IBM Announces New Requirement for Effective License Positions: IBM Passport Advantage Customers Impacted
As an IBM Passport Advantage customer, maintaining compliance with your IBM software license agreements is paramount. Recently, IBM announced a new requirement for Effective License Positions (ELP), which means that all Passport Advantage customers must regularly create an ELP to demonstrate compliance with their license agreements. IBM has implemented this new rule to ensure that all organizations fully comply with their IBM software license agreements.
Having a Good Software Management Practice Is Crucial
Creating an ELP can be complex and time-consuming, particularly if you’re already struggling to keep up with the maintenance and reporting requirements of the Inventory License Metric Tool (ILMT). That’s why having a good Software Asset Management (SAM) practice is crucial, including having ILMT up and running.
SAM is a critical business practice that involves managing and optimizing an organization’s purchase, deployment, maintenance, utilization, and disposal of software applications. The primary goal of SAM is to help organizations manage and control their software assets and ensure that they are in compliance with their software license agreements.
A comprehensive SAM practice includes a variety of processes and procedures, including software inventory management, software usage monitoring, license compliance reporting, and license optimization. A well-structured SAM practice can help organizations avoid costly software compliance violations, eliminate unnecessary software expenses, and improve their overall software asset management efficiency.
Perform a Comprehensive Software Inventory
The first step in establishing a good SAM practice is to perform a comprehensive software inventory. This means identifying all software applications and their usage within the organization, including vendor, version, and license type. A detailed software inventory can help organizations identify redundant or underutilized software applications and optimize their software licensing accordingly.
Implement a Software Usage Monitoring Solution
Once an organization has a comprehensive software inventory, the next step is to implement a software usage monitoring solution like the Inventory License Metric Tool (ILMT). ILMT is a software tool that helps organizations monitor and report software usage, which is critical for license compliance.
ILMT is specifically designed for organizations that use sub-capacity licensing for IBM software applications. Sub-capacity licensing means that the license cost is based on the number of processors the software application uses rather than the total number of processors available on the machine. ILMT tracks and reports the usage of each processor core, providing real-time data that helps organizations ensure compliance with their IBM software license agreements.
The challenge with ILMT requires regular maintenance and reporting to ensure it’s up-to-date and accurately reflects the organization’s software usage. This can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, particularly for organizations with large and complex software environments.
However, not having ILMT in place can result in significant compliance risks and costs. Organizations can violate their IBM software license agreements without accurate data on software usage, resulting in costly fines, penalties, and legal fees. Additionally, organizations may be paying for unnecessary software licenses, wasting resources and unnecessary expenses.
Comprehensive SAM Practice Must Include ILMT
Implementing a comprehensive SAM practice that includes ILMT is critical for organizations that want to ensure compliance with their IBM software license agreements. A well-structured SAM practice can help organizations avoid compliance risks and unnecessary expenses, improve their software asset management efficiency, and fully comply with license agreements.
SAM will also assist in making informed decisions about software licensing. It’s essential to be familiar with IBM’s various licensing models, each with its benefits and drawbacks. For instance, the Authorized User model provides access to specific users, while the Concurrent User model limits the number of users who can use the software simultaneously. On the other hand, the Processor Value Unit (PVU) model is based on the processing power of the cores, while the Resource Value Unit (RVU) model measures resources such as CPUs, memory, and storage.
Choose the Right License Metric for Your Organization
Choosing the right license metric for your organization’s needs is crucial to avoid incurring unnecessary costs. Remember that different products may offer different license metrics, so carefully evaluate which best suits your needs. And remember to review your license metric regularly, especially at renewal time, to ensure it meets your requirements. Doing so can optimize your licensing costs and avoid any compliance issues arising from improper licensing.
IBM’s new requirement for regular ELPs ensures that all organizations fully comply with their software license agreements. To meet this requirement, organizations need to have a well-structured SAM practice in place that includes ILMT. Implementing a comprehensive SAM practice can help organizations avoid compliance risks and unnecessary expenses, improve their software asset management efficiency, and fully comply with their software license agreements.
Implement a Comprehensive Software Asset Management Practice
Implementing a comprehensive software asset management practice is crucial to meeting IBM’s new requirement for regular ELPs and ensuring long-term success and cost-efficiency for any organization.
A well-structured SAM practice with an efficient tool like ILMT can help organizations stay compliant, reduce the risk of audits, and prevent costly penalties. It can also help organizations optimize software usage, reduce unnecessary expenses, and improve overall software asset management efficiency.
Let Us Help You Prioritize SAM and Demonstrate Compliance with Your License Agreements (IBM)
Organizations must prioritize SAM and make it an integral part of their operations to ensure they stay on the right side of licensing agreements with IBM and avoid potential financial and legal consequences. With the right approach and tools, SAM can become a powerful tool that enables organizations to take control of their software assets and achieve long-term success. Need assistance with this? We can help. Click here to learn more.
