Audit notices, 2026 vs 2025
+47%
QoQ increase in Broadcom audit traffic across the Desk's caseload.
The Broadcom audit notice that arrives on a buyer's desk in 2026 is not the audit notice the same buyer received under pre acquisition paper. The scope is broader, the timeline is shorter, the entitlement baseline used in the seller's exposure model has been rewritten, and the audit team has authority the field account team does not. Buyers who respond to the 2026 notice with a 2023 audit playbook concede ground in the first 14 days that they spend the next 90 days trying to recover.
This whitepaper is the document the Desk hands buyers in the first call after an audit notice lands. It is structured as a 90 day timeline: seven days, thirty days, sixty days, ninety days. Each window has a defined buyer side workplan. Each window has a measurable outcome. The single largest predictor of settlement outcome is what the buyer did in the first seven days.
Who this is for. CIOs, CFOs, CISOs, procurement leads, and IT counsel sitting in front of a Broadcom audit notice covering VMware, Symantec, Carbon Black, CA, or any combination of the four.