Hardly surprising when you understand that its a means of generating revenue for software vendors. Software license compliance audits it asset knowledgebase. Jan 01, 2016 audits can be useful, especially as confusing as licensing can be. Small to mediumsized firms are frequently the target of a microsoft audit initiated by. A software licensing audit or software compliance audit is an important subset of software. Our first article focused on preparing for an audit and the importance of being very well documented and organized. Best practices for software license management techrepublic. Gather invoices and organize them according to software manufacturer. A software license audit occurs when a software vendor decides to take a full inventory of the amount of licenses your company has purchased and compare them to the amount of licenses that are actually installed on your computers. If your company is facing a software audit, you need experienced counsel to protect your business.
Provide a full service approach to software acquisitions by simplifying the process for faculty. We had kpmg lead a software audit for microsoft products. Dear president preckwinkle and board of commissioners. Total network inventory makes maintaining large software inventories easier and more transparent. The office of the cook county auditor has conducted an audit in regards to software licenses. If youre anticipating a software license audit and, lets face it, you should be youre most likely concerned with noncompliance. Feb 25, 2016 sample software audit excel worksheet. They are in the best position to counsel on what legal steps there may be to lessen the impact of the audit process. Software license management slm explained bmc blogs. How to perform your annual microsoft software license audit. Microsoft audits its customers using a variety of strategies. Sample software license audit worksheet vondran legal.
When responding to adobe audit requests, you should work with experienced counsel to thoroughly investigate the software usage on your computers, protect yourself by requesting an agreement from adobe regarding the use of the materials that will be produced in the audit, and negotiate a resolution geared toward ensuring future compliance. A repository for storing software license data contracts, purchase records, etc. The next question youll need to answer when conducting a software audit is what software licenses does my organization own. A good place to begin is with your purchasing records. This is the second in a series of four articles addressing microsoft software licensing audits. Microsoft tends to dominate the conversation when it comes to software audits given their breadth of products and various licensing models which can overwhelm even the most seasoned msp or it professional. The key is to be welleducated on the oracle audit process, licensing concepts, and software asset management strategies to better prepare internal resources and mitigate the organizations risk. How high tech plays hardball truing up licenses amounts to billions of dollars in revenue for the major software makers.
Jan 22, 2020 software vendors exercise their rights to conduct audits to counter a growing software piracy issue for perpetual and subscription software. Software audit control with selfaudits is a key component to managing software assets. A software license audit is when one of your software vendors wants to compare the number of software licenses your organization has purchased with the number currently installed on your computers. Many of our clients contact us regarding notices they received from microsoft requesting an internal selfassessment of their license positions under their services provider license agreements splas. Not surprisingly, software licensing audits have a strong revenuegenerating rationale, just as do, for instance, tax audits. Issuing software licenses to employees is another one of those routine it tasks that you may not think twice about.
It is not, in my opinion, an objective of a software licensing audit for it audit to scan the network or otherwise confirm the number of software installations. Microsofts license audit process is destroying their reputation and any good will i had for them summary. Software license audit or software compliance audit is an important subset of software asset management and an important component of corporate risk. We take a look at trends in software licensing audits and the ways they impact your it organization and your business. As you can tell, this document has a lot of different fields to complete, and agreeing to submit to the audit process can consumer valuable company time and resources, and can also inadvertently alert other employees that one of the big software publishers has your company under investigation. In the first article we discussed the importance of being prepared for an audit and steps that may be taken to ensure your organization is ready if you receive notification that an audit is forthcoming. How to perform your annual microsoft software license audit december 8th, 2015. While an audit is something you should take seriously its not something you should be afraid of if youre prepared. Software licensing audit how to mitigate the results. Autodesk lawyers can use aggressive tactics towards suspected noncompliance with licensing agreements and an audit can be an intimidating process.
How it departments can prepare for a software license audit pick the right licensing structure. No one looks forward to a software audit because its a nuance, and it takes valuable time away from value creation. This topic has been locked by an administrator and is no longer open. Apr 14, 2015 a software license audit occurs when a software vendor decides to take a full inventory of the amount of licenses your company has purchased and compare them to the amount of licenses that are actually installed on your computers.
Unusually, for an audit, it is also worth considering what is not an objective. We ask that you participate in this audit process by performing an inventory of your deployed autodesk software within the next 10 days. Six steps to completing a software audit and ensuring compliancewhile saving money. For those who may be unaware, spla is the principal licensing. A software licensing audit can be specifically defined. We have a number of microsoft licensing gurus at snow software. How to handle a software license audit november 22nd, 2017. Focuses on a sixstep method to overcome any software licensing challenges you may encounter. The bsa business software alliance represent many vendors, not just microsoft so are the most likely ones to be involved with an audit regardless of how up to date your licensing is, its possible for the bsa to audit. Attached is the city of west palm beachs internal audit ors office report on the software license audit. A vendor will typically do this if it has reason to believe your organization may not be using their software. Microsofts license verification is poorly executed and hurts their reputation for. An external audit can consume a lot of time and resources, so its important that it organizations take proactive steps to ensure software license compliance and avoid an external audit disaster. Backgroundpurpose columbia business school cbs information technology group itg supports administrative, academic, and research software acquisition.
