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Defend against a software vendor audit

Prepare for or defend against a software vendor audit to reduce risk and cost.

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Have you received a software vendor audit request?

Software vendors have a legal right to audit their software. Understand your software audit clause and be prepared.

A software vendor audit by any of the tier 1 vendors (Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, and more) is an unwelcome surprise.  In the last 12 months, 65% of our enterprise customers received audit letters from their tier 1 vendors.

Software vendors are within their rights to request a license audit and any discovered breach of compliance can result in significant unexpected costs and in some sectors, regulatory fines.  Common triggers to an audit include cloud migration, mergers, acquisitions and divestments, a large software procurement or conversely, no procurement activity.

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Our approach to defending against software vendor audits

Version 1’s software asset management methodology, Control, underpins all our license consultancy engagements including preparing for or defending against a software vendor audit across Oracle, Microsoft, IBM and many more.

This tried and tested SAM process delivers financial risk reduction, cost avoidance and removes excessive workload from your business that an audit can create.

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Enterprise Software Vendor Audit Defence Experts

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82% financial risk reduction

Our optimisation expertise helps to deliver financial risk reduction of over 82% on average during audit scenarios.

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£17m to £100k

When engaged our customer was facing a bill of £17m but through our help, this amount reduced to £100k.

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£5.8m identified risks

During a typical review, we find non-compliance risks of over £5.8m

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Diagnosis

A Diagnosis or Health Check is a strategic review of your license estate. It identifies the risks of non-compliance and opportunities related to the management of your software assets.

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Discovery, Baseline and Optimisation

Based on the Diagnosis, we may perform a detailed Discovery and Baseline to determine license compliance. We will highlight areas of risk and propose optimisation and remediation.

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Resolution

If you need to buy licenses or re-negotiate with your software vendor, we can help you create a plan. This can minimise unexpected costs and deliver more benefits, creating a fit-for-future license estate.

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How to prepare for an enterprise software vendor audit

Software vendor audits are on the increase. How do you prepare for software license audit or react to a request?  Your response at this point is critical to a successful software vendor audit outcome.

Get ready with Version 1’s recent fireside chat with Jason Pepper, Head of SAM Practice as he highlights some of the key actions and activities to consider as part of your software vendor audit preparation and action plan

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Related insights

Have you received a license audit request from your software vendor?  

#1 Tip? Don’t Panic! 

The most important thing is to stay calm and know that you can take control.  

Learn more about defending against a license audit by contacting our experts for a confidential introductory conversation.