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Software Asset Management

Walk into the audit
already holding
the answer.

Publisher-grade licence engines for Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, SAP, Adobe and Salesforce — with the entitlement maths, the evidence and the effective licence position computed continuously, not the week the letter arrives.

Book a demo See audit defence
  • Dedicated engines
  • Microsoft
  • Oracle
  • IBM
  • SAP
  • Adobe
  • Salesforce
licensing / effective licence position
Continuous
Publishers with dedicated engines
6 of 6 reconciled
Open exposure
1
  • Microsoft Server core + CAL
    1,712 / 1,840
    Compliant
  • Oracle Processor
    56 / 60
    Compliant
  • IBM PVU, sub-capacity
    51,200 / 48,000
    Exposure
  • SAP Named user
    2,088 / 2,400
    Compliant
  • Adobe Subscription seat
    622 / 640
    Watch
  • Salesforce User licence
    742 / 900
    Compliant
required / purchased · marker = entitlement held Illustrative interface · sample data
The problem

A generic SAM tool tells you that you have 400 installs of Oracle Database. It does not tell you which options are enabled, which cores are licensable under which core factor, or which hosts are covered down by an Enterprise Edition pool.

That gap is where the audit finding lives.

None of that is a discovery problem. It is entitlement maths, and entitlement maths can be done in advance: quietly, every day, long before anyone asks for it.

  1. The letter

    A publisher opens a licence review.

    The clock starts the moment it lands, and it reaches you forwarded by someone else, with no context and a question mark.

  2. The scramble

    Three sources, three different numbers.

    Inventory extracts, purchase records and a spreadsheet nobody has owned since 2021. Weeks of arguing about core counts before a single entitlement is matched.

  3. The submission

    You send a number you cannot fully evidence.

    Then you wait, and hope the publisher agrees with maths you were never able to check.

Inside the engine

Four hundred installs
is a number.
Fifty-six processor licences is an answer.

The same Oracle Database deployment, computed two ways. Switch the view and watch the difference between an inventory tool and a licence engine.

licensing / oracle / database enterprise edition

Deployment reconciliation

412 installs · 6 licensable hosts 412 installs detected

  • ORA-PRD-01 Oracle Linux 8 · bare metal Processor Intel Xeon Gold 6338 Cores 32 Core factor ×0.5 not modelled Options & packs Diagnostics Pack, Tuning Pack not detected Licensable 16 ?
  • ORA-PRD-02 Oracle Linux 8 · bare metal Processor Intel Xeon Gold 6338 Cores 32 Core factor ×0.5 not modelled Options & packs None detected not detected Licensable 16 ?
  • ORA-APP-04 Solaris 11 · LDOM Processor Oracle SPARC T8 Cores 32 Core factor ×0.25 not modelled Options & packs Advanced Security not detected Licensable 8 ?
  • ORA-VM-11 Oracle VM · hard partition Processor Intel Xeon Silver 4310 Cores 16 of 32 pinned Core factor ×0.5 not modelled Options & packs Partitioning not detected Licensable 8 ?
  • ORA-SE2-03 Windows Server · SE2 Processor Intel Xeon Silver 4310 Cores 16 Core factor ×0.5 not modelled Options & packs Covered down from EE pool not detected Licensable 8 cover-down ?
  • ORA-DEV-07 Oracle Linux 8 · development Processor Intel Xeon E5-2680 Cores 16 Core factor — not modelled Options & packs Excluded From Licensing · MSDN not detected Licensable 0 ?
  • Core factor table
  • Options evidence
  • Cover-down
  • Exclusions applied
  • Install count only
  • No entitlement model
Illustrative interface · sample data

Core factors are applied, not guessed. A 32-core Xeon and a 32-core SPARC do not cost the same, and the engine knows the difference.

Options and packs carry evidence. Every detection can be inspected and overridden, because the override is the conversation you will have with the publisher.

Exclusions are decisions. Development, MSDN, training and second-use devices leave the position through a workflow that records who removed them and why.

By the numbers

Depth is the whole product. These are the parts of it you can count.

publishers with dedicated engines
6 publishers with dedicated engines
documented entity types
452 documented entity types
rolling software usage window
90d rolling software usage window
inventory cycle for IBM sub-capacity
≤30min inventory cycle for IBM sub-capacity
The four pillars

Four pillars, applied to software licensing.

The same four disciplines run across every CerteroX asset class. Here is what each one means when the asset is a licence.

01 What is there

Visibility

Know what is installed, what is running, and what is merely sitting there.

7 named capabilities
  • AppsMonitor file-level metering First used · last used
  • Utilisation, rolling window 90 days
  • Lifecycle dates held per title Release · EOS · extended
Also in this pillar
  • Software Recognition Database
  • SWID tags, UNSPSC classified
  • Terminal Server and RDS usage, per device
  • Publisher and version normalisation
02 What is wasted

Optimization

Harvest what nobody uses before you buy what nobody needs.

6 named capabilities
  • Effective licence position 6 computed fields
  • Exclude From Licensing covers MSDN · dev · training · second use
  • Access Control rules RDS · Citrix · VDI
Also in this pillar
  • Overspend and additional licences
  • Downgrade and second-use rights
  • Blocked Files log, per user and device
03 What you hold

Management

Hold entitlement, contract and evidence in one place.

6 named capabilities
  • Entitlement record types, one place 6 kinds
  • Assignment types Device · processor · core
  • Publisher statement import Microsoft MLS
Also in this pillar
  • Volume, retail, OEM and FPP transactions
  • Subscription flags with expiry tracking
  • Purchase orders and invoices
04 What you can prove

Governance

Defensible, evidenced, and ready before you are asked.

