Compliance

The two most common drivers for SAM projects are cost reduction and compliance.  Compliance focused projects are often due to proactive good corporate governance, the threat of a vendor audit or a claim of non-compliance.

Vendor audits can have serious implications for your organisation in terms of cost, disruption and unplanned consequences.

Take matters into your own hands

A successful SAM implementation can help reduce the chances of an unplanned audit. In our experience - based on working with several hundred organisations - the vendor will rarely want to tie up their own resources in an audit exercise if you have the matter in hand.

So, if you demonstrate self-audit capability, deep licensing expertise around the product set in question, and a strong grasp of your own situation, the chances of a vendor audit are reduced. We can help you do this.

Why preparation matters

We believe that it's better to be proactive.

Not only can self-audit reduce the chances of a vender audit, but it also allows you to do things on your own terms.

In our experience the key issues of a reactive approach to threat are:

  • Timescales are decided by the vendor, not by the availability of budget, technical and commercial resources which can impact on your business
  • Audit activity is likely to be tactical, so outputs will have little long term value
  • Costs are always higher. Loss of leverage and having less chance to consider strategic licensing options can drive resolution to higher cost scenarios, which can significantly increase opex costs long term. Backdated support and penalties also have cost implications
  • Preparing for an audit will delay the adoption of a more proactive SAM strategy
  • Confidence in the IT function can be undermined if IT Governance is questioned or if a vendor demands on an intrusive software audit which impacts the business

In short, a proactive approach to software asset management can help mitigate the risk of an audit and will generally produce significant cost and risk reductions.

Don't panic

If you're faced with an unplanned vendor audit don't panic but do take advice. 

Start by downloading our Whitepaper, The Golden Rules of Software Asset Management. This gives you a list of questions that you should be able to answer, and helps guide you towards a structured software asset management approach.

Call our experts on +44 (0) 870 100 4000 or contact us.