The self audit: find it before IBM does.

Why look first.

When IBM opens an audit, the raw deployment data becomes the baseline for every finding, and the lookback can reach back two to five years of full-capacity charges. A self audit reverses the order. You see the same data IBM would, but you control what happens next: a miscategorized install gets corrected, a missing ILMT agent gets reinstalled, a stale machine gets purged, all before any of it hardens into a claim.

What a self audit actually covers.

• An inventory of every IBM product deployed, mapped against Proof of Entitlement records and Passport Advantage history.
• An independent PVU and sub-capacity calculation, so you know your real position rather than IBM's likely one.
• An ILMT health check: agents reporting, scans current, installs categorized correctly, quarterly reports retained.
• A bundling review, since products like the Db2 that ships inside Cognos are easy to use beyond their allowed scope.

Turning findings into a fix.

The point of looking first is the window to act. Sub-capacity rights depend on ILMT being deployed within 90 days of first eligible deployment, running continuously, with quarterly reports retained for two years. When a self audit surfaces a gap in that record, you still have time to remediate and document the correction, rather than discovering it after IBM has already defaulted you to full-capacity charging.

What this means under audit.

A self audit converts a future surprise into a managed task. You walk into any eventual review already knowing your numbers, with the evidence organized and the obvious gaps closed. If the review does come, our audit defense team works from a position you built deliberately, not one the auditor framed for you. That is the whole advantage of finding it first.