6 named capabilities
  • Compliance position Continuous
  • Audit trail spans Agreements · transactions · exclusions
  • Lifecycle tracking End of life · end of support
Also in this pillar
  • Application blacklisting and prohibition rules
  • Unauthorised software prevention
  • Reporting Levels, by unit or location
Publisher dossiers

Audits are not generic.
Neither is the engine.

Six publishers get a purpose-built engine rather than a shared licence template with the publisher name changed. These four are where the maths gets hard.

Oracle Dedicated engine

Oracle, done properly

Options and packs with evidence and override, processor types and core factors, licence pools with hosting rights and geographic rules, cover-down logic for Enterprise Edition, uncapped quantity for unlimited agreements, and E-Business Suite responsibilities.

This is the level of detail an Oracle LMS engagement actually turns on.

  • Options & packs, with evidence and override
  • Processor types and core factors
  • Licence pools with hosting rights
  • Geographic rules
  • Enterprise Edition cover-down
  • Uncapped quantity for ULAs
  • E-Business Suite responsibilities
IBM Dedicated engine

IBM sub-capacity without the ILMT theatre

PVU and Virtual Processor Core metrics, an ILMT connector with compliance gap analysis, and Component Resolution that matches deployed components to products with a scored, bulk-appliable suggestion.

Plus enforcement of the 30-minute inventory cycle sub-capacity licensing actually requires.

  • PVU and Virtual Processor Core metrics
  • ILMT connector
  • Compliance gap analysis
  • Component Resolution, scored
  • Bulk apply
  • 30-minute inventory cycle
SAP Dedicated engine

SAP without touching production

A non-invasive ABAP connector reads named users de-duplicated across systems, roles, role groups, engines and authorisation definitions.

Priority-ordered Analysis Rules propose the licence type each user should hold, so you can see current, suggested and optimal positions side by side.

  • Non-invasive ABAP connector
  • Named users de-duplicated
  • Roles and role groups
  • Engines and authorisation definitions
  • Priority-ordered Analysis Rules
  • Current, suggested and optimal
Microsoft Dedicated engine

Microsoft server licensing that understands cores

Device CALs, user CALs, named user and external connectors, alongside SQL Server and Windows Server core and processor licensing with cluster and virtualisation awareness.

The hard part of Microsoft licensing is the server room, not the desktop.

  • Device CALs and user CALs
  • Named user and external connectors
  • SQL Server core and processor
  • Windows Server core licensing
  • Cluster awareness
  • Virtualisation awareness
  • Adobe and Salesforce also have dedicated engines
  • Every other publisher runs on the shared recognition and entitlement model
Integrations

Evidence comes from where it already lives.

Entitlement, deployment and usage are read from the systems that hold them, so the licence position is built from primary sources rather than a re-keyed spreadsheet.

Publisher and application sources

Entitlement, seats and usage read from the publisher itself

  • Microsoft 365
  • Microsoft Exchange
  • Oracle Database
  • IBM ILMT
  • SAP
  • Salesforce
  • Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Google Workspace

Virtualisation and hardware

Where cores, partitions and clusters are actually decided

  • VMware
  • Oracle VM
  • Citrix XenServer
  • IBM HMC

Directory and deployment

Who the user is, and what was pushed to the device

  • Active Directory
  • Microsoft SCCM

Every source above feeds the same entitlement model, so the licence position never depends on which system happened to be exported last.

See every integration
Questions

What licensing teams ask first.

How is the effective licence position actually calculated?

Continuously, not on request. For every licensable title the engine holds purchased, used, available, required, variance and exposure, with overspend and additional-licence-required computed alongside. Downgrade rights, second-use entitlement and the Exclude From Licensing workflow all feed the same maths, so the number you see is the number you would defend.

Does it understand Oracle core factors, options and packs?

Yes, and it treats them as evidence rather than assumptions. Processor types and core factors, Options and Packs with evidence and an override path, licence pools with hosting rights and geographic rules, Enterprise Edition cover-down, uncapped quantity for unlimited agreements, and E-Business Suite responsibilities.

Can it satisfy IBM sub-capacity requirements?

PVU and Virtual Processor Core metrics are native, there is an ILMT connector with compliance gap analysis, and Component Resolution matches deployed components to products with a scored, bulk-appliable suggestion. The 30-minute inventory cycle that sub-capacity licensing requires is enforced rather than assumed.

Will the SAP connector touch production?

No. It is a non-invasive ABAP connector that reads named users de-duplicated across systems, plus roles, role groups, engines and authorisation definitions. Priority-ordered Analysis Rules then propose the licence type each user should hold, so current, suggested and optimal positions sit side by side.

How do you stop development, test and MSDN devices inflating the position?

The Exclude From Licensing workflow covers MSDN, development, training and second-use devices, and Access Control rules handle RDS, Citrix and VDI streamed applications separately. Exclusions are recorded in the audit trail, so an excluded device is a decision you can show, not a number that quietly disappeared.

What counts as usage?

AppsMonitor meters software at file level with first-used and last-used tracking, and reports a % Used utilisation metric over a rolling 90-day window. Terminal Server and RDS remote usage is tracked per device, so a shared desktop does not distort the picture.

Is this only useful for the six big publishers?

Six publishers get dedicated engines because those six are where audits actually land. Everything else runs on the shared model: the Software Recognition Database with centrally maintained title categorisation, Software Identification tags with UNSPSC classification, and release, end-of-support and extended-support dates from the Software Recognition Service.

Start with the one that worries you

Name your worst publisher.

Pick one publisher (Oracle, IBM, SAP or Microsoft) and the demo is built around it. A complete effective licence position at enterprise scale, the evidence sitting behind every number, and a licensing specialist to take the hard questions on the call.

Book a demo See audit defence

A written position afterwards, including where we are not the right fit.