temporary may only use Your co systems, services and resources in a manner that is consistent with the defined purposes of such systems, services and resources.<br>
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If you are unsure of whether a contemplated use or action is permitted under the terms of this AUP, you should contact The Boss, Commercial Director, for official determination. The examples identified in the sections below are non-exclusive and are provided in part for guidance purposes.<br>
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General Conduct<br>
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Transmitting on or through any of Your co systems, services or resources any material that is, in Your co’ sole discretion, unlawful, obscene, threatening, abusive, libellous or hateful, or that encourages conduct that may constitute a criminal offence, gives rise to civil liability or otherwise violates the law is strictly prohibited.<br>
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Networking and System Security<br>
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Any attempt to circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network or account is strictly prohibited. Including, but not limited to, accessing data not intended for the user concerned and logging into a server or account that the user is not authorised to access.<br>
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Electronic mail<br>
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Electronic mail (email) includes but is not limited to the internal electronic mail system, external mail systems accessed via Your co computer systems and web based mail systems accessed via Your co computer systems.<br>
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Harassment through language, image, frequency or size of messages both to and from internal or external recipients is strictly prohibited.<br>
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Spamming, chain letters, malicious acts and email harassment is strictly prohibited. Spamming, chain letters, malicious acts and email harassment received should be reported in the first instance to a member of the IT department. Details of the emails should be given including but not limited to sender’s address, contents and any requirements of future correspondence to the sender. Any emails so noted should be forwarded directly to the IT department or printed and sent via internal mail in the first instance.<br>
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Electronic mail is not a private or secure system. Staff do not have explicit rights to privacy in the company email system. Electronic mail passing through the servers is routinely backed up and available for inspection if required. Electronic mail should be used in the same manner as any other business communication including but not confined to, telephone, facsimile, memorandum or formal letter.<br>
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All electronic mails stored in the mailbox of the user or on the server should not be treated as secure.<br>
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Electronic mail attachments should be for legitimate business purposes only with a maximum size of 1Mb per mail message except as directed by the IT department.<br>
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Obscenities<br>
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Pornographic, lewd or indecent text or pictures sent or received via any medium including but not confined to electronic mail, the internet and disk based media is strictly prohibited.<br>
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News groups<br>
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Access to, membership of, and subscription to News Groups are made at the users discretion. Any violation of general conduct, networking and system security or content is strictly prohibited.<br>
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The Internet<br>
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Access to the Internet is given with discretion to employees with a genuine business reason for access. All sites visited, pages downloaded and content used will be monitored on Your company servers. The Internet is not provided for personal use, personal gain or other purposes not related to Your company work. <br>
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Any employees believed to be involved in any activities detailed in this document will have their systems, including email systems, watched in the first instance by the IT department. Should the employee be seen to be in violation of the general conduct detailed in this document, a warning will be given by the employee’s direct line manager. Further infringement of the general conduct will be dealt with as a traditional offence as detailed in the standard employee contract.<br>
MEMORANDUM<br>
<br>
To: All Staff From: Nick Gillott<br>
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Re: In house computer systems Date: 20 October 1999<br>
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As you know we have spent a great deal of time and money installing a new and completely up-to-date network system for our combined buildings. To safeguard the system for all users it is worth itemising a few guidelines.<br>
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Games Software<br>
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Please do not install or run games or any other software of your own on company computers. This includes software sent by email.<br>
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Email<br>
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Use of email is given to all employees for corporate and personal use. This includes correspondence with friends and relatives including overseas. Email is not a secure system and should be treated like a telephone call in terms of time spent, privacy and legitimacy. Do not send, forward or open spam (commercial messages or advertisements sent to a large number people), chain letters or attachments from unknown sources.<br>
A crib sheet has been prepared on how to use Outlook and is attached. Anyone wishing further training, please contact IT.<br>
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The Internet<br>
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Access to the Internet has to be approved by Departmental Managers. Usage of the Internet is granted for use only during office hours for company benefit. The Internet is not to be used for extensive personal use, for accessing pornography, playing games or using chat rooms.<br>
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Both Internet and email usage are routinely checked by the IT department.<br>
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Viruses<br>
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Viruses from any source are dangerous. They can be sent with Word documents, spreadsheets and any other item sent to you by email or post (ie a disk). If you do not recognise the sender of the email, do not open the email and contact the IT department.<br>
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If anyone has any queries regarding this, please contact me.<br>
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Many thanks.<br>
<br>
Nick<br>

 

[MasterRacker]

Our policy documents are split between e-mail, voice mail, Internet use and software. The software document is very short:<br>
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Scope: All Employees<br>
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Policy Statement:<br>
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Software should be considered an asset. For ease of administration it is often made available through the network. The Company considers the making of unauthorized copies of software as theft. The Company has established a policy to insure that employees are aware that only legally licensed software should be loaded on Company owned equipment.<br>
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No employee may load software that has not been purchased or legally licensed for use by the Company on any Company owned hardware.<br>
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No Company owned software may be loaded on hardware not owned by the Company unless authorized by the licensing agreement.<br>
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**********************************************<br>
I don't particularly care for our Internet and mail policies, but they are dictated by our parent co. and I have no authority to change them. If you actually have the chance to draft your own plicies here is a policy proposed by David Moschella in Computerworld on Nov. 1, 1999 that I like a lot better (check out the whole article if you get a chance: <A HREF="

http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/991101C9C6"

TARGET="_new">

http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/991101C9C6</A>)<br>

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1. The company recognizes that its employees have busy lives and long workdays and that this sometimes warrants the use of the company's computers, printers, copiers, telephones and networks for occasional and limited personal use. If an employee has any doubts about the meaning of limited or occasional, he should consult an immediate supervisor or human resources representative. <br>
2. The company recognizes that employees aren't robots. Both during and after normal working hours, employees may occasionally access the Internet for non-work-related purposes (subject to the restrictions below), just as they are currently allowed to read newspapers in the company library or make occasional non-work-related telephone calls. <br>
3. The company has no intention to broadly monitor the content of individual employee e-mail communications. However, in order to maintain a high-quality work environment, it does reserve the right to either randomly or systematically scan all employee e-mail for offensive words and phrases. Employees found using such language will be subject to disciplinary action, including termination. <br>
4. Other than the aforementioned scan for offensive language, employee e-mail will never be reviewed without sufficient cause. Employees should be aware that valid potential causes include, but aren't limited to, the following: legal, ethical and customer issues; employee productivity and job performance concerns; unusual levels of network utilization; and complaints from fellow workers or other individuals. Any such e-mail review will formally involve both the employee's immediate supervisor and a human resources representative. <br>
5. The company reserves the right to block and/or monitor Internet access to any sites that the company deems to be offensive or undesirable. In addition, employees found to be visiting sites that aren't blocked that are subsequently found to be offensive are subject to review and possible disciplinary action. These offensive sites include, but are not limited to, sites focusing on pornography, violence, hate groups and similarly objectionable material of no business relevance.<br>
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<p> Jeff<br><a href=mailto: masterracker@hotmail.com> masterracker@hotmail.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[DomitianX]

Thanks!!!