Software License Management

How it works

Software inventory

The software license management capabilities in KACE SMA provide a detailed software inventory for Windows, Mac, Linux and UNIX systems in your environment, including inventory of applications installed with Microsoft App-V. The inventory is then reconciled with the Application Catalog to help you keep track of software licenses amid the proliferation of versions, inconsistent naming and tracking mechanisms, and increasingly complex license structures.

Application Catalog

The application catalog contains more than 409 million software entries with information on application version and name variations, normalized publisher names, and categorization of the applications. Consequently, the KACE SMA software license management and IT asset management software can discern whether an application has been installed in standalone mode, or as part of a greater software suite, as well as distinguish between retail and OEM-purchased licenses. The KACE SMA’s integration with the application catalog enables you to accurately and reliably discover, track and manage software assets, optimize license usage and achieve compliance.

Software asset management (SAM) and usage metering

The KACE SMA software license management and IT asset management software also has a number of SAM features to help you maintain software license compliance, harvest unused or underutilized applications, and improve negotiation of volume purchases with visibility to general availability, end-of-life dates, and manufacturer’s suggested retail price information. You can define software asset groups and track the associated licenses against the number of installations. You can also track future versions of an application and monitor installed licenses even as new versions become available, at a level including provisions for upgrade/downgrade rights. This is essential for managing software license agreements. Plus, learn how much your organization can save with the KACE SMA when you track usage of software and harvest licenses by uninstalling unused software from systems, and either transferring the software and its license to different users who need them, or removing those licenses from your next vendor purchase agreement.

Software blacklisting and removal of unauthorized software

With the KACE SMA software license management capabilities you can blacklist unwanted applications, such as games or applications with known vulnerabilities, with a single click. The KACE SMA then prevents your end users from running those applications on their systems, eliminating security threats and productivity impacts posed by unauthorized software. You can also run reports to discover unauthorized applications and easily uninstall them.

Software reporting

With the KACE SMA software license management capabilities you can use the reporting wizard to create custom reports or run built-in software licensing compliance reports. Built-in or wizard-based reports can be modified, or you can create your own from scratch using SQL queries. For example, you can create a command that will pick all machines with a specific program installed in a specific office location. You can also tell the KACE SMA to send compliance reports to the necessary stakeholders on a regular basis. Reports can assist your team with software asset allocations as well as proving software licensing compliance. Reports show you how many licenses you're using vs how many you bought, as well as how much money you could save by reallocating your licenses.