Who owns that App Store purchase

Well here is a sticky situation…

We are replacing some of the out of service life laptops with iPads and at a third of the cost for new laptops. I love saving money and bonus, much better equipment. iPads are the IT dream portable; they never break, backup in a snap, and if it is a loaner, it wipes back to original in a minute. I say iPad because that is what we are working with now but so many tablets are about to hit the market and they will be similar.

What is really common now is the App Stores. Android, Apple, Amazon, Chrome, Google TV, I am sure there are more and will likely be the way we make all software purchases in the future. Sadly this all runs on credit cards not POs. We are one of those state agencies that can’t have a P-Card. DFA does not trust us I guess. So does this mean I can’t take part in tremendous $$$ savings? That is tricky. An employee can make a purchase and then seek reimbursement but this opens a huge can of worms because of the software license.

According to one contract a “one-time” transfer can be requested. So that is going to be a process evolving time from the employee and IT.

Think about those app store purchases and if your agency has managed the license.