U.S. Auto Parts Retailer Reduces Microsoft
Audit Exposure Risk by $3M!

Just as pleading ignorance in court does not qualify as an excuse, being unaware of IT asset incompliance does not protect companies from the repercussions of an audit.

Challenge:

A large U.S. auto parts retailer – with over 5,000 locations – was preparing for a Microsoft software licensing audit. With over 10,000 employees spread across the country, the customer knew they needed help properly tracking device licenses, entitlements and proof of purchase records for all software. In addition, the customer didn’t have the internal resources required to properly prepare for the audit. With just four short weeks until the audit, the customer turned to SHI for help.

Solution:

To review the customer’s assets and evaluate their unique software landscape and current compliance position, SHI utilized several ITAM services, including Audit Defense services. Using JDisc, an agentless network discovery and IT inventory tool, SHI’s experts helped the customer identify and understand their software entitlements, provided them with a complete and accurate view of the software deployed throughout their environment, and highlighted their compliance risks. 

SHI’s ITAM platform then normalized the aggregated ITAM data, which revealed an approximately $3.5 million initial compliance exposure.

With under four weeks until the audit, SHI worked in tandem with the customer to locate most of the licensing purchase records they were missing, bringing the shortfall down to $500K.

Result:

By reducing the customer’s bill by $3 million, SHI helped the customer mitigate their risk while also providing them with complete visibility and insight into their software licenses, usage and rights. Ultimately, by identifying their licensing shortfalls prior to the scheduled audit, SHI helped the customer successfully reconcile the gaps and become compliant.

SHI has since helped the retailer with the procurement, configuration and kitting of HP hardware.