Microsoft SAM (Software Asset Management)
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Anyone been through one? What's the deal? I suspect it's more of a sales opportunity than a hardcore you've been naughty audit but I honestly have no clue.
help?
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What has been requested of you so far?
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Please be informed, that BUSINESS NAME has been selected to participate in a Software Asset Management (SAM) review.
Software Asset Management helps organizations control costs, manage the obstacles associated with a digital transformation, by offering an analysis of a customer’s IT infrastructure and licensing, with the end goal of helping organizations maximize value, minimize risk, and optimize their IT investments.
The SAM review will include taking inventory of the licenses your organization has purchased under AGREEMENT NUMBER and any other Microsoft licenses you have purchased.
Please find a short summary of the SAM engagement process: -
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"Selected to participate" would mean that your participation is voluntary and you can refuse.
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@dustinb3403 we refused, however they just went to our parent company and got them to do it, meaning then they forced us to do it. I am pretty sure when you use Microsoft products you agree to be audited.
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@aaronstuder said in Microsoft SAM (Software Asset Management):
@dustinb3403 we refused, however they just went to our parent company and got them to do it, meaning then they forced us to do it. I am pretty sure when you use Microsoft products you agree to be audited.
No one can force you to agree to do something in the future at a random date and time and without scope.
You can be forced to comply with licensing agreements, and show proof of purchase. But a judge would have to pass this requirement on you. A ToS is just a means for a business such as Microsoft to get a judge to comply faster with "what they want" and possibly fine you/your business by failing to comply to the ToS.
Without a specific reason, agreeing to a future audit at some predestined time isn't enforceable.
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@dustinb3403 Here's hoping MS agree with you. Going to attempt to decline this generous "offer" of theirs. Will report back.
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@mattspeller said in Microsoft SAM (Software Asset Management):
@dustinb3403 Here's hoping MS agree with you. Going to attempt to decline this generous "offer" of theirs. Will report back.
In the worse case, Microsoft comes and Audits your licensing for you!
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@dustinb3403 said in Microsoft SAM (Software Asset Management):
@mattspeller said in Microsoft SAM (Software Asset Management):
@dustinb3403 Here's hoping MS agree with you. Going to attempt to decline this generous "offer" of theirs. Will report back.
In the worse case, Microsoft comes and Audits your licensing for you!
Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
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I have been through it and I have done both accepted or refused. Microsoft doesn't force you to do it actually, they actually have been very calm if you decline.
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I went through one a couple of years ago. You very much agree to one when you use any of their volume license software.
They do give you plenty of time to do it if you are "currently busy with other pre-scheduled projects for the next 6 months".
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Did one of these over a year ago, just to get a free pass for 2 years on real audits afterwards. ended up needing to buy a dozen or so Office licenses.
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I have had to do this twice already. It is a PITA. I thought the first time was bad, so I made notes and kept all sorts of records. The next time it was even worse, as they required more proof of ownership of licenses beyond what they required the previous time. In 2014, they accepted a Dell invoice from 2011 for Exchange 2010 and 60 user CALs as proof of purchase. In 2016, they demanded the corresponding Microsoft agreement numbers, which we didn't have, because it was purchased under an account controlled by an MSP. It took weeks to sort that out.
Another thing was that they asked for counts of all OEM devices. How many of each version of Windows; 7 pro 8 pro, 8.1 pro and then have 5 pictures of each of their stickers.
Every request they submitted was responded to by me within a day. Their response to any questions I had took at least a week to respond to and were usually met with more questions by them and me. I ended up having to buy some RDP licenses, as I thought they were for concurrent sessions, not per user.
The 2016 audit started in September and ended in December.
Their unbelievably convoluted licensing schemes are absolutely ridiculous.
The 2 VMware audits I had, were 10 minutes of supplying them with how many hosts, and sockets each had, how many vcenter servers and how many VMs on which versions.
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@mattspeller said in Microsoft SAM (Software Asset Management):
Anyone been through one? What's the deal? I suspect it's more of a sales opportunity than a hardcore you've been naughty audit but I honestly have no clue.
help?
They are voluntary and often sloppy and inaccurate. I know that @pchiodo recommends just telling them where to go and not letting them do it. it's not MS, it's not official, and it doesn't help you prepare for an actual audit. They are essentially just spammers that MS sells your name to.
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@wrx7m said in Microsoft SAM (Software Asset Management):
Another thing was that they asked for counts of all OEM devices. How many of each version of Windows; 7 pro 8 pro, 8.1 pro and then have 5 pictures of each of their stickers.
I've only ever done one but that was before virtualization came a "thing" so only had two servers both with OEM licenses. So my audit was 2x server 2000 + Cal's.....here's the invoice. Then X win7 machines here's some COA pics.
All done.
I know my current place has done one few years back but I didn't deal with it
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I got the email about it couple of months back. I told them to shove it, and warned that I would bill them for wasted time if they continued to bother me.
It's voluntary, tell them to get lost.
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@marcinozga said in Microsoft SAM (Software Asset Management):
I got the email about it couple of months back. I told them to shove it, and warned that I would bill them for wasted time if they continued to bother me.
It's voluntary, tell them to get lost.
Voluntary and useless.
