Department of laboroffice of inspector general report number. A robust sam process and dedicated sam manager should help mitigate. Preparation fo r a software quality audit sqas96001 ensuring that the audit team is prepared to conduct the audit, ensuring that the audit plan or procedures are performed, and issuing reports in accordance with the audit plan or procedures. Software licensed to run on a specific computer or at a particular site shall not be copied onto another computer or another site without written authorization from the vendor e. In a survey that industry analyst firm gartner conducted, more than 61.
Software license compliance audit fort worth, texas. One of the keys to preparing for a software audit is to act preemptively. Its possible that you have never dealt with a software license audit before and youre not quite sure what to do. One of your software vendors has notified you that it will be conducting an audit of your software licenses. In general, to audit software vendors, the process is the same for each audit. Customers who take licensing compliance seriously and have a robust internal software asset management sam process are likely to be better prepared for license. We had kpmg lead a software audit for microsoft products.
You need to develop policies and procedures to handle the audit before it happens. A good place to begin is with your purchasing records. Audit guidelines on the application of the process of. How to prepare for a software license audit infostructures. To ease the software license testing process, weve listed here below 6 golden rules. The first article dealt with the importance of audit preparedness. The office of the cook county auditor has conducted an audit in regards to software licenses. It is to be used as a training tool and as a reference guide to supplement the ifta governing documents the articles of agreement, procedures manual and.
Microsoft tends to dominate the conversation when it comes to software audits given their breadth of products and various licensing models which can overwhelm even the most seasoned msp or it professional. Anything from use of software on nonnamed servers to lack of centralized software asset management processes to inadvertent including of. Best practices for software license management techrepublic. If, despite your best efforts to remain compliant, you find yourself being audited, take these steps to make the process go as smoothly as possible. Most audit letters require a response within 30 days. You may need to contact software publishers andor resellers to obtain complete purchasing details. The best way to prepare for a software license audit is by actually.
Helps you prepare the required audit data with smart. Preparing for a software license audit download pdf. How it departments can prepare for a software license audit cio. How to survive a software licensing audit informationweek enterprise it organizations face software audits as a matter of doing business with large technology vendors. The specific licensing expectations, processes, procedures. Software licensing audit how to mitigate the results. This is the third in our series of articles on software licensing audits. An audit can apply to an entire organization or might be specific to a function, process. Promote the adoption of software licensing procedures. Emerset consulting group software licensing experts. Four best practices to reduce the pain of an oracle.
Texas comptroller of public accounts audit division i. Youll learn which vendors to focus on, and how to implement these 8 best practices for successful software license. Gather invoices and organize them according to software manufacturer. Depending on the answer, it may be possible to proactively address any shortfalls and circumvent the audit entirely. Preparing for, or conducting an internal software license audit isnt. Software license and audit policy columbia business school. Preparation is critical, yet many organizations are illprepared to face a software audit. During the discovery process, we found we had implemented our production sharepoint environment on a sql server which was only single user license, not a site license.
This article explains the main drivers for software asset management, and why a sam program needs to be included in your larger itam strategy. How to prepare for an oracle audit oracle audit law firm. How to survive a software licensing audit informationweek. Answering this question requires collecting software licensing information for the software inventoried in step one. Every enterprise should be prepared if a software vendor audit were. Licensing programs and definitions have changed dramatically over the last several years. All about the software license audit ensure that you have written details of the scope and manner of the planned audit assessed and agreed upon by your legal team. January 25, 2016 toni preckwinkle the honorable toni. The department of internal auditconcluded that its conducts annual enterprise software audits to ensure software license compliance, and has an action plan in place to remove illegal software.
To evaluate the current practices on the installation or use of commercial software packages, and determine whether employees are complying with the provisions of software licenses. Six steps to completing a software audit and ensuring. Backgroundpurpose columbia business school cbs information technology group itg supports administrative, academic, and research software acquisition. The key is to be welleducated on the oracle audit process, licensing concepts, and software asset management strategies to better prepare internal resources and mitigate the organizations risk. How to handle a software license audit license dashboard. If your company is facing a software audit, you need experienced counsel to protect your business. Personal software may be used in bellevue college offices, labs or classrooms in a manner compliant with the software s licensing agreement, with this policy and with the bellevue college it security standard addressing software management. In short, audit yourself instead of waiting for the vendor to do it. This procedure manual has been written for the auditor.
