01.
The rep misses the number
When a Microsoft, Oracle, or IBM account team can't close a deal, the customer gets flagged for an audit. It is a revenue motion, not a compliance one.
Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, and SAP open audits to reopen negotiations and surface revenue, not to check your paperwork. We have spent 25+ years on both sides of that table, and we know how the demand is built because we used to build it. We validate what you actually owe before you respond, and the number comes down.
We know how publishers construct the demand because we used to run audits ourselves. Here is the playbook, and the point where it breaks.
When a Microsoft, Oracle, or IBM account team can't close a deal, the customer gets flagged for an audit. It is a revenue motion, not a compliance one.
A formal letter cites the contractual audit right, and a firm like KPMG is appointed to assess your environment. It is built to look procedural.
After collecting your data, the publisher presents a number with little technical basis. The figure is set to anchor the negotiation high, not to reflect what you owe.
We have been on both sides of this for 25+ years. We reconstruct your real entitlement and usage, challenge the measurement assumptions, and the demand drops 78-94% in public UMS examples.
Every email, spreadsheet, and meeting can become evidence for a larger demand. Say nothing of substance until you have an independent read.
No server counts, user lists, or license reports yet. Auditors use each data point to expand the claim, so the first package you send shapes everything after it.
We will assess your position in about 30 minutes and tell you exactly what to do next. No cost, no obligation, and no number to defend yet.
25+ years of audit defense across 200+ software vendors.
What to know if you are facing a software audit.
Stop all communication with the auditor immediately. Do not respond to the letter, send deployment data, or schedule meetings until you have independent guidance. Every piece of information you share can expand the claim.
UMS typically works on a shared-savings model for audit defense. You pay $0 upfront, and our fee comes from the reduction we achieve in the audit demand. If we don't improve the outcome, you don't pay.
Software audits are usually commercial leverage events, not neutral compliance exercises. Publishers use them to surface revenue, force disclosures, and reopen negotiations when a customer is resisting an upsell or approaching a renewal.
Yes. Public UMS case studies include a $2M OpenText demand for New York City reduced to $115K and a $35M+ publisher claim reduced to $7.5M. The exact outcome depends on the contracts, deployment facts, and how early the response is controlled.
Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, SAP, Adobe, and VMware/Broadcom are among the most aggressive. The BSA can also initiate multi-publisher matters, which raises the pressure because several vendors are involved at once.
Book a 30-minute audit review. We will tell you what to say, what to hold back, and where the demand falls apart. $0 upfront; our fee comes from the reduction we achieve.