Mainframe Licensing ExpertsIndependent Advisory

① Rocket Software · Audit defense

Rocket Software audit defense, mobilized in 48 hours.

Rocket Software now owns the former Micro Focus mainframe portfolio and the ASG estate alongside its own catalog. Where portfolios change hands, compliance reviews typically follow. When the notice arrives, we control the channel, rebuild the entitlement baseline, and negotiate the close.

Get expert help → Rocket Software buyer side guide
№ 01

The situation

Micro Focus AMCASG heritageCompliance reviews

Rocket Software acquired the ASG Technologies portfolio in 2021 and closed its $2.275 billion acquisition of OpenText's Application Modernization and Connectivity business, the former Micro Focus mainframe and COBOL portfolio, in 2024. That history matters because most Rocket compliance exposure lives in inherited paper: agreements signed with Micro Focus, ASG, or their predecessors, sometimes decades ago, now enforced by a new owner reading them fresh.

The patterns commonly observed after such acquisitions: requests for detailed contract and deployment declarations, reconciliation of entitlement records against installed software, and renewal events used to convert informal arrangements into current paper at current prices. Terminal emulation estates, COBOL development tooling, and the long tail of ASG products are typical focal points. A declaration request may not be labeled an audit. Treat it as one.

№ 02

Our approach

Scope controlEntitlement rebuildSettlement

Five steps, in order

  • Control the channel: one point of contact for all auditor communication, response deadlines managed, nothing volunteered beyond what the contract requires
  • Read the audit clause first: what the agreement actually permits in scope, frequency, and method typically narrows the exercise considerably
  • Rebuild the entitlement baseline: original Micro Focus, ASG, and Rocket grants, transfers, and amendments reconstructed into a defensible license position
  • Reconcile independently: deployment data validated internally before disclosure, and the publisher's findings recalculated line by line; audit math rarely survives scrutiny
  • Negotiate the close: exposure traded against future contract structure, with the settlement papered so the same issue cannot resurface next cycle
№ 03

What changes with us in the room

Pattern knowledgeCalm

An audit is a negotiation that arrives dressed as an obligation. The publisher's team runs these continuously; your team faces one rarely. With us engaged, scope stays contractual, data disclosure stays controlled, methodology gets challenged where it is weak, and the conversation moves from compliance findings to commercial resolution on a timeline you can live with.

Directionally: across 500+ engagements and $180M+ in negotiated mainframe spend, audit settlements and the renewals that follow them typically land 20 to 35 percent below the publisher's opening position. We mobilize within 48 hours of an audit notice.

№ 04

Frequently asked

FAQ
Q1
Why are Rocket Software compliance reviews increasing?Acquisitions. After the ASG (2021) and Micro Focus AMC (2024) deals, publishers typically reconcile inherited entitlement records against actual deployments, and advisors commonly report increased audit and declaration activity in such periods.
Q2
We received a request for a deployment declaration. Is that an audit?Treat it as the opening move of one. Self declarations typically feed the publisher's compliance position. Validate entitlements and deployment data internally before anything is returned.
Q3
Our contracts are old Micro Focus or ASG paper. Does that help or hurt?Both. Inherited agreements often contain grants and metrics more favorable than current Rocket terms, but the records behind them are frequently incomplete. Reconstructing the paper trail is usually the highest value step.
Q4
How fast can you engage after an audit notice?We mobilize within 48 hours: channel controlled, deadlines managed, and the entitlement baseline build started before any data leaves your environment.

Go deeper before you reply to the notice.

From the same desk: the Rocket Software buyer side guide, what to expect in a Rocket compliance review, renewing with Rocket after the Micro Focus acquisition, and what audit clauses actually allow. If the audit is converging on a renewal, see Rocket Software renewal advisory.

Audit notice or renewal under 18 months out? We mobilize within 48 hours.

The clock started when the letter arrived. Take it back.

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