202108.12
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For SPLA Audits, When Historical Data is Missing, Creativity May Be Required

in Microsoft Audits

Most software audits pertaining to products licensed under perpetual licenses (such as licenses acquired under a Microsoft Select Agreement, MPSA or (usually) Enterprise Agreement) incorporate a snapshot-in-time approach, where licenses owned generally are compared to deployments identified through data collected about current-state product deployments. In contrast, audits pertaining to products licensed under a Microsoft Services…

202009.22
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How to Protect Your Company in a Microsoft SPLA Self-Certification

in Microsoft Audits

If your company licenses products to third parties under the Microsoft Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA), you may receive a request to perform a self assessment and provide a certification of compliance to Microsoft.  The SPLA self-assessment audit is a new audit flavor that is unlike the independent audits Microsoft has historically used to audit…

202008.31
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Preparing for the Inevitable SPLA Audit

in Microsoft Audits

If your company uses a Microsoft Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA)—and it probably does if Microsoft considers you to be in the commercial hosting business—you will be audited at some point. Typically, Microsoft SPLA customers are audited once every three years. When that time comes, it is important to know how your company may be…

201910.29
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What is a Microsoft SPLA Verified Self-Audit?

in Microsoft Audits

If you provide commercial hosting services using Microsoft’s Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA), you may become a target of an ever-increasing variety of license audits from Microsoft and its vendors.  The latest flavor of a Microsoft SPLA audit is the verified self-assessment or VSA.  The SPLA verified self-assessment differs from both the independent audit and…

201906.27
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Consult with Counsel for SPLA Audits

in Microsoft Audits

Microsoft’s Services Provider License Agreement (“SPLA”) is a popular licensing framework for businesses delivering hosted or rented software solutions to their customers. However, as with many software license agreements pertaining to resale or other business channel partnership programs, the SPLA typically includes audit rights language giving Microsoft the ability to review a SPLA partner’s records…

201602.23
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SPLA-Audit Exposure Difficult to Estimate

in Microsoft Audits

One of the first steps we typically recommend to businesses facing software audits from any source is to try to estimate the financial exposure related to those audits. Doing so allows a company to allocate its resources more efficiently and to set aside reserves or make other financial preparations in advance of settlement, when auditors…

201602.23
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Defending SPLA Audits: Critical First Steps

in Uncategorized

Many businesses contact Scott & Scott, LLP regarding Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) audits after providing extensive information to Microsoft’s auditors and receiving compliance demands that would be ruinous for their bottom lines, if paid in full. At that stage, it might be difficult to “un-ring the bell” with respect to the data allegedly underlying…

201602.23
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SPLA Audits and Anonymous / Authenticated / Outsourced / Non-Outsourced Windows Server Licenses

in Microsoft Audits

Businesses that have endured audits initiated by Microsoft in connection with Services Provider License Agreements (SPLAs) are all too aware that Microsoft’s auditors spare no effort in identifying opportunities to increase the total amount of the compliance purchases demanded to resolve licensing discrepancies. For service providers that have licensed Windows Server operating systems under SPLA…

201602.23
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SPLA Audit Exposure Difficult to Estimate

in Microsoft Audits

One of the first steps we typically recommend to businesses facing software audits from any source is to try to estimate the financial exposure related to those audits. Doing so allows a company to allocate its resources more efficiently and to set aside reserves or make other financial preparations in advance of settlement, when auditors…