Apologies for the wait, we're overwhelmed. Yes, this is the hospital. You need to what?! Do a software licence audit?
- Reference: 1610459170
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/01/12/vendors_auditing_hospitals_pandemic/
- Source link:
According to research from the IT Asset Management Forum, which counts Vodafone, Danske Bank and Procter & Gamble among its members, vendors have sought an uptick in revenue via audits of hospitals.
[1]
Melody Ayeli, chair of ITAM Forum, said it was alarming to see the number of hospitals reporting audits during the height of the pandemic.
"Targeting hospitals with a licence audit during an international health emergency, which essentially could take away from their efforts to gather resources and work on plans to minimise the toll of this virus, indicates an unfortunate lack of proper judgement from these vendors," said Ayeli, who is also head of IT asset and configuration management at Toyota North America.
In the ITAM Forum study, 46 per cent of organisations said they had experienced an increase in audit requests from vendors during the pandemic. Meanwhile, 50 per cent of respondents said they thought the risk of audits was getting higher, while 12 per cent said they expected the risk to increase.
Ayeli said software publishers should not be using audits as a surreptitious sales tool during the pandemic.
"The ITAM Review's poll aligns with the feedback that we have received from our members and peers in the industry, that software audits have increased considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Audits are a common route for software publishers to increase revenue, so this behaviour may be unsurprising during a recession as vendors face their own financial challenges. However, interrogating customers for even more money during their struggles in an international health and economic crisis does not demonstrate a spirit of partnership, nor does it align with most vendors' messaging to promote the overall good of our communities."
ITAM Forum founder Martin Thompson, [2]a long-time software licence campaigner who helped organise the survey, said respondents also reported that some vendors are desperate for a little bit of revenue, just to put something on the books.
One respondent said: "There are more desperate vendors, happy to accept any kind of commercial product proposal, as long as some form of revenue is achieved," according to Thompson.
He added: "I hear anecdotally that software publishers are stepping up recruitment into their licence management and audit teams for 2021. As the repercussions of the pandemic slowly filter through the economy and therefore to publisher sales numbers and share price, everyone should anticipate more desperate behaviour from certain publishers."
In the survey, Micro Focus and Oracle were among "least helpful" during an audit, while Microsoft and SAP were among the "most helpful". IBM managed to earn the moniker of both "best" and "worst". We've asked ITAM how this works.
Oracle declined to comment while Micro Focus has yet to respond to our request.
[3]
ITAM Forum survey was based on responses from 82 organisations worldwide polled between August and September 2020. ®
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[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x250%7C300x252%7C300x600&tile=3&c=33X-3Vp@5nnWLncFE5JFtc7wAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2018/09/10/firms_dont_scrutinise_support_spend_report_warns/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251&tile=4&c=44X-3Vp@5nnWLncFE5JFtc7wAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: IBM
You hit the nail on the head there. Have an up-vote.
Anon for blatantly obvious reasons.
Re: IBM
IBM confirmed for leading quantum computing
Icon: Won't someone thing of the cats?
Microfocus
I've been on the receiving end of their audits, more than once. I've made the decision over a year ago to stop using any of their products, and if they buy another company that provides software that we use I start checking for alternatives.
Yes, this is the hospital. You need to what?! Do a ITAM Forum Survey?
So as well as fending off aggressive auditors in the middle of a pandemic, hospitals are also having to fill in surveys. Cool!
Sure.....
Please wait on the Covid ward... Least they deserve
Re: Sure.....
As if trying to survive and recover from Covid wasn't bad enough. Now you want to subject them to sales people :(
Re: Sure.....
"Symptoms of COVID may include breathlessness, fever, headaches, lung scarring, and 500 Exchange Client Access Licenses."
In the peak of an epidemic
people actually want to visit hospitals filled to overflowing with infectious, potentially lethal disease? I hope their employers appreciate their duty of care and provide them with full PPE.
I do appreciate that any cashflow a company can get at the moment is doubly valuable to a company's survival, but surely the current environment should be taken into consideration?
You want to do an audit?
That's fine, just send your people round. There's nobody here that can do this. They are all either self-isolating at home, or assisting in emergency rooms.
Oh, and you'll need full protective gear - there's a lot of COVID here.
Re: You want to do an audit?
Of course, when they do catch it, they'll be in the right place, I guess.
I smell Oracle ...
That sticky, lingering stench that just won't go away ...
Where's that Clorox jug?
Not sure what I think about this.
Yes, it seems insensitive timing, but if hospitals say they are busier than ever, presumably their need for software licences will also have peaked beyond normal (aka paid for) limits.
Can the software suppliers rely on hospitals doing retrospective audits after the crisis has passed, paying for the extra licences for the peak use? I suspect not.
Will the software companies be in trouble without the extra revenue? I doubt it.
Is it a risk I'd be willing to take? No!
I'm so glad you called....
"You know, with all the troubles that have come across my desk of late, the licence situation had completely slipped my mind"
"Yes we thought that might have been the case, and we are prepared to strike a new deal."
"Well now, let's have a look at our current levels of usage...yep, yep, and err, yep. I get it to about 20"
"Only twenty extra licences? Surely an organisation of your size has grown far more than the numbers you are telling us?"
"Sorry, I should have been more clear. We have furloughed nearly everyone and our original deal, that you have so kindly agreed to put to one side, for 5000 licences, needs replacing with a deal for 20 licences."
"Eh?"
"I assume the fees we have already paid will be reimbursed to our account by close of business today. Thank you for your call, and have a nice day"
The perfect answer
Sure you're welcome to come and audit, but due to patient overrun, the server room is now a covid isolation room. Oh and we don't have any remote connections now due to the risk of ransom ware. We also have to ration our supplies of PPE and only critical staff get the good stuff. And sorry you don't count as critical.
But sure, come and do your audit. No problem.
Really??
We don't have time to pay for the gas in the ambulance because there is an emergency!! We should be getting the gas for free, don't you know how busy we are right now?
Just because software is less tangible & easier to steal than a physical item, that doesn't absolve the hospitals from paying for it.
IBM
So IBM was listed as both least helpful and most helpful?
Is that a typo or just reflect the fact that different divisions in large organisations could as well be different companies?