Microsoft audit defense for EA, M365, SQL Server, Windows Server, SPLA, and true-up pressure. Control data, validate entitlement, and negotiate from evidence.
A Microsoft audit or compliance review becomes expensive when internal teams rush to answer every data request before they understand the licensing position. M365 assignment data, SQL Server deployments, Windows Server use, SPLA scope, virtualization, and historical entitlement records can all create pressure if they are disclosed or interpreted out of context.
Microsoft audit and compliance pressure often starts as a request for data, but the commercial outcome is shaped by what gets shared, how it is interpreted, and whether the organization has a defensible entitlement story. UMS helps teams slow the response down, reconcile Microsoft agreements and deployment evidence, separate true exposure from weak assumptions, and connect the audit response to the broader renewal or true-up strategy.
We help determine what Microsoft or its audit partner is entitled to request, what should be validated first, and how to avoid turning raw inventory into unnecessary commercial leverage.
We rebuild the Microsoft position from Enterprise Agreement records, M365 assignments, SQL Server and Windows Server use, virtualization context, and supporting purchase evidence.
Audit response often overlaps with EA renewal or annual true-up pressure. UMS ties the defense to timing, product mix, and negotiation decisions instead of treating the audit as an isolated spreadsheet exercise.
After the immediate issue is contained, we help establish the recurring baseline, normalization, and review process needed to keep Microsoft exposure from rebuilding.
We review the audit notice, requested data, agreement structure, renewal timing, and any prior disclosures to understand the immediate risk and response path.
We reconcile entitlements, deployment data, user assignments, SQL and Windows Server use, virtualization records, and known true-up history into a defensible fact base.
We support the response, counterposition, remediation, and negotiation path so Microsoft decisions are made from evidence rather than vendor framing.
Multiple mayors, multiple administrations — one constant partner delivering results. UMS has managed NYC's enterprise software portfolio across 80+ agencies for over 25 years, driving $800M+ in cumulative savings through centralized licensing, vendor negotiations, and audit defense. Recently signed a 6-year renewal — their longest commitment yet.
Across multiple Microsoft reconciliation cycles, UMS helped a regional consumer finance lender reconcile deployment and entitlement data, surface hidden SQL and Office exposure, and turn annual true-up work into a repeatable operating process.
UMS identified over 10,000 inactive Microsoft licenses and reduced NYCHA's EA renewal by $495K in Year 1 — $2.2M over the 5-year term. Phase 1 of a broader engagement spanning Azure cloud optimization and a $17M multi-vendor contract portfolio across 16 publishers.
Pause before sending data. Preserve the audit notice, agreements, order history, prior true-up records, deployment exports, and correspondence. Then get an independent review of the scope and the data request before Microsoft or its audit partner defines the story.
Yes, but the two often overlap. Audit defense focuses on the immediate exposure and response process. EA renewal support focuses on future structure, pricing, true-up assumptions, and license mix. The strongest position usually connects both.
Yes. SQL Server, Windows Server, virtualization, Remote Desktop Services, and SPLA findings are common sources of Microsoft exposure because usage, entitlement, and measurement assumptions often drift over time.
Yes. A pre-audit Microsoft license position review is often the better path because the team can clean up entitlement evidence, normalize data, and address obvious exposure before the response clock starts.
Microsoft Enterprise Agreement customers have defined annual true-up timing, so audit response and renewal readiness should be coordinated rather than handled as separate exercises.
Microsoft Learn: Coverage Periods and Usage DatesUMS's City of New York case study includes Microsoft portfolio optimization and Microsoft SPLA audit-defense proof, while the regional lender case study shows the value of repeatable Microsoft true-up governance.
UMS Microsoft case-study proofBook a free 30-minute consultation. We'll show you exactly where your savings are — no obligation, no upfront cost.
