Surviving a software audit with sccm bdna solutions. For businesses that adhere to government regulations and industry standards, audit. Microsoft recently released a tool to allow you to check your machine or your network for software license deficiencies. We often see that organizations misinterpret the licensing rules resulting in overspend or noncompliance, two positions you do not want to be in. Data analysis software is a powerful and comprehensive tool that allows professionals to assess risk, gather evidence, uncover trends and provide the intelligence needed to make informed decisions from multiple data sources. If you go opensource you can forget audits altogether and the ms licensing fees. I took over from a previous administrator who has been described as incompetent and subsequently i am dealing with a myriad of licenses ranging from oem, retail purchase and vlsc license agreements none of which were ever logged. However, if this information is inadequate or incomplete or otherwise not acceptable to microsoft, the customer could be compelled to use a microsoft product. Microsoft streamthe video service in office 365makes it easy to create, securely share, and interact, whether in a team or across your organization. Also, a formal audit letter often comes with a cease and desist order on uninstalling software, so if your audit found unneeded noncompliant software that can or should be uninstalled. There are several possible triggers for a microsoft software audit, including. Microsoft audits its customers using a variety of strategies. In such an engagement, microsoft will tend to accept the output of virtual any tool. Sam is often referred to as a self audit because youll be asked to fill out forms detailing the microsoft software.
Find out how you can survive a microsoft software audit in this article. Jul 17, 2012 microsoft software licensing, audits confound cios. Microsoft does provide a tool of some sort, called map. The problem is i am unable to find the keys for office 20 and some of the older versions as well using a key finder tried tons of software, i only find the keys for the os and older office products. Sam is often referred to as a self audit because youll be asked to fill out forms detailing the microsoft software youre using and compare it to what youve. Customers who take licensing compliance seriously and have a robust internal software asset management sam process are likely to be better prepared for license compliance verifications. Data collected by gartner shows that revenuemotivated vendor license compliance audits are increasing for organizations of all sizes and industries. Snows sam platform empowers the software asset manager in all aspects of licensing relating to microsoft products. How high tech plays hardball truing up licenses amounts to billions of dollars in revenue for the major software makers.
Customers who take licensing compliance seriously and have a robust internal software. If the workstations in your organization are networked, you likely depend on network server software to perform certain functions, such as file and print sharing. To access this server software legally, a client access license cal may be required. The microsoft sam managed service program is designed to provide customers with a continual, governancebased service to help them more effectively manage their it assets and processes. The value and benefit gained under microsoft volume licensing programs and through use of microsoft software and services may vary by customer. Number of sessionsnumber of times an application was used. Microsoft in furtherance of the verification, including access to systems running the products and evidence of licenses for products that customer hosts, sublicenses, or distributes to third parties. Microsoft online subscription agreement us government cloud. Microsoft audit and control management server provides powerful change management features for excel and access files, and it is complemented by microsoft discovery and risk assessment server 20, which provides inventory and analysis features, designed to help you reduce the risk associated with using tools developed by endusers in excel and. Software asset managers must examine the audit trends exposed in our survey and prepare the organization against compliance risk and unbudgeted costs. Microsoft products and services agreement mpsa customers should use the business center. The five vendors mostly likely to audit corporate software licenses are microsoft, adobe, autodesk, oracle, and sap, in that order.
A microsoft license compliance verification is a routine process of checking customers compliance with microsoft licensing agreements. When you create a report, you specify the parameters that are used for collecting the data when the report is run. Take volume licence if required for organization, which is paper licence. You can help protect yourself from scammers by verifying that the contact is a microsoft agent or microsoft employee and that the phone number is an official microsoft. Microsoft office audit and control management server.
Microsoft includes product activation technology in some products sold through the volume licensing channel. Audits can be useful, especially as confusing as licensing can be. Microsoft software licensing, audits confound cios cio. However, if this information is inadequate or incomplete or otherwise not acceptable to microsoft, the customer could be compelled to use a microsoft. Auditing your software licenses as an it manager, you should know that you can be subject, at any time, to a microsoft audit. According to a 2014 flexera software study, microsoft. Where can i find my ms office product key microsoft community. Software audit control with selfaudits is a key component to managing software. Belarcs products automatically create an accurate and uptodate central repository cmdb, consisting of detailed software, hardware, network and security configurations. Microsoft offers software asset management for corporations across the globe. Software assurance by product microsoft volume licensing. All your software needs in one place we carry thousands of different software titles from over 80 top software brands.
