Help! I'm new to IT management

Many times, those letters only appear to be from Microsoft and they actually come from a vendor partner. So, it may be possible to ignore the letter. I'd check with your legal dept first, though. It may be different where you are.

Malcolm

When I "inherited" that position I found a physical folder with carbon copies of: all PC-systems specifications and invoices concerning purchase of software /as far as I remember the Microsoft Audit Letter asked for the invoice numbers also/.
I keep collecting in that folder and guess You might find it useful to open your folder like this. Ask your colleagues from Accounting Dep-t to give You copies of the invoices for software - I'm sure that will help You with replying Microsoft.

You can ignore it - many of the letters we received are from MS Solution providers - which actually come in and do a complanicy run on all your machines. So they charge you for the complaincy report - then they charge you for additional needed licensing... They get a double bang for a Letter...

The only legal way they can walk into your offices - is if they have a warrant for a search. They can ask - just like a policeman can ask to search your car. You say "Yes" or "No" - if you say no - he has to get a warrant - and provide evidence of why they want to search your vehicle...

Don't be foolish - ignore the letter - but also don't be foolish - check your complaincy to software... esp if you have internet .. loads of people download evaluation software and just keep using it..

1) get from purchasing all software / hardware purchase PO's
2) there is software out there that will audit your equipment - some of its cheap... or send staff around to audit the machines..
3) compare - and get in complaince ... with MS and any other software..

When you do it by human hands - people trend to skip steps - electronic is better - spend the money on software rather than external services...

Thats my recommendation ... Ignore the letter - but make sure your complaint...

Simon,
There have been several suggestions to go to the Belarc site. This is a good idea, It will allow you to do an in house audit. You need to make sure the letter is not certified MS. If it is and they have reason to believe you have unlicensed software they will come in, they will shut you down and they will take your money. That is all in that pesky little EULA that everyone agrees to but never reads. If it is a software partner then you need not worry liek someone else said here they are just trying to make money from your position.
All that being said relax, IT is not all that difficult and you will find your pace. My advice to you is to look at this much like you would the scientific process.
Rule 1) document EVERYTHING!!!! if you don't CYA no one will
Rule 2) refer to rule 1 it is a life saver.
Rule 3) Experiment, a system is never 100% perfect no matter what anyone says
Rule 4) If it breaks, fix it. No one needs to know if you have to call tech support ;)
Rule 5) Trust yourself, you are degreed, this is just like any class you have taken, it is just that you are now your own teacher.

If you stick to the basics you will do fine. If you need more help then you can ask for it here, we love to see ourselves type !!

-duck

Simon, the first thing you want to do as a new IT manager is conduct a full hardware and software inventory. You cannot afford to trust one done by a previous Manager or Administrator.

If you believe the letter to be official then contact them after you've done you inventory and find out what they are planning to do during the audit.

In every instance of a threatened audit by Microsoft that I have seen, they rarely ever do it if you contact them and are willing to produce accurate records.

If they feel there are discrepancies then you must be able to provide proof of licensing for all of your Microsoft Software.

With only 25 systems it would be a very simple
job. While your at it you could also save yourself money if you uninstaled products that people don't use. Things like MS-Access or Project often don't need to be on every machine. Instead, you install the free viewers so that the info can be shared but not modified.

Best of luck
Steve

Removinf the icons from your systems is relativly simple. If you are employing active directory you can simply create a policy and have it applied when users log in to the network. If you are going to touch each machine all you need do is edit the registry. Here is an example:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoNetHood"=dword:00000001 (removes network neigborhood from the dekstop)
"NoRun"=dword:00000001 (remove the run command)

Theses work in nt/2000.

There are countless resources available simply by searching Microsoft's site or even doing a google search! In the recent past I have found Google to be an excellent resource for locating tips/tricks for modifying Windows!

Good Luck!

Hi Simon,

I'm a mid-range Admin, experience-wise (~5 yrs) and the first Golden rule I've learned is "Plan It...don't panic." I too have inherited a network that was reasonably maintained but the licensing was very chaotic. Having said that, this is a company that wants everything licensed legally and do not balk at the heavy costs of properly licensing a network. Your first step should be to look at License Manager on your Server(s) to see if it is being used. If so, you're halfway thereas most of your Microsoft products licenses can be managed from that console. Free information on how to use it is available from Microsoft. (& probably Techrepublic!) Keep in mind that Licensing is the #2 headache for Administrators everywhere, so don't be surprised if the road is difficult. Whether the license service is running or not, you will need to manage other licenses, and there are many options to choose from. You could make your own spreadsheet and gather all origional CD's and license agreements -(current & expired - don't throw them out yet!)- everything you can find. Then, use add/remove programs to determine, machine by machine, exactly what you have installed. Now match the 2 together to determine what you have and what you need. The expired licenses may still qualify you for and "upgrade rate" rather than full price to re-license an expired product. This whole process is very cumbersome but should be manageable considering the size of your organization. An alternative is to search the web for "license management" or similar and you will find many products designed for maintaining and even scanning machines to determine the license status of most products.
More to follow...make sense so far?

I assume that since ur company is having cutbacks, dats ur also d network/system admin as well as being d mgr of ITD.

Perform first ur own IT audit/inventory. Depending on the results, if u have a disturbing amount of pirated softwares installed turn to ur legal dept for advise regarding piracy stuff and its legal implications.

If ur n dis predicament, there are lots of free software though not nearly as user friendly as d commercial SW but w/c has more or less d same functionality to use. Have a plan to remove the illegal stuffs though if its connected to ur company's business i know its hard but the key to this is that u start the plan at once.

If however the pirated stuffs are negligible say 10-15% of the total, dnt fret. It's not ur fault in the first place it's just ur responsbility now. Hav a plan to erase the piratesSW and replace it wid a free SW which also has the same functionality as the illegal stuff and do it asap.

Simon -
All of the other advice is very good advice:
1. Take an inventory of what is installed in the different PCs. It should not take more than a few minutes per PC.
2. Find all of your invoices. Look for purchased software in the invoices when you bought the hardware as well as separate purchases.
3. Typical systems will have the Microsoft productivity applications included when purchased or leased. Create an inventory spreadsheet and do a delta comparison. You will more than likely have bought more software than is now being used, as you are downsizing.
4. Look at the gap. If it's in your favor, contact Microsoft, tell them about your situation (you have more software than you have people, as you downsized), and offer to provide MICROSOFT-ONLY records to them. They will likely leave you alone. If you have illegal Microsoft software, contact your legal department or person, and immediately purchase the software that is installed but not licensed. After that, contact Microsoft and invite them in.

Like any company in the world, they are just trying to make sure that people pay for the products that they produce. They are business people just like you, and I'm sure will work with you if you ask them. Just treat them as a partner and don't try to hide anything.

Good Luck!

Carlos - Houston, TX