Case Study: IBM Audit Defense for a Leading Brazilian Retailer
Challenge
One of Brazil’s largest retail chains, with hundreds of stores nationwide and a rapidly growing e-commerce platform, faced an IBM audit with claims of BRL 50 million in alleged non-compliance fees. The company’s IT infrastructure supported critical operations, including inventory management, customer relationship systems, and supply chain logistics. IBM’s audit findings highlighted discrepancies in sub-capacity licensing, entitlement mismatches, and overages in virtualized environments. Given the financial impact and the need to maintain seamless operations, the retailer engaged Redress Compliance to resolve the audit and safeguard its financial position.
The Process
- Audit Review and Strategy Development: • Redress Compliance conducted an in-depth review of IBM’s audit report, identifying overestimations and errors in licensing calculations. • Analyzed historical agreements and entitlement data to establish a clear compliance baseline.
- Data Collection and Validation: • Partnered with the retailer’s IT and procurement teams to gather accurate data from servers, virtualized environments, and cloud platforms. • Validated sub-capacity metrics, uncovering significant inaccuracies in IBM’s reported figures. • Identified unused licenses and misconfigurations that could be optimized to close compliance gaps.
- Strategic Negotiations with IBM: • Presented IBM’s audit team with a revised compliance report backed by validated data and a clear interpretation of licensing policies. • Highlighted the retailer’s proactive compliance measures and significant investment in IBM solutions. • Secured major concessions, significantly reducing financial liability while avoiding penalties or retroactive fees.
- Optimization and Governance: • Reallocated underutilized licenses across the organization to address immediate compliance gaps without additional costs. • Designed a compliance framework with automated monitoring tools and internal audits to ensure adherence to licensing policies. • Provided IT and procurement teams training sessions to enhance understanding of IBM licensing requirements and governance practices.
Outcome
Redress Compliance reduced the retailer’s financial liability by 95%, bringing the BRL 50 million claim down to BRL 2.5 million. The settlement covered the cost of additional licenses required for future scalability, with no penalties imposed. The retailer maintained uninterrupted operations throughout the audit process, ensuring continued customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Enhanced compliance processes were implemented to minimize the risk of future audit challenges.
Quote from the CIO:
“Redress Compliance turned a challenging audit into an opportunity to strengthen our compliance framework. Their expertise saved us millions and ensured our operations remained seamless. Their support was invaluable to our success.”
Key Results:
- Initial Audit Claim: BRL 50 million.
- Final Settlement: BRL 2.5 million (95% reduction).
- Compliance Enhancements: Centralized license management and real-time monitoring systems.
- Business Continuity: Ensured uninterrupted retail and e-commerce operations during the audit process.
This case highlights Redress Compliance’s ability to deliver exceptional outcomes for large retail organizations, safeguarding financial stability and operational efficiency during IBM audits.