How to prepare for a software license audit bennett. A software licensing audit or software compliance audit is an important subset of software asset management and component of corporate risk management. Parts 2 and 3 dig into performing the audit itself and leveraging the results. The word audit may strike fear into any it manager but that neednt.
Even if you already have an effective system for managing your licenses, you should still conduct periodic audits of your software license usage. For the purpose of these guidelines, risk is defined. Software license management is the process that ensures that the legal agreements that come with procured software licenses are adhered to. You dont have a formal process and tools for distributing, licensing and managing licenses. Software licensing services and financial analysis. Welcome to our three part series on how to audit software vendors.
Auditfile secure, cloudbased audit software for cpas. Software audits can have expensive penalties if youre not prepared. It can be advantageous to pursue proactive remediation to possibly avoid punitive costs and other consequences of an audit. We performed a limited scope audit of the it software licensing process. Software license management has become a critical issue for many it organizations in light of increased pressure from software vendors and industry watchdogs, as well as recent government regulations. This article explains the main drivers for software asset management, and why a software license management program needs to be included in your larger itam strategy. In todays environment, its commonplace for software companies to audit customers compliance with license contract terms. Typically, the first question the target of an audit asks is whether the audit is legitimate, closely followed by why the company has been selected for an audit. Audit management software pentana audit ideagen plc.
A microsoft license compliance verification is a routine process of checking customers compliance with microsoft licensing agreements. Pentana audit uses powerful features to ensure processes are extremely effective, such as automatic report generation, detailed issue tracking and action management, and an adaptable library of. A stepbystep action plan for microsoft audit preparation. The first step to take after being notified of a software audit is to contact the vendor to determine the scope of the audit. The audit letter may trigger an obligation to preserve any and all records related to the audit under the rules of civil procedure. Heres a look at what you should and shouldnt do when you get that software licensing audit notice. The software license audit can be one of the most dreaded parts ofsoftware license.
Surviving software license audits be prepared is one key to an expedited software license audit. How to prepare for an it vendors software license audit. The next question youll need to answer when conducting a software audit is what software licenses does my organization own. Facing a software audit is a daunting process, which takes time, money, and resources to complete. If, despite your best efforts to remain compliant, you find yourself being audited, take these steps to make the process. Are you ready to be audited by your enterprise software vendors. For many, this is the most difficult step in the software audit process. Microsoft licensing audit how to prepare your organization.
For example, the scope of the audit may include only certain products. License compliance verification faq microsoft volume. Provide a full service approach to software acquisitions by simplifying the process. Audit procedures 4 ensure consistency in license auditing 4 license audit scope 4 license audit report and completion of the audit 5 simplify license selfmeasurement and monitoring by customers 5 availability of license audit tools 5 license compliance advisory services 6 indirect access audit practice 7 is there use of sap software. Large enterprises often engage in checkbox license management. This topic addresses procedures for monitoring the licensing and use of software within vbcps to ensure that all software used with or installed on divisionowned equipment is properly licensed and that licensing. Auditing is defined as the onsite verification activity, such as inspection or examination, of a process or quality system, to ensure compliance to requirements. Software must not be installed locally on a standard desktop. A software audit is a daunting situation for any organization one that creates demands and stress on it staff and threatens costly penalties for noncompliance with licensing agreements the first step to take after being notified of a software audit is to contact the vendor to determine the scope of the audit. Wiley advantage audit is an easy to use, stepbystep, audit. Audits can be useful, especially as confusing as licensing can be.
The term software license audit brings many thoughts to the minds of most. In license audits, manufacturers use independent auditors. If your company uses oracle products, oracle likely has the contractual right to audit your use of the licensed software. How to prepare for a software audit biztech magazine.
249 457 951 332 10 481 1313 376 293 1066 222 934 214 1146 887 467 1279 1480 664 1489 425 706 1122 1480 973 118 759 302 1165 1505 608 1161 166 16 331 1340 639 132 1194 1157 181 1283