Software Waste By The Numbers

The 1E study looked at only 35 applications out of 1,800 used by the study sample. Among the titles with some of the highest amounts of waste:

•    Autodesk Inventor (computer-aided design): 61 percent;

•    Microsoft Visio Standard (diagramming and graphics): 52 percent;

•    Adobe Photoshop: 43 percent.

The problem is most acute at organizations with about 2,000 users, where the study uncovered 41 percent waste. The largest organizations in the survey have better control over their software assets; those with more than 100,000 users waste about 37 percent of their software, the study found.

The least efficient industry? Education, with 47 percent waste, followed by energy, at 46 percent.

The most efficient? Pharmaceuticals, at 18 percent.