ML
    • Recent
    • Categories
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Groups
    • Register
    • Login

    Microsoft Self-Audit Letter

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved IT Discussion
    66 Posts 11 Posters 15.8k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • thanksajdotcomT
      thanksajdotcom @IRJ
      last edited by

      @IRJ said:

      I've been involved with a Microsoft audit where we ended up suing Microsoft and winning

      Woohoo!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • scottalanmillerS
        scottalanmiller @IRJ
        last edited by

        @IRJ said:

        I've been involved with a Microsoft audit where we ended up suing Microsoft and winning

        Wow, what did they do wrong?

        IRJI 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • Minion QueenM
          Minion Queen
          last edited by

          The self audit is just your random name came up in the computer and a letter got generated. Though we have had 3 clients get hit with one in the last year. It's not something that is super time consuming if you have the right tools in place already.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • NicN
            Nic
            last edited by

            Dear Microsoft - I audited myself and found that everything is hunky dory 🙂

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • IRJI
              IRJ @scottalanmiller
              last edited by

              @scottalanmiller said:

              @IRJ said:

              I've been involved with a Microsoft audit where we ended up suing Microsoft and winning

              Wow, what did they do wrong?

              They audited us incorrectly and then tried to sue us for licenses we actually paid for. We ended up getting over a million dollars from them.

              thanksajdotcomT scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 3
              • thanksajdotcomT
                thanksajdotcom @IRJ
                last edited by

                @IRJ said:

                @scottalanmiller said:

                @IRJ said:

                I've been involved with a Microsoft audit where we ended up suing Microsoft and winning

                Wow, what did they do wrong?

                They audited us incorrectly and then tried to sue us for licenses we actually paid for. We ended up getting over a million dollars from them.

                That's a nice chunk of change!

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • scottalanmillerS
                  scottalanmiller @IRJ
                  last edited by

                  @IRJ said:

                  They audited us incorrectly and then tried to sue us for licenses we actually paid for. We ended up getting over a million dollars from them.

                  Wow, that's great. Those are the kinds of stories that people need to hear.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • C
                    Carnival Boy
                    last edited by

                    I had one. It was a bit of a pain. It took 7 months from start to finish before they were completely satisfied.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • garak0410G
                      garak0410
                      last edited by

                      We do not use volume licenses for Office. We buy them when we purchase a new PC or when we upgrade. Will they try to ding us if we are mot using a volume license because we have 50+ stand alone install of both 2010 and 2013?

                      scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • C
                        Carnival Boy
                        last edited by

                        Why would they? There's no limit to the number of OEM or retail licences you can purchase is there? We don't use volume either. IIRC I had to specify the number of licences used and also provide 5 licence keys for each product.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • scottalanmillerS
                          scottalanmiller @garak0410
                          last edited by

                          @garak0410 said:

                          We do not use volume licenses for Office. We buy them when we purchase a new PC or when we upgrade. Will they try to ding us if we are mot using a volume license because we have 50+ stand alone install of both 2010 and 2013?

                          They can't ding you if it isn't a license violation.

                          garak0410G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • garak0410G
                            garak0410 @scottalanmiller
                            last edited by

                            @scottalanmiller said:

                            @garak0410 said:

                            We do not use volume licenses for Office. We buy them when we purchase a new PC or when we upgrade. Will they try to ding us if we are mot using a volume license because we have 50+ stand alone install of both 2010 and 2013?

                            They can't ding you if it isn't a license violation.

                            Good...because I buy OEM Windows Licenses when I build PC's and the stand alone Office copies...

                            scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • scottalanmillerS
                              scottalanmiller @garak0410
                              last edited by

                              @garak0410 said:

                              Good...because I buy OEM Windows Licenses when I build PC's and the stand alone Office copies...

                              Well you always have to do OEM Windows licenses. There is no alternative for that other than full retail which wouldn't make much sense.

                              garak0410G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • garak0410G
                                garak0410 @scottalanmiller
                                last edited by

                                @scottalanmiller said:

                                @garak0410 said:

                                Good...because I buy OEM Windows Licenses when I build PC's and the stand alone Office copies...

                                Well you always have to do OEM Windows licenses. There is no alternative for that other than full retail which wouldn't make much sense.

                                Thanks for all the tips...was kind of blindsided by this and concerned...not so much out of legal issues but finding out of compliance areas and being asked to spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

                                Are there risks of fines too?

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • C
                                  Carnival Boy
                                  last edited by

                                  My understanding is that if you find you are out of compliance, you will just need to purchase the required licences. I don't think it is about fining or punishing you. Microsoft licencing can be complicated and it is understandable that companies may find they're not quite right. I doubt Microsoft would consider a fine suitable in this situation.

                                  They never asked me for much proof. So if they pointed out I wasn't compliant I could just purchase the licence and then tell them I am now compliant. The first ten or so attempts I made at filling in the spreadsheet they sent me was bounced back to me indicating that I was out of compliance. This was because I hadn't filled in the form correclty, not because I wasn't actually compliant, but my point is there were plenty of opportunities for me to purchase licences if I needed to. They didn't just fail me and send me a bill, they worked with me over several months.

                                  garak0410G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • Minion QueenM
                                    Minion Queen
                                    last edited by

                                    As @garak0410 says you have plenty of time to become compliant if you happen to not be.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • garak0410G
                                      garak0410 @Carnival Boy
                                      last edited by

                                      @Carnival-Boy said:

                                      My understanding is that if you find you are out of compliance, you will just need to purchase the required licenses. I don't think it is about fining or punishing you. Microsoft licensing can be complicated and it is understandable that companies may find they're not quite right. I doubt Microsoft would consider a fine suitable in this situation.

                                      They never asked me for much proof. So if they pointed out I wasn't compliant I could just purchase the license and then tell them I am now compliant. The first ten or so attempts I made at filling in the spreadsheet they sent me was bounced back to me indicating that I was out of compliance. This was because I hadn't filled in the form correctly, not because I wasn't actually compliant, but my point is there were plenty of opportunities for me to purchase licenses if I needed to. They didn't just fail me and send me a bill, they worked with me over several months.

                                      Thanks for that info...I was just reviewing the certification portion of the form and you can either certify that you are compliant or certify that you ordered sufficient licenses. So, I am thinking we will end up doing the latter on at least one thing.

                                      I am also seeing that they are not asking for a spreadsheet. Just that I audited and I am compliant or will order licenses. So this may not be that big of a deal.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • scottalanmillerS
                                        scottalanmiller
                                        last edited by

                                        Not likely that big of deal. And a good exercise to go through.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • garak0410G
                                          garak0410
                                          last edited by

                                          In researching our licenses, I did find folders and folders of certificates for DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95...for sure not in production...assuming that is OK to ditch...

                                          thanksajdotcomT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • thanksajdotcomT
                                            thanksajdotcom @garak0410
                                            last edited by

                                            @garak0410 said:

                                            In researching our licenses, I did find folders and folders of certificates for DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95...for sure not in production...assuming that is OK to ditch...

                                            Unless you have a stack of floppies and some old-ass hardware laying around that you feel like playing with for some unknown, odd reason...

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • 1
                                            • 2
                                            • 3
                                            • 4
                                            • 1 / 4
                                            • First post
                                              Last post