T-Mobile bought perpetual VMware licences. It is now in court over what that word actually means.
When a publisher asks, and when nobody is asking. The findings are usually the same — only the cost is different.
The spreadsheet rarely survives the first ten minutes of a licensing discussion. What survives is evidence.
A negotiated settlement, no review, no answers — and the conversation returns at renewal. Know what you're actually settling.
Pick five machines. Ask three questions. Most teams find at least one surprise.
Most businesses know what they purchased. Fewer know what is actually installed. The difference is where audit exposure lives.
Nearly half of organisations were audited last year — and the figure a publisher arrives at is rarely the price of the licences you were short.
Purchase records sit still. Software estates do not. The gap between the two is rarely dishonesty — it is drift, and it only shows up when someone measures.