The True Cost of "Free" Compliance Software

Livermore, CA April 21, 2008 - Competition to provide accurate and affordable solutions to support the compliance challenges in the wine industry are springing up like weeds. Wineries can choose from several options of internally supporting the compliance challenges themselves, with online tools or existing solutions, contracting outside service providers or using external companies to sell and handle the compliance work. Prices and services vary greatly. The most recent "buzz" comes from a "FREE" Compliance solution.

So what does a FREE solution really cost? A short read of the Terms and Conditions (T & C's) included in a recently released FREE compliance tool uncovered the actual costs can be significant.

The first expense comes from the loss of privacy. It is not clear in the T & C's that information entered into the compliance tool is proprietary to the winery.

The expectation of a tool is that information could be entered with the confidence that the data submitted remain available only to the person who entered it. The information should not be available for review by the supplier of the tool or any other party, individual, business or other entity, individually or by aggregate means.

In the FREE compliance solution it appears that there is no privacy for wineries or their customers. All information entered into the system is owned by the solution provider. Since they own the information in the system it can be used by the solution provider. FREE is fantastic if the T & C's clearly state that all information is confidential and that no one has access to any information provided except the registered individual with the user name and password.

By accepting the current T & C's a winery agrees that the solution provider can delete or change the information without notification. This means that during an audit if a winery needs the archives, they may not be available. A Winery can create their own archive of reports however the rules used to calculate the reports may well be gone.

A basic waiver of responsibility for errors made in good faith would not be a great concern. However the terms and conditions currently reads "We do not represent or warrant that our Tool and Site will be error-free ..or that defects will be corrected." This presents a significant risk for a winery which depends on accurate reports.

The longevity of FREE solutions is disconcerting. Building and maintaining a tool can amount to minimal investments and recurring costs. In contrast, when the rules are ever-changing the running expenses to accurately support such a tool grow quickly. Even with hi-tech automation, significant recurring expenses are generated to maintain change. Any company taking on the expense will have to recoup the expense to stay in business. Before signing up or accepting the T & C's one should ask "where will these companies get their funding?"

How were numbers derived? Is anything missing? And why are the numbers different from personal calculations? Are samples of questions that arise. Since the numbers are not guaranteed and legal advice is not provided, where does one turn for help and answers?

Is a FREE Compliance solution good or bad? We do not know. The best way to summarize FREE is best taken from the Terms and Conditions of the most recent FREE tool which reads as follows: the use of the tool is "Entirely at your own risk."

Privacy and accuracy may be the two most important costs of Free Compliance Solutions. If these can be secured then "Free" is FANTASTIC!