How should i audit microsoft os and office softwares. Genuine software procurement is a challenge because, various measures taken. Tips for handling a microsoft software audit storagecraft blog. These centers help you with your data protection or compliance needs and audit. We understand that compliance is often a complicated task. This includes windows desktops that stream a version of the windows desktop to a pc over a.
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. Jul 16, 2015 having a sam solution that can provide complete visibility of software within the virtual environment will help organisation manage and ensure that all software licenses are being utilised to there full extent. A product key is required to activate these products. Microsoft software licensing, audits confound cios. Get ready for another microsoft audit enterprise apps. Calling in dialing in to meetings is very useful for users who are on the road and cant attend a meeting using the skype for business or microsoft teams app on. Auditing your software licenses as an it manager, you should know that you can be subject, at any time, to a microsoft audit request. Software asset management sam managed service program the microsoft sam managed service program is designed to provide customers with a continual, governancebased service to help them more effectively manage their it assets and processes. So with asset intelligence and the fact you can import a list of your software purchases to cross reference what sccm finds on the network we can tell if the licenses tally. Easily create automated workflows with microsoft power automate, previously microsoft flow, to improve productivity with business process automation. So, while the information it produces is great for itam purposes discovery, inventory and distribution, it was never intended to be used for software license. According to a 2014 flexera software study, microsoft audited its customers nearly twice as frequently as adobe, ibm, and oracle.
Fix software licensing troubles with cireson software asset. Total network inventory makes maintaining large software inventories easier and more transparent. Avoid microsoft software license compliance audit what. Microsoft issues more software audits than any other software vendor, according to a recent flexera software study. We had kpmg lead a software audit for microsoft products. Come see why stella service awarded us the excellent rating. License compliance verification faq microsoft volume. Going through a software audit can be equally stressful and costly. It professionals needing convenient, costeffective and comprehensive access to microsoft software and services to set up development and test environments.
Audit software helps organizations plan for, address and mitigate risks that could compromise the safety andor quality of the goods or services they provide. If you dont see this link, auditing has already been turned on for your organization. One of my big headaches was tracking down all of the pos and paid invoices in my accounting system i have seen every misspelling of adobe and microsoft ever. Sep 03, 2015 the microsoft public license is a free and open source software license released by microsoft, which wrote it for its projects that were released as open source. You can then use this report to figure out how many. Customers should refer to their agreements for a full understanding of their rights and obligations under microsoft s volume licensing. Tools for coping with a microsoft audit spiceworks. Audio conferencing allows up to 250 phone attendees. This month the expert panel discussion is focussed on using microsoft sccm for the purposes of sam. Jan 28, 2014 the five vendors mostly likely to audit corporate software licenses are microsoft, adobe, autodesk, oracle, and sap, in that order. So with asset intelligence and the fact you can import a list of your software purchases to cross reference what sccm finds on the. Microsofts software asset management sam program is an audit, albeit a friendlier one. Customer agrees to complete microsoft s self audit process, which microsoft may request as an alternative to a third party audit.
Top 10 microsoft public license mspl questions answered. Microsoft software assurance benefits for office can help your organization accelerate deployment and improve enduser. Learn more about data analysis software, caseware idea, with audimation. Among organizations with 10,000 or more employees, ibm took the numberfour spot, bumping oracle to number five, and moving sap off the topfive list. Licensing and compliance opentext is committed to best practices for ourselves and our customers, helping you through information and education to achieve software compliance for your company. This glossary is aimed at those in software licensing and software asset management facing the challenges of microsoft licensing. How true software asset management can help solve microsoft licensing challenges across your organization. Customers use our products for software license management, it asset management, cyber security audits, information assurance, and more. A sam audit is microsoft s way of saying, lets take a look to make sure youre in compliance. Microsoft s software asset management sam program is an audit, albeit a friendlier one. Aug 26, 2016 for your next audit, consider the following tips. Customers should refer to their agreements for a full understanding of their rights and obligations under microsoft s volume licensing programs. Software assurance spans microsoft s range of software products and services, including the windows operating system, microsoft office, exchange, sql server, and many others. With effective software asset management, you defend your microsoft investment from audits by creating a comprehensive compliance position.
