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Survey Says Software Licensing Audits Can Be 'Time-Consuming,' 'Disruptive'

By Ed Silverstein, TMCnet Contributor

Sometimes, it’s better when things are not too complex. For instance, complexity is a “major barrier” when it comes to licensing compliance as it relates to software audits, according to the recent Express Metrix Software Audit Industry Report.

The report also showed that audit rates are actually lower than recent news reports suggest, and organizations are “better-prepared” and found “more favorable outcomes” than were expected.

“Complex license agreements, complex IT environments and difficulties in differentiating between what's installed and what's actually being used make maintaining a favorable license position a significant, ongoing challenge for organizations, regardless of size,” the report said.

Many organizations complained in the survey that they faced “long, time-consuming audits that can drag on for several months or more.” The problems are a particular concern for large organizations, and even smaller businesses have to cope with these issues and are getting more attention from many independent software vendors.

Also, the study found that IT asset management tools can help organizations mitigate the risk of audits and deal with the audit process.

About one-third of respondents say they were audited in the last year. Also, some two-thirds of the respondents said their organizations changed how they approach IT asset management after they were audited. Some of the changes were made to: licensing/purchasing, the number of internal software audits and new tech to improve license management.

It was also found that about three-quarters of respondents whose organizations were not audited in the past two years said they use a software asset management tool. That’s in contrast to about half of the organizations that have been audited having the software asset management tool. Respondents whose organizations used software asset management tools were 32 percent less likely to have been audited in the last two years than organizations with no software asset management tool in use, the study said.

What are some of the roadblocks that make license compliance more difficult? Based on the survey results, these include: the diversity found in a software portfolio, the size of an organization and server virtualization. In addition, more respondents, who have not undergone software audits, said the existence of mobile devices (whether they are employee-owned or company-owned) and mixed desktops (PC and Mac) were “major challenges” with respect to license compliance – than those who have undergone software audits, the report said.

The study also showed that 53 percent of respondents were audited in the last two years. Also, 38 percent were audited in the last 12 months. Among those organizations not audited, the probability of being audited in the next 12 months was estimated at 42 percent.

Among organizations that were audited, 43 percent owed no money after the audit. Of those organizations that did owe money, most owed between $50,000 and $250,000.

It was also shown the five independent software vendors most likely to audit organizations in the last two years were: Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk, Oracle and SAP (News - Alert).

When it comes to some specifics about the audits, 45 percent of the software audits lasted three months or longer. Also, about half of the organizations were given a month or more to prepare for the audit. For those organizations that were audited, 57 percent of the participants surveyed said process was "consultative/collaborative" as opposed to the 20 percent who said it was "contentious."

“The report substantiates a broadly held perception among IT professionals that audits are time-consuming and disruptive, and that complexity remains a major barrier to license compliance,” according to a company statement. “Complex licensing agreements, unwieldy IT environments and difficulties reconciling what software is installed with what's being used make software compliance an ongoing challenge for organizations, regardless of size.”

The report comes from Express Metrix, a provider of IT and software asset management solutions. Some 178 IT pros, who work at organizations in the United States and Canada, took part in the survey. They manage software license compliance at their organizations.