A vendor audit is never just about compliance — it is the opening of a commercial negotiation, with a financial gun on the table. We manage the audit process, narrow the scope, defend the methodology, and convert exposure into commercial terms on your side of the table.
When Oracle LMS, SAP GLAS, Microsoft SAM, IBM IASP or VMware's compliance team open an audit, they are not seeking truth — they are constructing leverage. The exposure number on the first findings report is rarely the final settlement. It is the opening offer.
Our audit defence team takes over the process. We respond on your behalf, control what information leaves the company, challenge methodology that does not match the contract, and resolve the audit through commercial settlement rather than list-price true-up. The typical outcome is a 60 to 90 percent reduction against the first findings number.
We do not run a Software Asset Management tool deployment as the audit response. We do not negotiate "settlement plus expansion" deals the vendor offers as the easy way out. The first job is to get the exposure number to the right size; only then does it become a commercial conversation.
The earlier we are involved, the better — ideally before the formal scope and tools are agreed. But we routinely engage mid-audit when the findings number is unexpectedly large.
Most audits run 6 to 9 months. Complex Oracle ULA exits or SAP digital-access disputes can run longer. We are with you from initial response to final settlement.
Audit defence is usually delivered on fixed-fee, with success-based options measured against the vendor's first findings number. See engagement models →
We respond to the audit letter on a professional, contractual basis. We agree the scope, tools, methodology, timeline and confidentiality before any deployment data leaves the company.
We run the equivalent measurement internally first, so we know the real position before the vendor does. Every metric the vendor will request, we have already calculated to our own standard.
We control what data is submitted, in what form, and with what context. We do not let raw script output sit unexplained on the vendor's desk. Every submission is paired with the contractual interpretation.
We challenge every line of the vendor's findings against the contract: editions, products in scope, partitioning, virtualisation, named users, indirect access, multiplexing. The first findings report usually halves before commercial discussion begins.
Once the technical findings are corrected, the audit becomes a commercial negotiation. We resolve it through forward licensing on negotiated discount — not through retroactive list-price true-up.
We document the methodology, fix the deployment patterns that created the exposure, and leave you with an audit posture file that protects the next vendor's audit too.
"The first findings letter said $9.4M. Their team challenged the methodology line by line. We resolved the audit for $1.1M of forward licensing — on negotiated discount."
Tell us the vendor, the date of the letter, and the scope as the auditor described it. We will tell you within one business day whether we can take it on and how.