Digital transformation company receives audit management support and $2M in savings

SHI guides customer through Microsoft and Red Hat audits utilizing a consultative, four-pronged audit management approach.

Challenge:

Software audits can be a stressful and intimidating experience. Even those with good software asset management data can struggle if not equipped with the appropriate audit management processes or the detailed nuances of a specific vendor's requirements.

This multinational digital transformation company had recently undertaken a large-scale migration to the cloud, as well as having experienced a change of IT leadership, when they were notified of an impending software audit by Microsoft.

Without a strong track record in managing software audits, insufficient inventory data, and limited understanding of their Microsoft entitlements, the customer turned to SHI for help.

Solution:

To accelerate the process of managing and responding to the audit, SHI followed a four-step ITAM approach, minimizing both the timeline and the operational disruption experienced by the customer:

1. Conduct consultation — Our ITAM experts offered best practices advice, including tailoring the audit management process according to both the customer's and auditor's needs.
2. Gather inventory data — We used JDisc, a zero-footprint network discovery and inventory collection tool, to scan the customer's environment and collect the accurate Microsoft install data needed to understand how and where software was deployed.
3. Assess license position — Our analysts clarified and validated the inventory and entitlement data to better understand the customer's contracts and purchases. We then developed an Optimized License Position, explaining the customer's license position. To ensure there were no breaches of Personal Identifying Information (PII) legislation, such as GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, etc., SHI prepared two versions of the data — one for internal use by the customer and another for use in consultation with the auditors where sensitive data was redacted.
4. Manage audit process — SHI's licensing experts engaged directly with the auditors and Microsoft to accelerate the processes of data sharing, dispute resolution, and agree on a final licensing position.

Outcome:

The final result was a zero-dollar true-up bill for the customer, realizing $2 million in savings.

The audit management portion of the solution provided the customer with the support they needed throughout the audit process, while also giving them the confidence to take a more proactive role in future software audits.

The customer saw further savings with two more publisher audits, including Red Hat, where SHI helped them reduce their bill by $588K for a total savings of over 94%.

Learn more about our IT Asset Management Services, or contact your local ITAM team for more information.