European organisations struggle with IT Asset Audits, facing costly penalties for Non-Compliance, poll reveals.

Some 88 % of companies expect to face a software license audit within the next 12 months, according to a poll conducted at the Gartner European Gartner Procurement, Financial and Asset Management Summit ordered by CA Technologies. In addition, 85% of companies were audited within the past year meaning that these events are extremely prevalent. Companies are not well prepared to manage their software licenses, according to the survey.  76 % of respondents feel it is difficult to identify unused software and redistribute licenses within their organization and 77  % of respondents indicate that it is difficult to manage audit reporting and responses. The survey also reveals that, in case where penalties for IT asset non-compliance are expected, 78 % of respondents expect them to be high.

“IT asset management practices as they exist today are clearly inadequate—and they clearly leave companies exposed to highly undesirable consequences, says Marc Sorée, Country Manager Belux, CA Technologies. This survey highlights the need for  customers to embrace technologies that can help them improve and automate those practices so that they can handle asset audits with ease and get more business value out of their existing technology investments.”

The poll shows that 43 % of companies track software using manual processes or via departmental tools which expose them to cost overages and license compliance risk. This fragmented, labourintensive approach undermines firms’ ability to understand and proactively manage asset lifecycle, vendor history, contractual elements, software license allocations, and cost elements of their assets. To tackle this threat of IT asset non-compliance and potential financial penalties, organisations require a comprehensive asset lifecycle management solution with financial, vendor, contract, and license management that provides visibility and control of their IT asset base.