License Management

What is License Management?

License Management enables your organization to track software licenses, map them to discovered software across your infrastructure, and monitor compliance in real time. Instead of managing spreadsheets or guessing how many licenses you need, the system connects your purchased licenses directly to the software instances discovered in your CMDB.

Why Use License Management?

• Compliance Visibility — Know instantly whether you're over-licensed, under-licensed, or compliant
• Cost Optimization — Identify unused allocations, harvest idle licenses, and reduce software spend
• Automated Tracking — Software instances discovered during network scans are automatically available for allocation
• Audit Readiness — Complete history of every license change, assignment, and status update
• SLA Alerts — Configurable warnings for expiring licenses and approaching compliance thresholds

Key Concepts

Licenses

A license represents a software agreement with a vendor. It contains:

Field	Description
License Name	Descriptive name for the agreement
License Type	How licenses are counted (per device, per user, per core, etc.)
Vendor	Vendor name and contact information
Contract Details	Contract number, start/end dates, value, payment terms
Quantities	Purchased, used, and available counts (auto-calculated)
Compliance Status	Compliant, Warning, or Non-Compliant (auto-calculated)
Restrictions	Environment, geographic, department, or quantity limits
Maintenance	Support level, provider, and end date

License Types

License types define how licenses are counted. The system includes 8 pre-configured types:

Type	How It Counts	Common Examples
Per Device	Unique devices where software is installed	Windows Server CAL, Adobe Creative Cloud
Per User	Unique users accessing the software	Office 365, Salesforce, Slack
Per Core	CPU cores on all devices (minimum 4 per processor)	SQL Server Enterprise, Oracle Database
Per Processor	Physical processors only	VMware vSphere, legacy Oracle
Concurrent User	Maximum simultaneous users	Citrix, SAP
Site License	Unlimited within a defined scope	MATLAB campus, SPSS site license
Subscription	Time-based with periodic payments	SaaS products, Microsoft 365
Enterprise Agreement	Organization-wide with custom terms	Microsoft EA, Oracle ULA

You can also create custom license types for specific vendor agreements.

Entitlements

An entitlement maps one or more software products to a license and defines how many units are covered.

Field	Description
Software	One or more software products covered
Entitled Quantity	Number of units covered by this entitlement
Used / Available	Auto-calculated from allocations
Counting Method	Can override the license type's default method
Version Constraints	Minimum version, maximum version, or explicit allowed versions
Allowed Environments	Restrict to production, development, test, staging, or DR

Example: A Microsoft Enterprise Agreement license might have three entitlements:

• Windows Server — 5,000 licenses
• Office 365 — 10,000 licenses
• SQL Server — 2,000 licenses

Software Instance Allocations

Allocations link individual software instances (discovered on your servers and workstations) to a license. Each instance can be:

Status	Meaning
Allocated	Counted toward license usage
Not Allocated	Pending review — not yet assigned
Not Required	Explicitly excluded (free version, trial, bundled, development-only, or covered by another license)

How to Access

Navigate to SAM → Licenses in the main menu.

License List View

The license list displays all your software licenses with key information at a glance.

Summary Statistics

At the top of the page, summary cards show:

• Total Licenses — Count of all license records
• Active Licenses — Currently active agreements
• Expiring Soon — Licenses expiring within 90 days
• Compliance Breakdown — Count by status (compliant, warning, non-compliant)

License Table

Column	Description
Name	License name
Vendor	Vendor name
License Type	Counting method
Purchased	Total units purchased
Used	Units currently in use
Utilization	Usage percentage
Status	Active, Expired, Terminated, or Pending
Compliance	Compliant, Warning, or Non-Compliant
Contract End	Expiry date
Days Until Expiry	Countdown to end date

You can filter by status and vendor, and search by name, contract number, or vendor name.

License Detail View

Click any license to see its full details across multiple tabs.

Overview Tab

Displays all license information: contract details, vendor contact, maintenance level, financial data (cost center, budget code, PO number), and current compliance status with any issues listed.

Entitlements Tab

Manage which software products are covered by this license.

For each entitlement, you can see:

• Software product name(s)
• Entitled quantity vs. used quantity
• Available units remaining
• Usage percentage (color-coded)

Actions available:

• Add new entitlements (select software, set quantity, configure constraints)
• Edit existing entitlements
• Delete entitlements
• Recalculate usage from current allocations

Software Allocations Tab

View and manage all discovered software instances that relate to this license.

