The Domino Effect

FASTtalk July 2009

Vendor audits are up, business finances are down.

But organisations fearing a catalogue of audit notifications can still help themselves, as the FAST regional account management team explains.

Recent research by Trustmarque Solutions has shown there has been a 35% increase in activity from software vendors auditing licences, with one in four checks being triggered by finger-pointing employees. There’s little doubt that in the current climate companies are at risk.

FAST has seen the stresses such audits can cause even for companies that are household names. One organisation found unwanted software and then a need to establish its compliance position left its day-to-day operations paralysed as firstly compliance audit letters had to be verified, then company lawyers had to be informed and finally board level executives had to be briefed on the potential financial risk to the company of a hard-line audit and subsequent reconciliation mandate. Meanwhile staff were chasing around trying to confirm the company’s licence position.

One of the first problems that an organisation may find when it receives a compliance request is to understand to whom it was sent and on what terms it was issued. Initial contact may be in the form of an audit questionnaire. Whatever the tone, both the company lawyers and your FAST Account Manager should be informed.

Once one software publisher is in touch with a company about an audit, there is a reasonable prospect that others will follow - i.e. the Domino Effect. In today’s cash-strapped business landscape, software vendors need to find ways of maintaining revenues, so with fewer new sales likely, vendors may look to maximise revenue from existing customers. Acknowledge the receipt, speak to FAST and your legal team, and then look at the state of your proof of compliance.

Having informed your company lawyers, and your FAST Account Manager, initially write back to the software publisher saying you are happy to see them regarding their request while advising/asking the following:

You should also consider the following:

Remember, as you are trying to build a picture of your proof of entitlement, the more items you have the better that picture will be.

Logistically, most organisations will look towards a paid, detailed invoice (publisher, application, and version) which provides a number of easily cross-referenced items, e.g. invoice number, payment number etc. In this situation, due to the cross-referenced items, it would be difficult for a publisher to dispute your right to use.

If you have full packaged products, you should be able to produce:

For pre-installed software (OEM licences), you should be able to produce:

For volume licences, you should be able to produce:


This article was produced by FAST Account Managers - experts in delivering IT compliance and software asset management advice and training to customers of the FAST Compliance Programme.