Scott & Scott, LLP has a dedicated practice group focusing on defending companies accused of software license violations by IBM. Below are some of the cases our firm has been involved with.

Represented global telecommunications and mass media company in an IBM software-licensing audit. Assisted the client in engaging with third-party auditors hired by IBM, gathering, reviewing and transmitting relevant information requested by the auditors, reviewing and validating draft audit findings, and negotiating an acceptable resolution with IBM. Principal issues addressed included careful definition and management of audit scope, identification and evaluation of appropriate alternatives to audit materials requested by auditors, and formulation of settlement proposals resulting in net value to client, rather than fees paid for licenses no longer required by the company.


Defended Northeast US not-for-profit organization against aggressive settlement demands following an IBM software-licensing audit. Assisted the client in gathering, reviewing and transmitting relevant information to rebut audit findings and negotiating a resolution with IBM that avoided over a significant portion of the exposure associated with the original audit findings. Principal issues addressed included errors in certification following an unlimited licensing agreement and sub-capacity licensing requirements.


Represented a US financial services and insurance company in an IBM software-licensing audit. Assisted the client in engaging with third-party auditors hired by IBM, gathering, reviewing and transmitting relevant information requested by the auditors, reviewing and vetting draft audit findings, and negotiating an acceptable resolution with IBM. Principal issues addressed included careful definition and management of audit scope, identification and evaluation of appropriate alternatives to audit materials requested by auditors, and formulation of settlement proposals that aligned with prospective goals for a strategic vendor relationship.


Consulted with Missouri-based commercial banking company against misleading and erroneous audit findings in an IBM software-licensing audit. Assisted the client in gathering, reviewing and transmitting relevant information to rebut audit findings and in formulating appropriate settlement proposals. Principal issues addressed included the auditors' failure to recognize licenses owned by the client, the auditors' failure to recognize bundled product deployments not requiring incremental licensing, tracking the transition of owned licenses from legacy license metrics to current license metrics, erroneous usage reporting generated by the IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT), and inadvertent product deployments.


Represented Texas-based technology company providing service management, data center automation, performance management, virtualization life-cycle management and cloud computing management solutions in connection with an IBM application service provider audit. Assisted the client with negotiating the scope of the audit, collecting and reviewing information requested by the auditors, preparing responses to IBM’s license-compliance findings, and evaluating options for more appropriate audit-settlement terms. Principal issues addressed included mapping of deployment data to user counts, inaccurate extrapolation methodologies applied by the auditors, and challenges to IBM's demand for additional support payments.


Represented international law firm in connection with an IBM audit.  Worked with the client to evaluate its client’s IBM license position and to improve its negotiating position with IBM. Issues included full-capacity audit findings for virtualization environments that previously had been licensed at sub-capacity levels, as well as apparent errors in IBM's audit report (as compared to separate, third-party report independently commissioned by client). Assisted client with resolving legal and technical issues involving IBM’s licensing rules.


Represented supply chain management software company in connection with an IBM audit.  Assisted client with preparing a response to IBM’s license-compliance findings and to evaluate options for more appropriate audit-settlement terms. Principal issues addressed included legacy license metrics that IBM had deprecated, inaccurate extrapolation methodologies applied by the auditors to obtain counts of users with access to the software in question, and challenges to IBM's demand for support reinstatement. Assisted client with post-settlement inquiries regarding IBM license compliance and worked with client to propose amendments to go-forward IBM licensing agreement.


Assisted worldwide eyewear company in responding to IBM’s license-compliance findings as a result of an audit conducted by Deloitte. Evaluated options for more appropriate audit-settlement terms and reviewed and revised settlement agreement.


Represented bank in connection with an audit initiated by IBM. We assisted client with gathering audit data and responding to information requests from IBM’s auditors. We evaluated and worked to correct & amend the auditor’s audit findings. We also helped the client evaluate it’s IBM license position and developed strategy options to achieve favorable audit-settlement terms. Finally, we negotiated a final audit settlement with IBM.


Assisted worldwide consumer products company in negotiating an NDA with Deloitte regarding an IBM audit. 


Worked with UK insurance provider to evaluate its IBM license position and to improve its negotiating position with IBM. Assisted client in negotiating more appropriate audit-settlement terms.


Global eyewear company retains Scott & Scott to review IBM findings and propose resolutions.


Tennessee medical services center seeks counsel and guidance from Scott & Scott regarding responding to an IBM audit.


Supply chain management solutions firm works with Scott & Scott to review and challenge Deloitte’s findings in an IBM audit.


Assisted international personnel solutions firm with resolving an IBM audit.


Defended Texas oilfield service company in an IBM audit.


Defended global IT software developer in an IBM audit.


Defended global flow control products and services manufacturer and provider in an IBM audit.


Defended global risk consulting firm in an IBM audit.


Defended supply chain management solution provider in an IBM audit conducted by Deloitte involving Maximo software.


Represented global snack food and beverage company in audit conducted by Deloitte related to IBM datacenter software including DB2 and WebSphere.


Represented large healthcare management company in audit conducted by KPMG regarding IBM WebSphere software.


Defended security alarm monitoring company with over one million customers in an IBM audit initiated by Deloitte involving IBM web sphere and DB2 licensing.


Assisted global travel technology company with an IBM audit.

Advised global private club management company regarding IBM licensing.


Assisted southwestern health care system with IBM licensing review and negotiation resolution.


Fortune 500 company hires Scott & Scott to negotiate IBM Cloud Services terms.


Counseled global water technology company regarding its IBM licensing.


Assisted nationwide home furnishings leader with IBM licensing.


Assisted Texas healthcare system with IBM licensing.


Assisted global transportation services firm with IBM licensing.


Assisted food and drink management services company with IBM licensing.


Assisted Multinational semiconductor firm with IBM licensing.


Assisted international engineering conglomerate with IBM licensing.


Assisted Global HR services firm with IBM licensing.


Assisted financial technology and service solutions firm with IBM licensing.

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