How to be a less attractive software audit targetHelpful intelligence from License Dashboard

Presented by:

Matt Fisher, Director

Agenda

How did we get here? A short recap from Webinar #1

How to become a less attractive software audit target

Volume LicensingRecord-keeping & centralized contractsDefine, document & enforce policiesStandard buildsInventoryLicense ManagementELP statementsAudit clauses

Lessons to learn & next steps

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How did we get here?

License = EULA; EULA = right to audit

“(e) You agree that xxx may audit your use of the Software for compliance with these

terms at any time, upon reasonable notice. In the event that such audit reveals any use of

the Software by you other than in full compliance with the terms of this Agreement, you

shall reimburse xxx for all reasonable expenses related to such audit in addition to any

other liabilities you may incur as a result of such non-compliance.”

EULA strongly favours the publisher:

Audit at any time with ‘reasonable’ notice

Reimburse… for all reasonable expenses

…any other liabilities

Audits on the increase

65% chance of audit in next 12 months - GARTNER

How to be less attractive

Top #2 criteria for determining who to audit:Inconsistency in purchasing

History of poor compliance

Addressing these will lower the risk of audit

1. Use Volume Licensing

Addresses #1 criteria for audit: “inconsistency in purchasing”

Gives vendor better visibility of license transactions

Reduces likelihood of significant compliance failure

BUT….

Carries an administrative overhead – not automatically ‘cheapest’ option

Needs to be managed… usually includes reporting / true-up

2. Improve record keeping

Collating license entitlements is most painful part of auditTypically poor record keeping, no centralization, no visibility of OEM, FPP etc

Record-keeping failures can lead to compliance costLabor lost to paper-hunting

Upgrade licenses alone are NOT entitlement, need the appropriate BASE license

Begin to collate licenses before an auditEven if you only use a spread sheet!

Track ALL license purchases

Write a policy on license recording

Better still…Invest in a license repository or license management solution

3. Define & document policies

Most organizations lack formalized software management policies

Increases risk of lax practices, over-deployment & over-purchasing

What to define:

Who is entitled to what

How software requests are initiated, approved, executed

DOCUMENT the policies:

Provide these to an auditor on-demand

ASK a vendor’s input

Keep updates as organization and practices evolve

Automate the enforcement of policies

4. Standard builds

Make life easy

Minimize the chance of discrepancies by standardizing

Build standards can be stored in many inventory solutions

Quickly see if machines are ‘non-compliant’

Standardized builds also:

Reduce support overheads

Simplify upgrades and patching

Reduce training requirements

5. Deploy inventory solution(s)

Inventory / Audit / Discovery / Autodiscovery – all the same

Baseline is critical to effective license management

Agent and agent-less options – what suits your needs?

Larger, complex environments may need more than one tool

Windows is the easy part

Linux, Mac, Unix, Citrix, Virtualization much more difficult

Software audit options – EXE and MSI

Looking ahead ISO 19770-2 Software Tagging

BUT… inventory solutions produce A LOT of data!

For License Management, you will need filtering & transformation

6. Reconcile licenses against usage

The hub of effective license management

USAGE (inventory) vs ENTITLEMENT (license repository)

Can’t be done with a spread sheet!

Historically, reconciliation a slow, tedious, highly-skilled task

Solutions now available to automate many of the key steps:

Filtering & cleansing audit data

Importing & validating license entitlements

Associating licenses & recognizing usage rights

Intelligently reconciling licenses

Intelligence is key – HOW can the license be used

7. ENGAGE with the vendor

Don’t wait for a software audit

Volume licensing = account management = better visibility = less audit risk

Make sure vendor knows about your SAM strategy

Consider signing-up to self-certification schemes or attending events

Be vigilant and firm on new contracts

No ‘reasonable time’ clauses in contracts

Insist on 60-days + audit notice

Coming next…

How to survive an audit request

Minimizing cost, risk and disruption

July 19th 2012 – 15:00 UK, 16:00 CET, 10:00 EST

Life after an audit request

Making sure the pain does not continue

July 26th 2012 – 15:00 UK, 16:00 CET, 10:00 EST

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