If you haven’t already gone through one, you will soon enough. IBM randomly chooses clients for Software Compliance Audits throughout the year. In most cases they come to you in the form of a workbook that is to be filled out and returned in 2 weeks – no exceptions.
These workbooks will be populated with all IBM software that IBM believes you own and are using. This audit is to ensure that you are not over-deployed or abusing the license honor system in which IBM entrusts you with.
Tips for Completing the Audit Workbook:
1) Be Honest
- The IBM Compliance team is stern but reasonable. They want to work with you to fix the problem.
2) Start Early
- This is not a simple task. It takes time. Use the two weeks you are given.
3) Be Thorough
- Don’t turn in an incomplete workbook, this will only cause the audit team to ask additional questions and do more digging.
4) Know What You Have
- One of the first things you will need to do is pull a list of servers that are running any IBM software based on PVUs (you will need to know server name, type, physical CPU counts, physical core counts as well as virtual core counts)
5) Ask thinkASG for HELP
- We have assisted a number of customers through their audit. It is very beneficial to have someone on your side who understands the audit process and what the compliance team is looking for.
Above all, don’t panic if you receive an Audit Workbook. All customers go through them at some point. We are here to help – don’t hesitate to ask.
