Top Three Early Strategic Steps In Enterprise Software Audits

No one likes to be audited. In most cases, there is little that a business can do at the outset of an audit to avoid licensing exposure, if that business has historically inadequate software asset management processes. However, there are steps that all audited companies usually can take – regardless of which publisher is conducting the audit – to help contain the risks and introduce a little predictability into the audit process.

1. Confirm you really need to participate. Different software publishers have different flavors of license reviews, and not all of those flavors require cooperation by licensees. Microsoft is the best example. Many companies licensing Microsoft products receive proposals to participate in Microsoft-funded Software Asset Management ("SAM") engagements with third-party reviewers to confirm their current license positions. Invitations to participate in SAM engagements can be very insistent and facially may even appear to be audit notifications.