Software License Dimension

IT Asset Management (Cloud)

As part of the Consumption analysis, the Software license dimension allows you to drill down to an individual license for a specific product, as part of analyzing license consumption throughout your enterprise.

The Software license dimension expands into a four-level hierarchy that gives you access to (in order):
  • Publisher
  • License Type
  • Product Name
  • License Name.
Table 1. Attributes for the Software license dimension, Publisher level
Attribute Notes
Publisher

The name of the company that publishes this application (and product).

Related management view: For each application, the publisher is linked through the General tab of the application properties. However, the publisher must exist first for linking, and these records are maintained in the All Vendors page (Procurement > Purchases & Vendors > All Vendors). The publisher cited in each license is widely available in license listings, such as the All Licenses page (Licenses > License Management > All Licenses).

Table 2. Attributes for the Software license dimension, License type level
Attribute Notes
License type

The type of each license (as defined in IT Asset Management). Used here as a grouping mechanism, so that you must first choose the license type to drill down any further.

Related management view: For each license, the License type appears in the Identification tab of the license properties. License type is also widely available in license listings, such as the All Licenses page (Licenses > License Management > All Licenses).

Table 3. Attributes for the Software license dimension, Product name level
Attribute Notes
Product

The common name for a family of applications, independent of version or edition details. This must be unique for any given publisher.

Related management view: For each license, the Product name is displayed in the Applications tab of the license properties (and you can link other applications there, each of which displays its own Product value). Keep in mind, too, that a license may be linked to applications from more than one product. The Product name is widely available in license listings, such as the All Licenses page (Licenses > License Management > All Licenses) (although sometimes you must add it to the listing from the column chooser).

Table 4. Attributes for the Software license dimension, License name level (alphabetical listing)
Attributes Notes
Compliance status

Indicates whether or not use of software under this license complies with the license terms and conditions (and some related values).

Related management view: For individual licenses, the Compliance status value is displayed in the Compliance tab of the license properties. The Compliance status column is widely available in license listings, such as the All Licenses page (Licenses > License Management > All Licenses).

Duration
The localized form of the possible license duration values, for which the English defaults are:
  • Perpetual (a license that is not time-limited)
  • Subscription (a license that must be renewed by regular payments, usually annually)
  • Time limited (a license that will expire, and typically cannot be renewed, such as a time-limited evaluation license).

Related management view: For individual licenses, the Duration value is displayed in the Identification tab of the license properties. The Duration column is widely available in license listings, such as the All Licenses page (Licenses > License Management > All Licenses) (although sometimes you must add it to the listing from the column chooser).

Estimated unit price

An approximate cost for a single entitlement purchased for this license. If the Override unit price has been set on the Purchases tab of the license properties, this is the value used. Otherwise, the unit price (Total price divided by Effective quantity) is taken from the most recent purchase linked to the license.

Related management view: For an individual purchase, the unit price is listed in the Financial tab of the purchase properties, as Quantity X at unit price:. The Unit price (currency) column is widely available in listings of purchases (although you sometimes you must add it to the listing from the column chooser).

Expiry date

For subscription (or other time-limited) licenses, this is the date when the current license expires. Any value is ignored when SoftwareLicenseDurationID = 3 (that is, for a perpetual license.) A null value in this field also means that the license is perpetual, since it does not have an expiry date.

Related management view: For individual licenses, the Expiry date value is displayed in the Identification tab of the license properties. The Expiry date column is widely available in license listings, such as the All Licenses page (Licenses > License Management > All Licenses) (although sometimes you must add it to the listing from the column chooser).

Grants downgrade right
A Boolean that indicates whether this license offers downgrade rights.
Tip: There is no corresponding reporting on the upgrade right. This is because when the upgrade right is available, IT Asset Management automatically updates the primary application on the license to the most recent version. This means, in effect, that every license with the upgrade right has already been upgraded to the max.

Related management view: For license types that support downgrade rights, there is a Downgrade rights section in the Use rights & rules tab of the license properties that gives details. There is no equivalent of this Boolean in management views within IT Asset Management.

Grants rights on VMs and hosts

A Boolean that indicates whether the license provides specific rights for virtual machines or their hosts.

Related management view: For individual licenses, when the Use rights & rules tab includes a section on Right of second use, the setting No special virtualization rights sets this Boolean to 0 (false). The remaining three settings on that section set this Boolean to 1 (true).

Grants second use right

A Boolean that indicates whether this license offers second use rights. Only supported for license types where License type supports second use right is 1 (true).

Related management view: For license types that support second use rights, there is a Right of second use section in the Use rights & rules tab of the license properties that gives details. There is no equivalent of this Boolean in management views within IT Asset Management.

License

The full name of this license.

Related management view: For each license, the Name is displayed (end editable) in the Identification tab of license properties. The Name is displayed in every license listing, such as the All Licenses page (Licenses > License Management > All Licenses).

License edition

The edition of this license. While this is strictly an attribute of the license, a common convention is to allow automatic updating to reflect the edition of the latest application version linked to the license.

Related management view: For each license, the Edition is displayed (end editable) in the Identification tab of the license properties. The Edition is widely available in license listings, such as the All Licenses page (Licenses > License Management > All Licenses) (although sometimes you must add it to the listing from the column chooser).

License status
Where this license was (at snapshot time) in the license life-cycle: whether Purchased, Received, In stock, Active, or Retired.
Tip: Do not confuse this value with Compliance status.

Related management view: For each license, there is a Status drop-down list available in the Identification tab of the license properties. The Status column is widely available in license listings, such as the All Licenses page (Licenses > License Management > All Licenses) (although sometimes you must add it to the listing from the column chooser).

License type supports second use right

A Boolean that indicates whether the current license type is capable of supporting the right of second use.

Related management view: For individual licenses, the Use rights & rules tab includes a section on Right of second use when this value is true, and otherwise omits the section entirely. There is no equivalent available in management views.

License version

The version of this license. Note that this version number applies strictly to the license, and so may have been used in custom ways in your enterprise; but a common convention is to make the license version reflect the version of the application initially licensed here (although these versions may change through upgrade and downgrade rights). Another convention is to allow automatic updating to reflect the latest application version linked to the license.

Related management view: For each license, the Version is displayed (end editable) in the Identification tab of the license properties. The Version is widely available in license listings, such as the All Licenses page (Licenses > License Management > All Licenses) (although sometimes you must add it to the listing from the column chooser).

Subject to true-up

A Boolean that indicates whether this is a true up license. A true up license will not be displayed as At risk, with any over-consumption in a period being adjusted through the regular (usually annual) true up process.

Related management view: For each license, there is a Subject to true up check box available in the Identification tab of the license properties. The Subject to true up column is widely available in license listings, such as the All Licenses page (Licenses > License Management > All Licenses) (although sometimes you must add it to the listing from the column chooser).

IT Asset Management (Cloud)

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