How to handle a software license audit license dashboard. Jan 27, 2020 introduction a software license audit is a check of your usage of software licenses. Tips for handling a microsoft software audit storagecraft. During the discovery process, we found we had implemented our production sharepoint environment on a sql server which was only single user license, not a site license. A software audit is conducted when a software vendor believes that a company is in violation of their user agreement. How it departments can prepare for a software license audit.
A microsoft license compliance verification is a routine process of checking customers compliance with microsoft licensing agreements. For many, a software license audit spells business disruption, and the threat. Fortunately, there are steps enterprises can take before and during an audit to ease compliance concerns and minimize unexpected license fees and penalties. I had quoted a site license for sql but my admin never executed, we continued to use the free single user sql server license we had. How it departments can prepare for a software license audit as revenue for new software licenses is down, software vendors are focusing more on licensing audits to recover some of that lost income. Introduction a software license audit is a check of your usage of software licenses. Heres a look at some of the steps a corporate it organization can take before the auditors arrive to maintain compliance and limit potential. In short, slm is a plan to help you monitor and maintain all your organizations various software licenses. We thank the management and staff of the information technology department for their time, information, and cooperation during this audit. Software license compliance audit fort worth, texas. We have conducted a countywide software licenses audit. Software license management is the tracking and management of software license agreements and software deployments across an organization to ensure legal, compliant use of software in onpremises, mobile, and cloud environments. Dec 31, 2015 software licensing audits can cause minor annoyance or excruciating pain, depending on their scope and how ready your enterprise is for the disruption and expense.
This is the fourth and final installment in our series on software licensing audit preparedness and software asset management sam. Backgroundpurpose columbia business school cbs information technology group itg supports administrative, academic, and research software acquisition, licensing, and distribution. The department of internal auditconcluded that its conducts annual enterprise software audits to ensure software license compliance, and has an action plan in place to remove illegal software from city it assets. Four best practices to reduce the pain of an oracle license audit. Software vendors exercise their rights to conduct audits to counter a growing software piracy issue for perpetual and subscription software. Small to mediumsized firms are frequently the target of a microsoft audit initiated by a trade group such as the bsa. Share your knowledge, ask questions, and explore popular download, installation, and licensing topics. Audit objectives should also correspond to goals as defined by the enterprise figure 3. Welcome to autodesk s installation and licensing forums.
Software license management is the process that ensures that the legal agreements that come with procured software licenses are adhered to. For many, this is the most difficult step in the software audit process. Six steps to completing a software audit and ensuring. Naturally, many of those clients have questions about that process and the ramifications of cooperating with microsoft. Hopefully, they have experience in software licensing and can add that experience to the process. Software licensing audit is an element of it resource management that analyzes the condition of a companys software, organizing and replenishing the lacking licenses and implementing procedures to enhance software management process. Ideally, youll need to have started proceedings much earlier in anticipation. Software license and audit policy columbia business school.
When a company is unaware of what software is installed and being used on its machines, it can result in multiple layers of exposure. Following on from my post about microsoft licensing options, i thought it prudent to cover what may happen if your licensing isnt in order and you end up getting audited. Software license audit or software compliance audit is an important subset of software asset management, and an important component of corporate risk management. Answering this question requires collecting software licensing information for the software inventoried in step one. May 11, 2012 they are in the best position to counsel on what legal steps there may be to lessen the impact of the audit process. Customers who take licensing compliance seriously and have a robust internal software asset management sam process are likely to be better prepared for license compliance verifications. What is a microsoft spla selfassessment software audit. It may be the case that youve never conducted an internal audit before, so talk to your it staff and senior management highlighting why you want to create an internal software audit process. A software licensing audit or software compliance audit is an important subset of software asset management and component of corporate risk management. What to expect from a software audit softwareone the. A periodically scheduled selfaudit process rooted in the same methodologies used by vendor auditors that allow you to address any over and under licensing.
Bsa licensing audits following on from my post about microsoft licensing options, i thought it prudent to cover what may happen if your licensing isnt in order and you end up getting audited. Today, 97 percent of fortune 500 companies license at least some oraclebranded software. Software asset management is an organisation process, which is outlined in isoiec 197701. A software licensing audit can be specifically defined as follows. If microsoft doesnt think an audit will pay off, they dont do it. It is addressed to a wide range of companies and institutions. Microsoft software licensing audit technology attorneys. License compliance verification faq microsoft volume licensing. Emerset helps enterprises like yours in software licensing, license.
How it departments can prepare for a software license audit cio. Software license management, or slm, is part of overall software asset management sam capability and involves the process of reducing, documenting, and controlling total it costs. Typically, when the audit letter arrives from your software vendor, youll be given a notice period for an oracle software license audit, this is typically around 45 days, for example, and for a microsoft audit, its just 30 days notice not nearly enough time to completely prepare for a full audit. If it is legit, then get them to help you through the audit process and experience so that you come out the other end in better shape. Microsofts license audit process is destroying their reputation and any good will i had for them. Four best practices to reduce the pain of an oracle. Software license management benefits and best practices. We performed a limited scope audit of the it software licensing process. Document the process you use for internal software audits and promote the process to the users. The bsa business software alliance represent many vendors, not just microsoft so are the most likely ones to be involved with an audit. License compliance verification faq microsoft volume. How to survive a software licensing audit informationweek.
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