Microsoft Software Asset Management Review SAM
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Dear Carnival Boy ,
I am writing with regards to the letter I sent to you on the 1st December which advised that your organization will be completing a Software Asset Management (SAM) Review in line with the Microsoft Volume License Agreement (VLA) terms and conditions. In that letter, I advised that I would be making further contact with you via email to provide you with the spread sheet called the Deployment Summary which I am pleased to attach
Regards
Microsoft
Dear Microsoft,
What the f*** have our Linux Workstations got to do with you?
Regards
Carnival Boy
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Because it is part of your volume license agreement. When you choose Microsoft, you choose them for everything. Those devices are governed by your licensing just like everything else. They might be part of VDI, BYOD, AD, etc. So they matter just as much as the Windows devices.
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Otherwise, why would phones, printers, thin clients and other non-Windows devices matter? Most printers are Linux devices, AFAIK none run Windows.
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Yes, why would they matter? I don't understand.
If the question was "How many MS Device CALs are allocated to Linux Workstations" I could understand (the answer is zero). But that's not the question. How are devices that don't run Microsoft software and don't connect to Microsoft servers governed by my Microsoft licencing?
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Or by Client devices, do you they just mean MS Client devices?
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Yes, why would they matter? I don't understand.
If the question was "How many MS Device CALs are allocated to Linux Workstations" I could understand (the answer is zero). But that's not the question. How are devices that don't run Microsoft software and don't connect to Microsoft servers governed by my Microsoft licencing?
Because it is part of the agreement with Microsoft for volume licensing that they get this kind of info. They get to audit everything, not just the stuff that you determine needs to be audited. Once you open the door, the door is open. It's a company-wide thing.
It isn't that a CAL is required if they never use DNS, DHCP, etc. It is that you have them and a volume license and they need to be audited. The audit easily might show that no CAL is needed.
The primary cost of using Microsoft products is licensing overhead. The impact is enormous.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Or by Client devices, do you they just mean MS Client devices?
Don't believe so.
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Remember that it is a full audit, not just an audit of what is Microsoft or connected to Microsoft. It's a general audit.
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I'd like to see the part of the agreement that gives them authority to audit everything.
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Is it a pain? Yeah, it's a huge pain. Should they do it? Probably not, but that's the benefit you get when your customers say things like "We have no option to run without Microsoft." Once management considers your products a "no questions asked" product, you get to have audits like this as part of the use agreement. And most companies actually do believe, and maybe it is often true, that Microsoft can't be replaced. So they act accordingly.
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Where can I find a copy of the agreement?
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Where can I find a copy of the agreement?
It would be whatever one you agreed to when setting up the Volume License agreement. It's different for different companies. Your corporate council should have it on file.
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Well worth reading:
Microsoft is auditing its customers at a brisk pace, and no company is immune. All software vendors retain the rights to audit their clients, and we feel that it is fair to expect these periodic compliance checks. But Microsoft is auditing customers at a 2 to 1 rate over other vendors like Adobe, IBM, and Oracle—58% of executives surveyed said they have been audited by Microsoft in the last 12 months.*
That means that a normal company is audited more than every two years!
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From the article:
Also, keep in mind that while SAM is indeed a compliance check, it also must be an ongoing mission. And it is not strictly an IT affair. Real ongoing asset management must also involve:
- Purchasing standards
- Active and continual allocation, de-allocation, and re-allocation of software assets
- Executive buy-in and enforcement of asset management policies (or it simply won’t work)
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What's a corporate council?
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@Carnival-Boy said:
What's a corporate council?
That's the US term, at least, for your senior attorney, the lawyer who oversees the business' legal affairs.
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I suppose CLO would often be a better term (Chief Legal Officer) but I have never seen that used before. But corporate counsel is normally part of the C suite.
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Well, he definitely doesn't have a copy of any agreements.
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These days, sadly, the top skill needed work working with Microsoft products is legal and licensing skills, not technical ones. I think more companies need a good understanding of the actual cost, overhead and risk involved in choosing to work with Microsoft products. Most would still chose them, but the skills and investment that they put into tracking them would be different.
