A Software Audit With IBM

Are you currently participating in a Software Audit with IBM. This can take the form of a full review of your software licence usage by an IBM appointed auditor. It can also be a software assessment where IBM asks you to self assess your usage of your software entitlements. In both instances you will need to have the information stipulated by IBM at hand in order to make this a successful review for your organisation.

There is no getting around the fact that you will need to show IBM or their Auditor ILMT (IBM Licence Metric Tool) reports going back 24 months from the date IBM requested a review in writing. Without this you are up for some very large potential financial penalties.

There are plenty of other gotchas when this review happens. Your responsibility to ensure your ILMT tool is up to date plays a key role in whether or not you are found to be compliant. You could go to great pains to make sure you are using exactly the entitlements you have, but if you are not maintaining your ILMT tool regularly you will be found to be non compliant and face financial penalties.

All this is outlined in your Passport Advantage Agreement from IBM. It clearly spells out what you have to do in order to stay compliant.

The first thing you should do when you are invited to an audit from IBM or their Auditor is to make sure that you can provide the right reports and your BigFix ILMT tool is compliant.

You should also review the reports before you share them with anyone external to your organisation.

There are many other gotchas when it comes to audits and staying compliant but the first step is to make sure you are ready for this review before you share your system. A common mistake is that contractors working in your organisation share information with IBM that should not be released. Its important to insist on only one point of contact when dealing with IBM or their auditor.

If you are asked to provide any reports other than ILMT for IBM Software reviews that should send immediate alarm bells out. The only report that you are legally required to provide for this audit is the ILMT report. Providing SCCM, active directory and other information is not part of the legal obligation in your contract and should never be passed on as part of a review.

So what happens if you have already shared the information with IBM. If you have already received feedback in the form of a determination document and its not looking great then you need to enlist the services of someone who can assist you. Hopefully you dont have to get to this point before you call someone in to assist.

The best way to manage this is proactively. This is where we come in. We install, run, maintain, update and report on your software entitlements so all you have to do is provide a report to IBM or their Auditor when requested. Our service is much more cost effective as you dont need to hire a resource to do this work which also requires them to get regular training and maintain the system to stay compliant.

We do all this for you as part of a very cost effective service. And if you are already in the middle of a compliance debate with IBM we are specialised in assisting you work through this painful process to achieve a positive outcome.

Many of our clients are already seeing the benefits of optimising their software spend. Often they are able to reduce expenditure or divert it to another product because our work highlights any under deployment of software. This is a very powerful way to save on software spend or potentially divert it to other important projects.

Please contact us for a confidential and obligation free discussion about how we can help you to manage your software licence entitlements. email [email protected] for a confidential and obligation free discussion about your current environment.