SAM Pro: How license type and license metric affect Reconciliation calculations

[Michal Sadowski]

Hi SAM Pro Superstars,

No easy questions for you today, but let's give them a try.

We've started adding software entitlements for end user device software for a client implementing SAM Pro. Reconciliation results are completely unpredictable for anyone who works with this data 🙂

1. Is there any document that makes it clear how License type, License metric and Agreement type on Software entitlement interact with Reconciliation? Docs? NowCreate? NowLearning? Anything?

2. Is there a way to reverse engineer the rules that are in place in OOTB SAM Pro for reconciliation? Script includes and other technical artifacts seem to be Protected...

3. When I enter the entitlement as Perpetual or Perpetual + Maintenance, my installs seem to be licensed. When I enter the entitlement as Maintenance, even if today falls withing Start and End date, installs are unlicensed. Why?

4. How does License metric (Per Device vs Per User vs Per Named User) affect reconciliation? Which location is taken into account for grouping? Is it always the location of the CI? 

5. If I have 6829 installs for a location (DE) that matches the entitlement location (DE), why do I have over 13K licenses required in License Metric Results for this grouping?

See below shifting outcomes for different combinations of License type + License metric for Snagit 2018 by Techsmith, reconciled using OOTB Country group. 

We're trying to provide some guidance to business users who will be entering entitlements into SAM Pro to be able to map from their business records (invoices, contracts, agreements) to SAM Pro definitions.

[Annie7]

Thanks a lot

[HesterR63]

RE: "as you renew the maintenance for the originating perpetual entitlement, you'll only need to create maintenance entitlement records and it will keep the perpetual rights current."

How does this work? Does SAMPro intuitively know that a maintenance renewal for a specific product applies to the original perpetual + mainetence, with no additional linking, config, etc? In past SAMPro iterations, a relationship had to be created between the original P+M, and the SA renewal. I just came out of a training that instructed us to just update the End Date field on that original P+M purchase. That does not feel right. 

9/20/2024 8:49"

[dreinhardt]

Hi @HesterR63,

it's both, SAMP is able to map maintenance use rights without any active link between the base license and the maintenance, but it's recommend to link both items - in SAMP it's called "Related Entitlements". Please check the SN docs about the whole process - Create maintenance entitlements in workspace (servicenow.com) (Section 6.c.)  

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@HesterR63 wrote:
 I just came out of a training that instructed us to just update the End Date field on that original P+M purchase. That does not feel right. 

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Your feeling is correct that this statement is wrong and that you cannot simply adjust the end date value of an existing P+SA. Each maintenance extension is a new entitlement.

Best, Dennis

[Community Alums]

Hello @Annie7 ,

No you dont have to, If you create an entitlement with "Prepetual +Maintainance" your installs will to be licensed. 

Thanks,

Subham

[1__ElieB]

Simply put, out of 8 license types, not all of them are considered "BASE licenses".  A Base license is considered your original quantity purchased.  If you only enter Maintenance or Software Assurance entitlements, their quantities won't show as Licenses Owned because the software lifecycle assumes an original request passing through the catalog and that you purchased an original license initially...  Only these license types are considered base licenses:

Perpetual

Perpetual + Software Assurance

Subscription

Perpetual + Maintenance

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