No matter your job function, true software asset management puts the data you need at your fingertips to reduce costs and ensure compliance of your microsoft license estate. Reviewing your configuration manager software inventory reports and discovering a grand total of 5,000 copies of microsoft word, 300 copies of adobe photoshop, 50 copies of adobe illustrator among other items in your ecosystem may be. Plus, your chances of going through one are a lot higher than they are for a tax audit, especially when it comes to microsoft. During registration, provide the same business or organization email address that was referenced in the access notification email you received. Microsoft audit and control management server provides powerful change management features for excel and access files, and it is complemented by microsoft discovery and risk assessment server. How to survive a software licensing audit informationweek. Licensing programs eligibility requirements microsoft. Sam and license compliance verification commonly known as an audit. Microsoft may request reasonable assurances, written or otherwise, that information will be maintained as confidential andor trade secret information subject to this agreement prior to providing such information to agency, and agency will ensure microsofts audit information is afforded the highest level of confidentiality available under. Mythbusting software asset management and compliance.
Make it easy to ensure you are always prepared for a potential microsoft audit. Software license audit or software compliance audit is an important subset of software asset management, and an important component of corporate risk management. You simply cannot manage microsoft software assets without a sam tool. There is a definitive trend towards using microsoft sccm with sam, but with a little help using some enhancements. In the first article we discussed the importance of being prepared for an audit and steps that may be taken to ensure your organization is ready if you receive notification that an audit is forthcoming.
Audio conferencing in office 365 lets users call in to meetings from their phones. Software audit control with selfaudits is a key component to managing software assets. Auditing and reporting in microsoft cloud services. Reviewing your configuration manager software inventory reports and discovering a grand total of 5,000 copies of microsoft. Microsoft s free open source project hosting site, codeplex, also has a lot of mspled projects.
Getting the best out of microsoft sccm with certero. The microsoft software inventory analyzer will scan a network and give you a report of which microsoft products are currently installed on each computer. Business insider evolve is a cloudservice provider that offers all kinds of microsoft software for rent. A quick and easy software installation process so that you can get redcap running and fully functional in a matter of minutes. I have looked into the map toolkit and the ms software. Small to mediumsized firms are frequently the target of a microsoft audit. What became apparent in these conversations is that there is a misperception around software asset management and compliance audits. This is the second in a series of four articles addressing microsoft software licensing audits. Having a sam solution that can provide complete visibility of software within the virtual environment will help organisation manage and ensure that all software licenses are being utilised to there full extent. In the first article we discussed the importance of being prepared for an audit and steps that may be taken to ensure your organization is ready if you receive notification that an audit. Microsoft s 58 percent audit frequency was about double the rate of the. Security auditing cryptographic returns code 0x80090016 open key having some trouble determining how to correct the problem causing the event file shown below is. Microsoft sam programs are voluntary services designed around. Tech support scams are an industrywide issue where scammers trick you into paying for unnecessary technical support services.
The software audit report also includes a summary of the total usage per application. I had quoted a site license for sql but my admin never executed, we. Software audit report microsoft desktop optimization. Security auditing cryptographic returns code 0x80090016. Microsoft provides this material solely for informational purposes. If not, well work together to help bring you into compliance. There are a number of issues at play here that work in favour of sccm. Oct 11, 2016 licensing microsoft applications in environments like citrix is one of the biggest gotchas that microsoft customers and software asset managers face.
This glossary is aimed at those in software licensing and software asset management facing the challenges of microsoft. There are several possible triggers for a microsoft software audit. Jan 01, 2016 i only see value if software company tries to bill you for punitive damages or something, then lawyer might be able to help. You can then use this report to figure out how many licenses you will need to purchase or how many extra licenses you have. Top 75 microsoft licensing terms a glossary from antigen to zune released april 20 by johannes balzer.
License mobility through software assurance gives microsoft volume licensing customers the flexibility to deploy eligible server applications with active software assurance on azure. Process mining is a powerful new way to transform your business and achieve outcomes by improving one process at a time. Licensing microsoft applications in environments like citrix is one of the biggest gotchas that microsoft customers and software asset managers face we often see that organizations. Software audit report microsoft desktop optimization pack. No, its not an audit says customers wrongly equate asset management with a licensing audit. Lizenz audit microsoft sam software asset management usc.