Although open source software components typically require no licensing fee, it does not mean they are risk free. The main risk areas are:

• Legal risk/licence IP compliance – Open source software components license analysis discovers legal obligations as well as potential intellectual property (IP) risks.
• Security vulnerabilities – uncovers security vulnerabilities contained within open source software components.
• Operational risk – Ensuring open source software components meet required technical and architectural standards.

Managing open source software risk should be a continuous process not a one-off audit/remediate exercise.

A Continuous Compliance Managed Service from Source Code Control Ltd enables proactive risk management to ensure unnecessary risk is not engineered into software. Source Code Control Ltd. are an approved Linux Foundation OpenChain Service Provider and services provided conform with OpenChain Standard.

There are several areas this could have a positive impact:

1.  Customer satisfaction - demonstrable high quality software that is risk managed with full transparency
2.  Competitive advantage - stand out from your competition by transparently demonstrating quality assurance. Take the risk out of the decision of a prospect
3.  Software maintenance efficiency - avoid unnecessary software maintenance costs by avoiding engineering risk into software in the first place
4.  Potential reduction in insurance premiums - demonstrate to insurers the level of risk avoidance being taken to protect against cyber and IP issues
5.  Reputation - be on the front foot dealing with issues such as cyber risk by being aware of risk at the earliest possible stage and proactively dealing with situations

Align Operational Processes with Risk Management Requirements

The Continuous Compliance as a Service creates and implements  policies tailored to an individual organisation. The end result should be non disruptive to software development and will provide the clarity to software developers of open source software components  meet the requirements of the organisations's open source software policy. There is clear escalation path to any area of uncertainty.

Code is reviewed at each stage of development to ensure it is in line with company policies. Any new component that can not automatically comply with the company policy will be escalated for approval to a designated manager.

The four key milestone code checks are:

1. Component package pre-approval early in development
2. Real time code scanning as code is integrated
3. Real time code scanning through testing
4. Final build analysis for final sign off

Continuous Compliance as a Service Journey

Because of the nature of software development the temptation will be to seek a technical solution. Technology plays an important role in the overall program but without defined policies and processes that enable decisions to be made on the data produced by technology then the project will have limited success and the potential benefits will never be realised.

Source Code Control Ltd works closely with clients across their organisation (Legal, management, HR, software development, operations) to define robust policies and services to implement policies. We create bespoke training and communication programs at all levels to ensure managers and employees understand why the policies are being implemented and the benefits to both the individual and the organisation adhering to the policies.

Business Intelligence Drives Return on Investment and Customer Value

The fundamental benefit of open source software is the transparency and freedom to view and modify code. With a continuous compliance as a service in place an organisation can extend this ethos of transparency by sharing internally and externally the organisation's continuous compliance program and any relevant data outputs.

• Share with senior management - demonstrate how development minimise risk in code developed and align with existing corporate governance
• Share with customers - Drive customer satisfaction and success
• Share with prospects - stand out from your competition by transparently demonstrating quality assurance. Take the risk out of the decision of a prospect
• Share with Insurers - Demonstrate the level of control over cyber risk and IP risk to potentially reduce premiums
• Share with Partners - Drive stronger partnerships by sharing best practice

If you are outsourcing any or all of your software development then demand suppliers demonstrate that they can provide the same level transparency through their continuous compliance program.