Join the ITAM Review as we discuss Audits on Thursday 9th December at 14:00.
Software audits have long been an ever-present risk for ITAM professionals, and they don’t appear to be going away any time soon. Changing? Yes. Disappearing? Unlikely.
Audits cause stress, eat up time for everyone involved – diverting them from more strategic endeavours, and, if non-compliance is discovered, there can be a big bill at the end. However, with the right approach and tactics, it is possible to reduce the likelihood of you being audited and – even if you are – to make it a much faster and less painful situation.
Across the sessions in this online summit, we look at a range of elements and topics to help you better understand, defend, and prevent software license audits.
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Rich has almost 15 years’ experience in the world of IT and software licensing, having been both a software sales manager for a VAR and a Microsoft licensing endorsed trainer.
A Northerner renowned for his shirts, Rich is a fan of most films, Hip-Hop, travel, football in general (and specifically MUFC), Marvel and reading as many books as possible. Finding ways to combine these with software licensing is always fun.
AJ Witt is ITAM Industry Analyst at The ITAM Review. Previous to joining the ITAM Review team in April 2018, he was Software Asset Manager for Carnival UK, operators of the P&O & Cunard cruise lines. Coming from a background in IT Infrastructure technical operations IT Security & Compliance, AJ is well-placed to share his experience of how dynamic SAM teams can build mutually-beneficial stakeholder engagement.
Jason heads up the SAM Practise Business Unit in Version 1 and has worked in IT for nearly 30 years primarily in Oracle. Jason joined start-up Oracle license consultancy, Rocela in 2006, (acquired by Version 1 in 2013) and has been involved in enterprise licensing since, focussing on generic SAM methodologies and extract the best values out of their software investments.
Session Title: Audit Defence vs Audit Avoidance
Session Synopsis: Audit defence is a huge burden on any organisation, so why bother with it ? There are alternatives to the audit, rinse, repeat cycle that is accepted as the norm. This session will explain how you can approach things differently and set yourself and your organisation up for long term success that could mean you never have to defend an audit ever again.
Robert represents mid-market and large enterprise companies in software license transactions and disputes with major software publishers such as Adobe, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. He has defended over 250 software audit matters initiated by software piracy trade groups such as the BSA and SIIA. He is counsel to some of the world’s largest corporations on information technology matters including intellectual property licensing, risk management, data privacy, and outsourcing.
Sessions Title: Surviving a Major Software Audit
Synopsis: Shrinking IT budgets and fierce competition among software publishers have created explosive growth in the incidence and frequency of software audits – a mechanism by which software publishers investigate their customers to determine if they are in compliance with software licenses and copyright laws. In addition to developing internal enforcement operations, many publishers have engaged trade associations to perform enforcement activity under power of attorney. Many companies are paying substantial fines and suffering negative publicity. Properly preparing for and responding to software audits can reduce the financial and organizational impact on your business. Businesses that are most prepared and properly represented will have the greatest success in defending the inevitable software audit.
With 15 years of experience behind her, Rebecca Horton, Global Manager, IT Asset Management at Ceridian HCM Inc, has crafted a career built on discovering and creating value out of IT asset management best practices for customers, large and small, across North America and Europe. Having spent two years with Red Hat, her unique experience in the area of open source software asset management has allowed her a unique perspective on an area of IT which has moved to the forefront of the industry in recent years. Her perspective on the digital transformation journey, and how ITAM and SAM play a key role, has made Rebecca a popular figure among the geekiest of ITAM practitioners, and her blogs, and events are well attended around the world.
Session Title: Brace Yourself: Audits (& Winter) Are Coming
Synopsis: Remember all those cancelled tech conferences and live trade shows? For software vendors, that amounted to lost deals worth an estimated billion dollars.
Software compliance audits are a considerable revenue stream – and experts agree they’re on the rise. But if you think of audits as a sales tool, rather than a shakedown – you can flip the tables and regain the upper hand. This session gives you an unbeatable defense plan to:
Damien Juillard started his career in Telcos consulting +15 years ago. He joined Elee +8 years ago and has co-developed the Software Asset Management practice within the company. Damien now leads the new SamBox.io SaaS platform powered by Elee. Damien is keen on new technology adoption, process automation and all manners that drive IT efficiency & excellence.
Session Title: Oracle Audits : never ending story… but always some new surprises.
Synopsis: Some end-users may get used to Oracle audits …. but even if you think you are up to date with Oracle, there are always some new magic with the licenses. Let’s recap the traps, the process… the new situations we have recently experiences… and what you need to know to make it be as smooth as possible.