Software licensing is full of complexity and factors outside your control. For example:

• Software vendors may change licensing strategies, for instance basing licenses on named users and one year and CPU size the next
• Vendors may cut support for existing products more quickly than anticipated when releasing a new product
• Server virtualization may replicate server images containing licensed software-creating risk of licensing non-compliance

Having accurate information is the best strategy for managing vendors, negotiating with them, and, of course, avoiding vendor audits. This paper offers proven approaches to enter conversations with vendors on your toes, not on your heels.