--- sourceDocument: Australia Asset Management sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/it-asset-management Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia Asset Management ft:clusterId : - itam bundleId : - itam workflow : - Technology --- # Cost-based licensing optimization for Microsoft # Cost-based licensing optimization for Microsoft {#ariaid-title1} * Release version: Australia * * Updated March 12, 2026 * * ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 6 minutes to read The cost-based licensing optimization for Microsoft helps you determine the most optimal way to license your Microsoft software products across hybrid infrastructures. With this optimization, you can automatically balance license compliance with cost effectiveness to maximize cost savings. Note: This licensing optimization is automatically included in the Software Asset Management Professional (com.snc.samp) plugin, meaning that you do not have to optimize and manage allocations for your Microsoft software rights manually. However, you can choose to manage your allocations manually if the recommended licensing optimizations do not follow your organization's licensing strategy. See [Allocation Management on ServiecNow SAM Pro](https://www.servicenow.com/community/sam-blog/allocation-management-on-servicenow-sam-pro/ba-p/2649232) for more details on manual allocation management. Note: You can bypass this licensing optimization in your hypervisor clusters by applying preferred licensing assignments to the Microsoft software products that are deployed on those clusters. For more information on preferred licensing assignments, see [Create preferred licensing assignments for Microsoft software products deployed on clusters](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/FvMAxXPP_2GJv~s9Sdt11Q "Create and define preferred licensing assignments for the Microsoft software products that are deployed on your hypervisor clusters. Use these assignments to specify whether you want to license each software product at either the physical host layer or virtual layer."). This licensing optimization is supported by the following Microsoft license types: * Per core licenses for Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft BizTalk Server * Per core (with CAL) licenses for Microsoft Windows Server, Microsoft Core Infrastructure Server, and Microsoft System Center {#cost-based-microsoft-cluster-licensing__ul_srq_44v_xxb}See [Supported Microsoft license types](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/WU84Gmvdvu15wn7k2Wtt7g "The Software Asset Management publisher pack for Microsoft adds license metrics that are specific to Microsoft.") for more information on per core and per core (with CAL) licenses. ## Licensing optimization benefits {#cost-based-microsoft-cluster-licensing__section_aqm_gs5_zbc} This licensing optimization provides the following benefits: * Helps you determine the cost savings that you have already achieved through your current software entitlement and infrastructure setup. * Helps you determine if you can achieve further cost savings by following recommended licensing optimizations. * Helps you gain insight into each of the recommended licensing optimizations so that you can understand the reasoning behind them and determine if you want to follow or ignore them. {#cost-based-microsoft-cluster-licensing__ul_ewy_n1v_zbc} ## Licensing optimization for Microsoft Server products deployed on Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization technology {#cost-based-microsoft-cluster-licensing__section_uyd_xkc_4fc} For Microsoft Windows Server Standard deployments on Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization technology, the Software Asset Management application supports a specialized licensing optimization that can help you achieve better cost efficiency. With this licensing optimization, the Software Asset Management application first licenses the physical hosts that contain Microsoft Windows Server Standard installations. It then licenses the individual VMs that contain Microsoft Windows Server Standard installations. This optimization strategy combines licensing at both the physical host layer and virtual layer, which can help reduce licensing requirements and costs. ## Understanding your licensing optimizations {#cost-based-microsoft-cluster-licensing__section_qmz_qx3_zbc} You can view and gain insight into your recommended licensing optimizations by using the following tables and views: * To view in-depth details about each of your recommended licensing optimizations, including the recommended license type and recommend license consumption layer, use the Microsoft Core License Optimization Reports \[samp_ms_optimization_report\] table. See [View realized and potential cost-based licensing optimizations for Microsoft](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/O1O5wrsAwWUa3HNm~S39rA "View the realized and potential cost-based licensing optimizations for your Microsoft software products. Gain an in-depth understanding of each licensing optimization so that you can maximize cost savings across your Microsoft deployments.") for more details on this table. * To view all recommended licensing optimizations for a specific Microsoft cluster, use the SAM Cluster 360ยบ view. See [Understanding your cluster infrastructure](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/f4meKCZwm5rUyiIsGCKc7g "Get a holistic and strategic analysis of all the entities in your clusters in one view on the Software Asset Management application.") for more information on this view. * To view the potential cost savings that you can achieve through your recommended licensing optimizations, use the On-Premises potential savings by optimizing licenses report in the Optimization and savings dashboard of the Software Asset Workspace. See [Optimization and savings dashboard in workspace](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/kWLL5O_AyPQR6YllHn79yA "Use the Optimization and savings dashboard to view actual and potential cost savings for your software assets. In addition, view the recommended licensing optimizations for third-party software publishers, including Microsoft, Red Hat, Adobe, and SAP. Use this information to downgrade or reclaim licenses so that you can optimize your licensing costs.") for more information on the dashboard. See [Publisher optimizations for Microsoft](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/AOWR6KO4MQpJvT16occJLg "View licensing optimizations for Microsoft by selecting Microsoft from the Publisher drop-down list.") for more information on the report. * To view the actual cost savings that you have already achieved through your current software entitlement and infrastructure setup, use the On-Premise optimization realized savings report in the Optimization and savings dashboard of the Software Asset Workspace. See [Optimization and savings dashboard in workspace](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/kWLL5O_AyPQR6YllHn79yA "Use the Optimization and savings dashboard to view actual and potential cost savings for your software assets. In addition, view the recommended licensing optimizations for third-party software publishers, including Microsoft, Red Hat, Adobe, and SAP. Use this information to downgrade or reclaim licenses so that you can optimize your licensing costs.") for more information on the dashboard. See [Publisher optimizations for Microsoft](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/AOWR6KO4MQpJvT16occJLg "View licensing optimizations for Microsoft by selecting Microsoft from the Publisher drop-down list.") for more information on the report. {#cost-based-microsoft-cluster-licensing__ul_dbz_f2j_zbc} * **[Microsoft cost-based licensing optimization example](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/RXBP8jBqWq8gu21NxPq73w)** This example demonstrates how a software asset manager can optimize Microsoft SQL Server licensing in a cluster deployment. * **[View realized and potential cost-based licensing optimizations for Microsoft](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/O1O5wrsAwWUa3HNm~S39rA)** View the realized and potential cost-based licensing optimizations for your Microsoft software products. Gain an in-depth understanding of each licensing optimization so that you can maximize cost savings across your Microsoft deployments.