Questions About Entitlement Management in ServiceNow SAM

[Community Alums]

Hi Community,

I have a few questions regarding managing entitlements in the Software Asset Management module in ServiceNow, and I would appreciate your input:

1. If an entitlement reaches its end date and I choose to extend it:
• Do I need to create a new entitlement?
• If yes, why is this approach preferred over updating the start and end dates of the existing entitlement?
• Alternatively, is it acceptable to just modify the start and end dates of the same entitlement?
2. If I have an entitlement as "Perpetual" and plan to purchase "Software Assurance" for that entitlement:
• Can I change the license type to "Perpetual + Software Assurance" on the same entitlement?
• Or do I need to create a new entitlement?
• If creating a new entitlement is necessary, what is the reason for this preference?
3. In a software entitlement for Microsoft with a license type of "Perpetual + Software Assurance":
• Once the assurance period ends and I purchase an extension for the same entitlement, should I create a new entitlement with the license type as "Software Assurance"?
• Or is it sufficient to update the start and end dates of the existing entitlement?
• If I should create a new entitlement, can you explain why this is the preferred option?

Looking forward to your insights and recommendations!

[dreinhardt]

Hi @Community Alums ,

First of all, a brief comment in general on your question – as a general rule, every SAM-relevant document (including licenses, maintenance extensions, new subscriptions, etc) should ("or must") be recorded individually . Without these individual software entitlements, the SAM tool is not necessarily helpful in the event of an audit, because you can't use the tool to prove maintenance chains, for example, and you have to search for all the documents.
However, your SAM team should have appropriate guidelines on how and to what extent the individual entitlements are recorded.

But now to your questions:

1. It's recommended to create a new entitlement for each extension. Why, because the basic data often changed when it is renewed (new PO number, invoice number, possibly prices or quantities)

2. A new entitlement must also be created here. In the case of a maintenance extension, you usually get the right to use a product in the current version as long as the maintenance is active. As soon as the maintenance ends, the latest current version within the maintenance period is the valid one that you are allowed to use. SAM Pro takes all these license rights into account and also supports the user if only a partial extension is purchased. Software license maintenance

3. Similar the same as mentioned in 2 with license type as "Software Assurance". Please check the ServiceNow docs for more details about Microsoft maintenance entitlements in SAM Pro. Software license maintenance

Best, Dennis