For each instance, you can:

• Set allocation status (allocated, not allocated, not required)
• Enter instance count (if multiple installations)
• Select exclusion reason (free version, trial, bundled, development-only, covered by other license)
• Assign to a specific entitlement (for multi-software licenses)
• Add notes

Bulk actions for efficiency:

• Allocate all selected instances
• Exclude all selected instances
• Clear selection
• Allocate all instances in a specific environment

A summary at the bottom shows total instances, allocated count, not allocated count, and not required count.

Optimization Tab

AI-powered analysis of your license usage with actionable recommendations.

Metrics displayed:

• Current utilization percentage
• Cost per used license vs. cost per purchased license
• Estimated savings from optimization

Harvesting Candidates: Software instances that have been allocated but show no activity for 90+ days. These are candidates for license reclamation — click "Harvest" to free them for reallocation.

AI Recommendations:

• Over-licensed detection — you may be paying for more than you need
• Low utilization alerts — licenses with very low usage percentage
• Harvesting opportunities — idle allocations that can be reclaimed
• Expiry warnings — upcoming renewals requiring attention

Audit Trail Tab

Complete history of every change made to the license, showing who made the change, when, what field changed, and the old and new values.

Creating a License

1. Navigate to SAM → Licenses
2. Click Add License
3. Fill in the required fields:
   • License name and optional description
   • License type (select from available types)
   • Vendor name and contact information
   • Contract details — number, start date, end date, value
4. Optionally configure:
   • Environment restrictions (production, development, test, etc.)
   • Geographic or department restrictions
   • Maximum users, devices, or cores
   • Maintenance and support details
   • Financial information (cost center, budget code, PO number)
   • Alert settings (expiry warning days, compliance threshold)
5. Click Save

Common Workflows

Mapping Software to a License

1. Open the license detail page
2. Go to the Entitlements tab
3. Click Add Entitlement
4. Select the software product(s) covered
5. Enter the entitled quantity
6. Optionally set version constraints or environment restrictions
7. Save the entitlement

Allocating Discovered Instances

1. Open the license detail page
2. Go to the Software Allocations tab
3. Review discovered software instances
4. For each instance, select the appropriate status:
   • Allocated — counts toward your license usage
   • Not Required — excluded with a reason (trial, free version, etc.)
5. Use bulk actions to quickly allocate or exclude groups of instances
6. Click Save Changes
7. Usage and compliance status update automatically

Harvesting Unused Licenses

1. Open the license detail page
2. Go to the Optimization tab
3. Review harvesting candidates (allocated but idle for 90+ days)
4. Click Harvest to reclaim idle licenses
5. Freed licenses become available for reallocation

Compliance Tracking

The system automatically calculates compliance status based on usage:

Usage Level	Compliance Status	Meaning
Below 90%	Compliant	License usage within safe limits
90% – 100%	Warning	Approaching license limit
Above 100%	Non-Compliant	Over-licensed — legal and financial risk

Configurable Alerts

Alert	Default	Description
Expiry Warning	90 days before end date	Notification when license is approaching expiry
Compliance Warning	90% usage threshold	Notification when usage approaches purchased quantity

License Types Management

Navigate to SAM → License Types to view and manage counting methods.

Pre-configured types cover the most common licensing models. You can also:

• Create custom types for vendor-specific counting methods
• Edit descriptions and configuration rules
• Deactivate types you don't use
• View which vendors commonly use each type

Best Practices

Getting Started

• Start by creating licenses for your highest-cost software agreements
• Add entitlements to map which products are covered
• Use bulk allocation to quickly assign discovered instances

Ongoing Management

• Review the optimization tab monthly for cost-saving opportunities
• Harvest idle allocations quarterly to reclaim unused licenses
• Set expiry alerts at least 90 days before renewal deadlines
• Monitor the compliance dashboard for warning and non-compliant statuses

Accuracy

• Exclude development, trial, and free versions from license counts
• Use version constraints to match entitlements to specific software versions
• Keep vendor contact information current for renewal negotiations

Related Topics

• Software Management — How software is discovered and cataloged
• Software Policies — Define permitted and prohibited software
• Active Vulnerabilities — Track vulnerabilities in licensed software