Software Licence Audit Defence
Minimise the business impact of software licence audits with expert defence strategies.
Why audit defence?
Rising vendor audits: Audits are on the rise, with many organisations facing them from multiple software publishers. 46% of our Software Licence Audit Defence clients were audited three or more times in the last 18 months.
Minimise audit impact: While you can’t prevent an audit from happening, you can put measures in place to reduce the scope and minimise the financial and operational disruption to your organisation.
Cost control: Clean up any areas of exposure as they arise, so there are never any compliance breaches, fines or costly true-ups.
Why now?
Reduce risk profile: A vendor’s decision to audit is principally based on anticipated ROI. You can reduceyour revenue opportunity profile by demonstrating good governance and having an effective Software Asset Management program in place.
Minimise migration risk: Your chance of being audited increases if you’re moving to Third-Party Supportor migrating to another vendor’s hyperscaler cloud platform
Tightening economy: The global economic outlook is among the weakest in decades and organisational cost drivers are accelerating.
Why Invictus
Partners?
Proven results: We’ve saved our clients more than $825 million in enterprise software costs since 2014.
Extensive experience: We have completed hundreds of audit defence engagements for clients across many industries and continents. We work across all vendors, including SAP, Oracle, IBM and Microsoft, and all stages of the software audit cycle, whether you’re being proactive, reactive or are in need of damage control.
Vendor-agnostic: We are objective advisors that do not resell, implement or audit. We don’t have a vested interest in any solution, so our advisory is based solely on your needs and goals.
“Invictus Partners worked closely with us on the Oracle audit, helping us draft appropriate responses to specific concerns raised by the audit team and achieve a successful audit outcome.” Grey Properjohn, Head of Technology, RWWA.
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52%
of organisations were audited more than twice in the past 18 months
21%
of organisations were charged more than $1m for licence true-ups
42%
of application vendors updated their compliance/licensing policies
75%
of organisations are out of compliance with software
52%
21%
42%
75%
Every software licensing audit is defendable, at any stage.
The best time to prepare for a licensing audit is before it happens, but audits are challengeable at any stage. If your organisation has been notified of an audit, is currently being audited, or has just been through the audit process, it’s not too late to strengthen your position.
Before an audit
Review licensing
- Assess usage vs.
entitlements - Identify exposures
- Remediate where possible
During an audit
Help with audit
- Respond to notice
- Buy time with vendor
- Handle data sharing
- Minimise business impact
After an audit
Improve outcome
- Challenge findings
- Actively remediate
- Negotiate settlement
- Lower financial claim
Before an audit
Review licensing
- Assess usage vs. entitlements
- Identify exposures
- Remediate where possible
Proactive
During an audit
Manage audit process
- Respond to notice
- Buy time with vendor
- Handle data sharing
- Minimise business impact
Reactive
After an audit
Improve outcome
- Challenge findings
- Actively remediate
- Negotiate settlement
- Lower financial claim
Damage Control
Need help with a specific vendor’s software audit process?
While vendors like Oracle, SAP, Microsoft and IBM are synonymous with licence audits, tier-two vendors are also scaling up their audit capability. We provide Licence Audit Defence services across all vendors, and help organisations all around the world manage their audit risk, with clients across Europe, the Middle East, Australia, the UK and the US.
Oracle Licence Audit Defence
Oracle audits are run by its License Management Services (LMS) team. If Oracle thinks your software is not licensed properly, or that you’re unsure of your licensing position, they will audit you. With Oracle audits on the rise, now is a good time to review your organisation’s software usage against the terms in your Oracle License Agreement.
Invictus Partners’ Oracle Licence Defence Service can help you before, during and after an Oracle audit.
SAP Licence Audit Defence
SAP audits occur every one to two years and it is compulsory for clients to submit the information to SAP as stipulated in the EULA. While these are fairly simple and focused on Direct Access, SAP now conducts extended audits driven by an SAP Licence auditor, which cover Direct and Indirect Access, as well as HANA Runtime compliance analysis.
Invictus Partners’ SAP Licence Audit Defence Service minimises the impact of an audit process on your organisation and helps you secure the best possible financial and business outcome.
Microsoft Licence Audit Defence
Microsoft compliance audits, officially called Licence Compliance Verifications, are an ever-present risk for organisations, and often run into the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars of unbudgeted costs.
It is critical to know where your organisation stands in terms of entitlements versus usage before sharing any information with Microsoft or your LSP. This is the only way you can remain in the driver’s seat through the process rather than following your LSP’s lead.
Invictus Partners’ Microsoft Licence Audit Defence Service ensures you are compliant, have an optimised Microsoft landscape, and are in a position of strength when engaging with Microsoft.
IBM Licence Audit Defence
The receipt of an IBM audit notice is seemingly inevitable for organisations. Proactive action is key to minimising your risk of significant financial penalties from when the IBM auditors come knocking.
Invictus Partners’ IBM Licence Audit Defence Service minimises the impact of a software audit on your organisation, significantly reducing the stress and hours involved in managing the process and providing the required audit data every step of the way.
Our Software Licence Audit Defence Program breakdown:
Phase 1
Internal Audit
Phase 2
Remediation Strategy
Phase 3
Negotiation Advisory
Our Software Licence Audit Defence Program breakdown:
We can provide expert licensing advice at any point along your compliance and audit journey. We do this in three phases, which are available as an end-to-end service, or as separate engagements.
Phase 1
Internal Audit
Using the same licence audit methodology as vendors, we conduct a mock audit to help your business understand its baseline position of software usage compared to your licensed entitlements. This provides insights into vendor’s likely position on your licensing, allowing us to determine if your software and systems are over or under-licensed. We also uncover any risks, potential breaches, or other items that may lead to non-compliant findings.
Phase 2
Remediation Strategy
Equipped with a clear understanding of the root causes of your software licensing exposure, we can develop the most effective remediation strategy for you and guide you through the remediation process.
Phase 3
Negotiation Advisory
When an audit takes place, we can advise you on the right responses and negotiation strategies. If your business receives an audit report indicating you are non-compliant, we can provide a vital second opinion, typically lowering the initial financial claim using our tested licence optimisation and negotiation techniques.
Download our Software Licence Audit Defence datasheet
Case Study
RWWA reduces Oracle licence costs and effectively responds to Oracle LMS audit with Invictus Partners
The Invictus Partners difference: Software Licence Compliance Management & Audit Defence
The only way to navigate the compliance and audit maze is to fully understand a vendor’s drivers, methodologies, and interpretations. With our team’s average tenure being 25+ years of vendor experience, we’re here to help guide your organisation through the challenges and complications of these business-critical processes. Our Audit Defence experts are a mix of former Oracle, SAP, Microsoft, IBM auditors, and contract and compliance managers, making us extremely well-positioned to support organisations to achieve the best-possible outcome.
Through our in-depth knowledge of vendor licensing and approaches, we have developed a proven methodology and strategy that strengthens your position, reduces your risks, and ensures you are treated fairly throughout the licence optimisation and audit process. We can advise you on how to negotiate the optimum and most cost-effective outcome for your organisation.