Software publishers regularly audit their customers to help
ensure that the customers are properly licensing their software.
Some software publishers conduct audits directly, but many choose
to audit through companies such as the BSA| The Software Alliance
("BSA"), or the Software & Information Industry
Association ("SIIA"). The first step in addressing the
software audit is to understand the scope of the audit. The
following are some key points to identify the scope of the
audit.
1. Review the date of the initial audit letter.
In a traditional audit with no look-back period, an auditing
entity is only interested in the software installed as of the date
of the audit. This is particularly important in environments that
change frequently because a company that is undergoing an audit
should preserve all information on its network as of the initial
audit date (the "effective date") in order to accurately
capture its installation information and avoid potential
