Q2) Will Quest charge a penalty if I am found of compliance
Yes. Unfortunately Quest will charge a maintenance back penalty along with interest. We have seen them typically charge back maintenance from the date of software install.
Q3) Who pays for the audit
If the finding is more than 5% of license entitlement , Quest will ask the customer to pay the audit fees. Relevant language can be found in Software transaction agreement fees.
https://www.quest.com/legal/sta.aspx
Clarify recommends not using the audit as a true up opportunity, performing a proactive audit, optimizing the environment and making sure you are compliant with Quest/Microfocus products.
Q4) What are major High risk Quest products that can be in my environment and can be subject to an Audit finding
All Quest products are high risk should be managed proactively, but some of the major Quest products that we typically find as part of audit settlement are:
- Toad for Oracle
- Toad Data Modeler
- ActiveRoles
- Change Auditor
- Foglight
Q5) Can the amount of settlement exceed my initial purchase
Absolutely. Unfortunately, Quest license key once you purchase it doesn’t stop you from installing it on other computers hence we see customers install more than what they have purchased. If you take into consideration unexpected overages plus with back maintenance, audit fees we have seen the amount of settlement easily exceed the purchase many times over.
Q6) Does Quest take their customer to court?
Not all the audit findings end up in court, but Yes, Quest will take customers to court over software audit findings. Below please find information about the Nike vs Quest and Faith vs Quest lawsuit.
https://torrentfreak.com/images/nikepirate.pdf
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17303149/fairview-health-services-v-quest-software-inc/
Q7) Will Quest require me to run any tools or utilities in my environment.
Yes, Quest will leverage tools in your environment like SCCM, etc and on top of it they will ask you to run custom scripts( for desktop products), home grown tools for Active Roles, etc and provide detailed screenshots from various products that show usage
Q8)I don't have in house skills to assess Quest in my environment or expertise to match auditors interpretation. Can Clarify help?
Yes, certainly. Clarify has assisted hundreds of customers by simulating a proactive audit. Please reach out to us at