<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Having run large shops in the past there are two answers to this:<div>1) If you have an Enterprise Agreement they have the right to come in annually to true up against what you own and what you have deployed. It’s in the print on the contract so there’s not much you can do but take it.</div><div><br></div><div>2) If the software is retail or acquired outside of a volume license then you can basically tell them to go to hell and come back with a warrant (I would refrain from that specific language but you get the idea). As far as I am aware they have to show just cause as to why they want to audit you if they want to check your stance with non-volume licenses. In this instance I would consult with corp legal ASAP and not let in the lobby.<br><br>Hope this helps.</div><div><br><div id="AppleMailSignature">Thanks!<div>-Mike </div></div><div><br>On May 16, 2018, at 11:02, Edward O. Holcroft via Ale <<a href="mailto:ale@ale.org">ale@ale.org</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">All,</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">I'm pretty sure this topic has been covered in the past, but here we go again ...</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">A few years back we went through a fairly lightweight (I think) Microsoft audit process and I kinda panicked and did everything in my power to cooperate with them. I didn't want to piss them off in case we were out of compliance. It was quite a lot of work on my side, and it was handy I'll concede, to know that we were all in the clear once the "audit" was complete.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Since then I have switched the company to a lot of Linux on the server side (replaced all our regional office Server 2003 with CentOS), and at the same done done a much better job of monitoring proprietary license compliance. We still use a small number of Server 2012 servers for auth and group policy, which we are heavily locked into. And of course ... Doze on the desktop. About 350 users.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Last year, they wanted to run trough the process again. I declined, even though the were pretty persistent for a while, they eventually went quiet. So now we get to 2018 and they've started at it again. My position on this has evolved over the years, and I reached a point where I just do not want to cooperate with Microsoft on "checking up" on us after we've thrown hundred of thousands of dollars into the bottomless pit of their POS software over the years. I know we're pretty much license compliant as an organization and I find myself irritated, even offended by this Microsoft audit request.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">So to my question: does anyone possess knowledge on where I stand? Microsoft does a pretty good job of making it sound like they're legally entitled to do this and that I do not comply at great peril. Is this true? Has anyone out there repeatedly declined their offer of license compliance "help"? How did it go? Is it better to just bend over? I feel like if they want to do this, I should make them legally compel us, if that's even possible without them accusing us of a crime.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">ed <br></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,san-serif;font-size:13.3333px">_________________________________________ </span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,san-serif;font-size:13.3333px"><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,san-serif;font-size:13.3333px"><b style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,san-serif;font-size:11pt">Edward O. 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