On the Alert: Software License Audit Readiness

Why Should You Attend:

A software audit can be time-consuming, disruptive, and if you are non-compliant, very expensive. You do not want a software license audit to occur at your firm when you are unprepared. If you are anticipating a software license audit – and, let us face it, you should be – you are most likely concerned with the fear of auditors uncovering that the number of licenses purchased differs significantly from the number of people accessing the software. Being under-licensed can introduce substantial costs and even heftier fines while being over-licensed suggests precious resource misallocations.

It is unrealistic to believe you can avoid a software license examination. However, preparation and planning can mean you will come out of your audit relatively unscathed. How far progressed is your organization towards software compliance audit readiness?

Management should ensure adequate resource allocations and safeguarding. Typically, safeguarding information assets translates into providing resources acquired, utilized, and disposed of through proper procedures and approvals. Financial, legal, operational, and reputational risks can escalate beyond demarcated tolerance levels when information security governance misalignments to entity and information technology governance occur. Management should sustain accountability. Regarding risk posturing, administrators must accept and own the software licensing decisions made with all the possible imposable penalties.

Join us as Dr. Davis covers what legal compliance assurance is, whom it affects, and what fundamental obligations it places on organizations. Additionally, Dr. Davis will guide you through appropriate action steps to obtain compliance and readiness for a software license audit.

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

• Types of licenses
• Understanding license compliance terms and conditions
• Motivations for license compliance
• Software piracy
• Responding to a software audit letter
• Current license metrics from software vendors
• How to address a software license audit report
• Typical vendor software licensing approaches - from "self-assessment" to "operational examinations."

Who Will Benefit:

• Licensing agreement administrators
• IT operational managers
• Procurement officers
• IT License and Software Asset Manager
• Chief Information Security Officers
• Information Security Directors
• Data governance and management professionals
• Attorneys
• Privacy and compliance professionals
• Human resources professionals
• Risk management professionals tasked with compliance and risk transfer
• Chief Information Officers
• Chief Technology Officers
• Internal audit managers and staff
• Cyber Security Officers
• Data protection officers
• Information security or cybersecurity consultants

Robert E. Davis
Professor, Temple and West Chester University

Dr. Robert E. Davis obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Business Law, a Master of Business Administration in Management Information Systems, and a Doctor of Business Administration in Information Systems Management from Temple, West Chester, and Walden University; respectively. Moreover, during his twenty years of involvement in education, Dr. Davis acquired Postgraduate and Professional Technical licenses in Computer Science and Computer Systems Technology.

Dr. Davis also obtained the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) certificate — after passing the 1988 Information Systems Audit and Control Association’s rigorous three hundred and fifty multiple-choice questions examination; and was conferred the Certified Internal Controls Auditor (CICA) certificate by the Institute for Internal Controls.

Since starting his career as an information system auditor, Robert has provided data security consulting and IS auditing services to corporations as well as other organizations; in staff through management positions. Before engaging in the practice of IS auditing and information security consulting; Robert (as a corporate employee) provided inventory as well as general accounting services to Philip Morris, USA, and general accounting services to Philadelphia National Bank (Wells Fargo). Furthermore, he has prior experience as a freelance writer of IT audit and information security training material.

Dr. Davis received recognition as an accomplished, energetic auditor, author, and speaker with a sound mix of experience and skills in monitoring and evaluating controls. Based on his accomplishments, Temple University's Fox School of Business and Management Alumni Newsletter, as well as The Institute for Internal Controls e-newsletter featured Dr. Davis. Furthermore, he is an Advisory Board Member of The Institute for Internal Controls, the first and inaugural Temple University CISA in Residence and a founding Temple University Master of Science in IT Auditing and Cyber-Security Advisory Councilmen. Last, he accepted invitations to join Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society, the Golden Key International Honour Society, the Thomson Reuters' Expert Witness List, the IT Governance LTD expert panel, as well as the International Association of IT Governance Standards honorary membership group.

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