Users Leery of Microsoft License Checks

Computerworld - Barry Libenson, CIO at Ingersoll-Rand Co., was skeptical earlier this year when Microsoft Corp. contacted his company about possible license-compliance problems yet insisted it had no plans to pursue an audit.

Microsoft claimed that the Hamilton, Bermuda-based tools and machinery manufacturer likely didn't have enough Office licenses, nor enough client-access licenses for SQL Server, based on its experiences with customers of comparable size and revenue.

But instead of invoking the audit clause in Ingersoll-Rand's contract, Microsoft suggested a collaborative approach and offered to engage a third-party consultant to help the company reconcile the products it was using versus the software it had purchased.

CIO Dale Frantz

During the past year, Microsoft has approached some 1,200 U.S.-based corporate customers it suspects may not be licensed properly, based on the data mining of its volume-purchase history records, according to Juan Fernando Rivera, the software maker's director of worldwide software asset management.

But Rivera swears that license compliance wasn't the driving factor and audits won't be forthcoming, even though Microsoft often suggests potential license problems in its initial customer contact. Instead, Microsoft is trying to persuade those customers to participate in its Software Asset Management (SAM) program, which kicked off two years ago in the U.K. and launched a year ago in the U.S.

Under the program, Microsoft pays for its consulting partners to educate customers on the merits of asset management, help inventory their installed software, compare the inventory with license documentation, and make recommendations on policies and procedures. In the end, the customers get a chance to pay for unlicensed software, or "true up," without penalty.

So far, 570 U.S.-based companies either have completed a free SAM engagement or are in the process of doing so with a Microsoft partner -- 132 of which have attained SAM certification since it became available in November, according to Microsoft. The software maker plans to spotlight the SAM program this week in Boston at its annual Worldwide Partner Conference, as it works to scale the model during the coming year, Rivera said.

But before moving too far ahead, Rivera acknowledged that Microsoft might need to look back to revise some of the heavy-handed tactics that have bothered some customers, causing them to question the program's purpose.

A Computerworld investigation involving 51 companies -- including 14 that Microsoft contacted about the SAM program -- showed that many U.S.-based IT managers were confused, distrustful or downright angry after their companies had been accused of potential licensing problems in connection with pitches from Microsoft SAM representatives. In some cases, they later learned that the pitches were based on Microsoft's admittedly incomplete records. Some IT managers said they felt pressured to sign up for SAM reviews, and others said they resented the threatening tone of e-mails and telephone calls that sometimes escalated if they balked at participation in the SAM program.