Software Audit Defense & Response Services

Protect and Fight Back Against a Current Software Audit

Request a Proposal
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A Defense Against Software Audits is Needed

Software audits disrupt operations, consume resources and can result in massive, unbudgeted financial exposure. Audits are a central component of supplier sales strategies, often used to drive revenue, gain visibility into product use, and push organizations to adopt new product.

Business Meeting

A Team of Experienced Former Software Auditors

ClearEdge’s team of former software auditors helps organizations protect themselves from the same tactics they used in their previous profession by advising on the best practices in software audit response, validation, and negotiation.

How ClearEdge Can Help You Build a Defense
Against Software Audits

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Build a Software
Response Plan


Know exactly how you should respond to an audit notification to give your organization enough time to create a strategic audit defense plan.

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Challenge Software Audit Findings & Assumptions​

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Software audit findings commonly contain errors or extrapolations that are not accurate. ClearEdge can help validate findings and refute audit assumptions.

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Manage Data Flow &

Communication with Software Publisher

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Learn how to control the information provided

to software publishers or their third-party

auditors to limit compliance findings

and exposure.

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Negotiate Favorable

Software Audit Close

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Every software audit is a negotiation. ClearEdge can assist in reducing fees owed for an audit or generate favorable outcomes by leveraging other software-related spend with the publisher.

What Triggers a Software Audit?

There are many reasons for software audits, some that you can control and others you can not. Based on our Software Asset Management team’s expertise as former software auditors, we’ve identified six of the most common situations that can trigger an audit:

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Merger and Acquisition Activity​

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Late Certification or True-Ups

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New CIO

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Reduced Spending

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Software Deployment Information Leaks

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Quotas & Revenue Recovery

Software Audit Defense
Defend Against Software Compliance Penalties

Audits are used by software publishers to drive revenue, gain visibility into product use, and to push organizations to adopt new products or cloud solutions as a way to address compliance issues. Organizations must protect themselves from these practices by understanding their own SAM programs, licenses, deployment and entitlements, and learn how to fight back.

Who are the Most Frequent Software Auditors?

Microsoft
Oracle
IBM
SAP
Quest
VMWare
Tableau
Opentext
Corel
Mathworks
PTC
Microfocus
Cisco
Autodesk
Adobe
Redhat
Informatica
Citrix
Tibco
Veritas

The Top Challenges
in a Software Audit Guide

The best defense against an audit is preparation. Understanding the tactics that vendors and auditors deploy will put you ahead of the curve during an audit to identify risk and maximize optimization opportunities.

Download Our Guide to Learn More
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Request a Proposal for Our
Software Audit Defense &
Response Services

ClearEdge can help you respond to audit notification with a team of former auditors on your side to protect against and refute findings. If you are interested in learning more about our Software Audit Defense and Response Services or want to request a proposal, fill out our contact form.