Impact of different license types on software reconciliation

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  • Updated April 22, 2025
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    Summary of Impact of Different License Types on Software Reconciliation

    This document outlines how different software license types affect the Software Asset Management (SAM) reconciliation process. Each license type comes with specific entitlements and conditions that can significantly influence compliance and software management practices.

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    Key Features

    • Perpetual: One-time purchase allowing indefinite software use without ongoing payments but lacks maintenance rights unless associated with maintenance entitlements.
    • Perpetual + Software Assurance: Includes benefits like new version rights and unlimited virtualization, enabling flexibility in deployment and upgrades.
    • Subscription: License compliance is driven by user subscriptions, applicable to both subscription and non-subscription products with Software Assurance benefits.
    • Perpetual + Maintenance: Similar to the previous type but specifically provides access to software updates and support for a defined period.
    • Upgrade: Allows transitioning from lower to higher-tier editions without a full license purchase, with entitlements linked through the Software Entitlement form.
    • Software Assurance: Provides benefits linked to a base perpetual license, crucial for accurate reconciliation in Microsoft SAM.
    • Maintenance: Offers benefits for non-Microsoft products, also requiring linkage to a base perpetual license for reconciliation.
    • Step-up and Subscription Step-up: Options for upgrading lower-tier editions to higher ones within the same license framework, essential for maximizing software utility.

    Key Outcomes

    Understanding the impact of these license types is vital for effective SAM reconciliation. Proper linkage of maintenance and Software Assurance entitlements to perpetual licenses ensures compliance and maximizes the use of software benefits. This knowledge enables ServiceNow customers to optimize their asset management strategies and ensure that their software licenses are effectively utilized and reconciled.

    Each license type has entitlements and conditions outlined on the entitlement form, and more importantly, these license types have a significant impact on the Software Asset Management (SAM) reconciliation process.

    Table 1. License types and their impact on software reconciliation
    License type Description Publisher applicability Impact on licensing or reconciliation in SAM
    Perpetual A one-time purchase license that enables indefinite use of the software without any ongoing or recurring payments. All This license grants indefinite use but doesn’t include maintenance rights, so benefits such as new version access, version upgrades, Bring your own license (BYOL) benefits, and technical support from the software publisher aren’t available. To receive maintenance/SA benefits, you must associate maintenance/SA entitlements with the Perpetual license.
    Perpetual + Software Assurance A perpetual license combined with Software Assurance (SA) from Microsoft offers a comprehensive Volume Licensing program with these benefits:
    • New version rights: Upgrade eligible Microsoft product licenses to the latest version at no additional cost.
    • License mobility: Deploy certain server applications on-premises or in the cloud without additional licenses.
    • Unlimited virtualization: License the physical host for products such as Windows Server Datacenter Edition, enabling an unlimited number of virtual machines.
    • Virtual layer licensing: License individual virtual machines, reducing overall licensing costs.
    		 Microsoft Software Asset Management automatically applies the Software Assurance benefits. For more information, see Software license maintenance.
    Subscription For subscription-based products like Jira, Microsoft 365, and Adobe Creative Cloud, as well as non-subscription products using subscription licenses, such as Windows and SQL Server. All (subscription products) License compliance is primarily driven by user subscriptions pulled from the subscription portal, such as Jira and Microsoft 365. It also applies to non-subscription products like Windows Server and SQL Server, which can receive Software Assurance benefits.
    Perpetual + Maintenance Perpetual + Maintenance is similar to Perpetual + Software Assurance, but it includes a maintenance agreement that provides access to software updates, patches, and sometimes support for a specified duration. This license type applies to non-Microsoft publishers such as Oracle and VMware. All Software Asset Management automatically applies the Software maintenance benefits. For more information, see Software license maintenance.
    Upgrade A licensing option that enables upgrading from a lower-tier edition to a higher-tier edition, such as Standard to Enterprise, without purchasing a new full license. All You can upgrade a lower edition of software, such as SQL Server Standard, to a higher edition, such as SQL Server Enterprise. Use the Upgraded Entitlements tab in the Software Entitlement form to link related versions of your software under active maintenance and your upgrades. For more information, see Software entitlement fields.
    Software Assurance Software assurance entitlement that provides Microsoft customers with software assurance benefits. However, it must be linked to a base perpetual license to activate the entitlements. Microsoft Software Asset Management doesn’t reconcile software assurance entitlements unless they’re linked to base perpetual licenses. Confirm that software assurance entitlements are related to base perpetual entitlements for correct reconciliation.
    Maintenance Maintenance entitlement that provides benefits to non-Microsoft customers. However, it must be linked to a base perpetual license to activate the entitlements. All Software Asset Management doesn’t reconcile only maintenance entitlement unless they’re linked to base perpetual licenses. Therefore, make sure to relate the maintenance entitlement to base perpetual entitlements for correct reconciliation.
    Step-up A licensing option that enables upgrading from a lower-tier edition of a product to a higher-tier edition, such as Standard to Enterprise,without needing to purchase a full new license. All If you're covered under Microsoft Software Assurance, you can upgrade a lower edition of software, such as SQL Server Standard, to a higher edition, like SQL Server Enterprise. Use the Upgraded Entitlements tab in the Software Entitlement form to link related versions of your software under active maintenance and your upgrades. For more information, see Software entitlement fields.
    Subscription Step-up Similar to a step-up license, this license type applies to subscription-based licenses, enabling upgrades to higher-tier editions within the subscription term. All (subscription products) Same as step-up licenses, but for subscription software only.