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The One Value-Packed Summit for
software Compliance Professionals

Experts from all aspects of the SAM industry deliver insights and tips for improving compliance 

IT pros attending the 2017 Compliance Manager Summit, March 13-14, in San Francisco learned to proactively prepare for an audit, and, with a modernized program, be ready with all the information a software producer could possibly ask for—whether you’re collecting licensing data about on-premise software or cloud services. 

Acknowledging that license compliance is one of the most difficult aspects of every software asset manager’s job, the 2017 CM Summit radically changed its focus to end users challenged with complex license management issues.

The fifth annual event delivered in-depth license management tips and techniques to end user SAM managers, and offered a deeper dive into audit negotiation tactics, complexities of cloud licensing, and specifics of Oracle, IBM, HPE, and Adobe contract terms.

New in Compliance for 2017

From the keynote roundtable to the final panel discussion on day two, compliance experts focused on what’s new this year.

“I’ve seen major tier one software publishers auditing smaller organizations recently,” said Diane Conaway, SoftwareONE SAM solution specialist. “I think it’s new for them to look at auditing companies with two to 300 employees.”

So she, along with many of other expert speakers, focused on how attendees could make their SAM practices more proactive, rather than reactive to an audit—prevention and controlling the process were the key directives. Being prepared for the inevitable audit letter allows you to take control of the process.

“Effective communications is key,” said Conaway. “Show intent to be complaint, but work with your legal team to understand what you actually need to share. Read contracts for entitlements, for example.”

Kirk Hubbell, program director of license management services at OpenText advised the audience to assign ownership of their organization’s various IT assets as an important part of a proactive SAM practice, and make communications between IT and the business staff a priority. Get everything from your software vendors in writing, and share it, he advised, so that everyone who is responsible for an aspect of licensing has evidence of compliance to share with vendors.

Of course, compliance with cloud licensing was also a topic of much discussion as more and more companies move their applications to the cloud this year. It’s clear that no one yet has a firm grasp on what licensing and compliance will look like for cloud services, but all the experts agree that moving to the cloud won’t be the simple fix to compliance that customers often believe.

Courtney Grey, director of forensic services at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said that customers still don’t understand that they need to include cloud applications in their audits. He pointed out that licensing in the cloud actually becomes more complex, not less so, because the terms are not as clear.

Managing software in the cloud

Research firms were also on hand to present their takes on the trends and forecasts for compliance management. Sandi Conrad, Senior Research Director and Executive Advisor of Infrastructure at Info-Tech, led a session on tactics for managing software in the cloud. She noted that each vendor sets up their licenses differently, which can get tricky when integrating SaaS applications between vendors.

“The savings are in user-based licensing,” she says. “It’s often easier to get projects approved when the expenses are operational.”

But she warned attendees to be particularly wary in reviewing the security and data sovereignty clauses in their contracts, saying that the customer is still responsible for data security, regardless of where it’s stored. This can be challenged if a vendor’s data centers are located around the world, and your company has limitations on where it can store data—those kinds of requirements should be clearly stated in your contract.

Of course, the biggest problems SAM managers still face with cloud apps is shadow IT. Conrad says, “The business people who set up cloud apps are seen as super heroes by their colleagues, but that’s really not good for IT and asset management.”

Contract management is key

Finally, according to the experts, knowing every detail in your contract and knowing exactly what is installed, and used, are the best ways to establish a proactive SAM practice. Know exactly what you’re signing up for in contracts and make sure contracts are understood by IT so that you’re not over deployed. And document everything, including amendments made to contracts.

“We’ve learned that things that seem black and white to us in the contract, sometimes have the opposite meaning to the customers. We’ve learned our lessons and re-written contract templates to make sure they truly are black and white,” said Hubbell, advising attendees to take the same precautions with their own contracts to make sure that customer and publisher have the same understanding of the terms.

Stay tuned here for more on the Compliance Manager Summit 2018, follow us on Twitter or join our Linked in Group.

Thank you to all of our attendees, speakers and exhibitors. Perhaps we’ll see you at the 2018 CM Summit. Follow us: at @SAMSummit_IBSMA or  for the latest updates.

Summit Sessions Agenda details

CM Summit will return in spring of 2018. We'll feature an all-new agenda which will include compliance pros from Oracle, IBM, KPMG, Anglepoint, Veritas, HPE and leading practitioner organizations. Here's a sample of the cutting-edge topics:

How to Prepare and Manage a Software Audit, Thought-leaders Panel Discussion
Build a Strategy to Identify and Reduce Hidden Audit Costs
What's New in IBM License Compliance
Cloud Licensing From the Auditors' Perspective, Panel Discussion
The Art of the Audit: How Small Teams Can Take on Large Vendors
Challenge Your Audit Findings and Win
Top 5 Microsoft Compliance Findings
Today's Legal Environment for Compliance and Enforcement
Know Your Rights: Legal Approaches to Minimizing Oracle Audit/Compliance Risk
Make or Break Contract Terms for Auditing and Compliance
Microsoft Audit Defense and Prep-Practices Roundtable
The Ins and Outs of SAP Compliance Audits

Click here for the 2017 agenda details.

Sessions are open to all attendees unless listed otherwise. Sessions listed as end user only are NOT open to vendors, consultants, software resellers, software tool providers, compliance consultants, practitioner consultants or other SAM services professionals. Individuals in this category are welcome to attend sessions open to all attendees or sessions for vendors only. IBSMA may invite non end users to attend certain sessions as co-presenter, moderator or room monitor. Questions on this policy should be directed to IBSMA director's office.

Compliance Manager Summit Mobile App
This custom app enables you to: download session materials, create a custom schedule, bookmark your favorite sessions, network and share contact info with other attendees and tweet about you experiences. Registered conference attendees will receive the login details and password required to access the app.

Location & Hotel Info

Compliance Manager Summit will be held in the San Francisco Bay area. Stay tuned for details on the 2018 event, coming this summer.

2017 Sponsors & Exhibitors

Flexera Software is the leading provider of strategic solutions for Application Usage Management solutions delivering continuous compliance, optimized usage and maximized value to application producers and their customers. Flexera Software is trusted by more than 80,000 customers that depend on our comprehensive solutions—from installation and licensing, entitlement and compliance management to application readiness and software license optimization. Visit Flexerasoftware.com.

Revulytics offers cloud-based software usage analytics and turnkey services that give software producers deep visibility into how their products are being used and misused. Revulytics compliance analytics solution and services are used by leading software vendors to increase license revenue and globally reduce software piracy. Its software usage analytics solution provides valuable insight into product adoption, engagement, and environments, enabling product managers and developers to make data-driven decisions to meet customer needs and deliver contextually relevant messages to build customer satisfaction. Revulytics software intelligence supports customer compliance programs generating more than $1.4 billion in new license revenue since 2010.

Revulytics is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. and serves customers worldwide. For more information, visit Revulytics.com, follow us on Twitter (@revulytics), or subscribe to our blog.

Education & Networking

Watch for details on our 2018 CM Summit education and networking programs, coming this summer.

Conference attendee registration

March 13 reception registration (reception only)

Practitioners Certificate in IBM License Management (PCILM)

Practitioners Certificate in Oracle License Management (PCOLM)

Practitioners Certificate in SAP License Management (PCSAP)

Practitioners Certificate in Software License Agreements (PCSLA-C)