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Microsoft most aggressive when it comes to software audits, says Flexera report

Enterprises aren't big fans of the dreaded software audit, but nearly half of them have faced one from Microsoft.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

Microsoft is the most aggressive vendor when it comes to software audits as 49% of enterprises have experienced one from the software giant over the last three years, according to the Flexera State of ITAM report. 

Software audits are where a customer is audited for license compliance.

The survey, which targeted enterprises with more than 1,000 employees, found that 28% of 461 respondents had a software audit from Oracle over the last three years with IBM at 27% and VMware at 25%, said Flexera.

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Overall, a third of companies paid more than $500,000 last year due to software audits with 10% paying more than $5 million. According to Flexera's report, software asset management teams are struggling to monitor usage of SaaS, cloud and containers. 

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Other key items:

  • 69% of respondents said the top initiative is to optimize and save on software spend;
  • 52% said the focus on savings will increase in 2021 due to COVID-19;
  • 51% said the plan is to optimize software licenses to avoid costs in the future;
  • And 74% of software asset management teams plan to increase their focus on public cloud spending over the next three years with 70% citing SaaS.

Here's where software asset management teams are focusing when it comes to optimization.

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