AuditNet®
Has the audit switch been turned off by your IT department?
In many sites the software audit function is, or has been turned off (and
sometimes on again, then back off again, even at the "big iron" end of town for Tivoli, Tangram, UniCentre, Centennial, SMS etc) due to the enormous amount of data gathered, lack of skilled resources (staff) to write the MOF files or poorly defined selection criteria in scripts or higher priority issues (fire fighting) such as network degradation etc.
We can tell some real horror stories about "what hasn't been happening" but our client base don't like us "airing their dirty washing in public".
The reality is that many sites are exposed to significant risk of failing a
software compliance audit. Staff cutbacks have made the issue worse as areas such as software compliance fall into an overhead category and these areas have been cutback at many sites.
The end of the year is an ideal time for an auditor to hop in and test the
systems to see just how complaint your organization is when it comes to software compliance.
We offer simple and fast tools for software auditing as low cost, "hit and run" audit tools that require no software identification database library, no scripting, no training and come with a 1 page user manual (well almost one page) and don't require a degree to operate or specialist training.
Our tools also gather large amounts of data (by design "for a complete
picture", to allow upload to your own database for consolidation) using ACL etc and can be useful for calibrating accuracy of other data collected, or using for spot raids, which many sites still use as a technique for keeping staff on their toes.
This technique of using overt (in the open) spot raids is an old trick that
works in your favor as word of mouth spreads about the ability to conduct a spot audit of a range of PCs using a USB stick or a set of small network commands using RunAs.
The result is, this method can be used to make staff at sites clean up their act when they see the auditor walk in and walk out with results in less time than it takes to read our 1 page user manual.
Word of mouth spreads fast about software audits being conducted in this overt manner (as distinct from a covert audit) and the benefits kick in well when you complement it with a 1 page Acceptable Use Policy that goes hand in hand with the audit action.
The key issue for many sites, irrespective of what tool you use is that if
you don't take "the next steps of reconciling the inventory back to proof of purchase records which really means original invoices from vendors", the job is not complete and you still run significant risk of being caught for non-compliance where you are "under" licensing. The electronic
software/hardware inventory aspect is only 1 small part of the larger task at hand.
To help auditors kick start the process we offer a FREE 1 page Acceptable Use Software Compliance Policy that works and gives your organization significant control over staff in a manner many sites have found to be very beneficial!
We can also offer auditors a software audit tool that you can load on a USB that will allow you to rapidly audit 50 PCs for $US 50 and test the level of software compliance in your organization.
The results you see might surprise you as we don't just cover software but also look at the extent of images, sounds, movies and fonts on your systems, all of which present risks in various forms. The end of the year is an ideal time to hop in and test the systems to see just how complaint you are. A sample size of 50 PCs will be enough to generate a view about where you need to start addressing risk areas.
mailto:pcprofile@internode.on.