--- sourceDocument: Australia Asset Management sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/it-asset-management Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia Asset Management ft:clusterId : - itam bundleId : - itam workflow : - Technology --- # Software license metrics # Software license metrics {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated March 12, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 14 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Software license metrics Software license metrics in ServiceNow are defined within software entitlements and are essential for license reconciliation across different metric groups and software models. Each metric group corresponds to specific publishers and their licensing models. Customers can view, configure, and add custom license metrics to accurately manage their software licenses. Integration with the Resource Value table enhances custom metric capabilities by aligning unit consumption with licenses required. Show full answer Show less Publisher packs for Adobe, Citrix, IBM (including Red Hat), Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, and VMware are available as add-ons to support their respective licensing models. Additionally, SaaS License Management introduces Subscription and Consumption metric groups for SaaS applications. ## Key Features * **Publisher-specific license metrics:** Each publisher pack provides tailored license metrics such as Per Device, Per User, Per Processor, Concurrent User, and more, reflecting their unique licensing requirements. * **Custom license metrics:** Customers can create custom license metrics and leverage the Resource Value table for precise consumption tracking. * **License reconciliation:** Metrics enable accurate reconciliation by calculating license usage based on active subscriptions, users, devices, processors, cores, or other relevant units. * **Integration with discovery processes:** For example, Citrix license metrics require discovery schedules to collect data from Citrix Delivery Controller and License Server. * **Support for consumption-based licenses:** SaaS License Management supports consumption metrics such as SaaS Consumption and CrowdStrike Reserved Hourly Average Sensor for subscription license models. * **Concurrent license management:** Software Asset Management Professional supports concurrent licenses with Floating, Token, and Network license types, managing license pools and peak usage. * **Unlimited software licenses:** Enables entitlements with unlimited rights and allocations for unlimited installations without true-up costs. ## Key Publisher License Metrics * **Adobe:** Metrics include Per Device, Per User, and User Subscription with detailed usage states for user allocations and subscriptions. * **Citrix:** Includes Concurrent User, Per Device, Per Processor, Per User, and Per User/Device metrics, with requirements for discovery and licensing based on user or device assignment. * **IBM (also covers Red Hat):** Offers extensive metrics such as Authorized User, Processor Value Unit (PVU), Resource Value Unit (RVU), Virtual Processor Core (VPC), Application Instance, Concurrent User, and more, supporting detailed license tracking and compliance. * **Microsoft:** Metrics like Device CAL, Per Core (including cluster-level licensing), Per User, Server-based licensing, and User Subscription are included. Note that some Per Core metrics have been deprecated and replaced. * **Oracle:** Metrics include Named User Plus, Per Processor (cores), and Employee counts, with specific notes for virtual environments and aggregation levels for VMware-based instances. * **SAP:** Supports Named User, Engine Measurement, Digital Access, and Full Usage Equivalent metrics for SAP S/4HANA Cloud and other SAP solutions. * **VMware:** Provides metrics such as Per Application Instance, Per Device, Per Named User, Per OSI (operating system instances), Per Processor (with core count considerations), and Per Core for subscription products. ## Practical Considerations for ServiceNow Customers * Install relevant publisher packs to access the corresponding license metrics aligned with your software vendors. * Use the Metric Attributes and Resource Value tables to tailor license metrics and improve reconciliation accuracy. * Leverage SaaS License Management to track subscription and consumption-based licenses effectively. * For concurrent licenses, ensure integration with tools like OpenLM and Open iT and enable necessary plugins for peak usage monitoring. * Understand the specific licensing rules and states for user allocations, subscriptions, and device usage to manage compliance confidently. * Utilize unlimited software license options when applicable to avoid true-up costs for high-volume installations. License metrics are set in software entitlements and used for reconciliation in various metric groups and software model combinations. Each metric group has a set of license metrics that are specific to the publisher. You can view the Metric Attributes related list in software models to set the attribute value. For more information, see [Software model fields](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/xI9eK2pCn3ohbMxPQdmnlw "Software Model form and related list field descriptions."). You can also add custom license metrics. For more information, see [Add a custom license metric](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/pwJxwl2inQtZ8L6sIC8Q5A "You can add a custom license metric to modify the default reconciliation process."). You can use the Resource Value \[samp_sw_resource_value\] table to enhance the custom license metric capability by doing a 1:1 calculation between the Unit consumption column in the Resource Value \[samp_sw_resource_value\] table and the Licenses required column in the License Metric Results \[samp_license_metric_result\] table. Adobe, Citrix, IBM (includes both IBM and Red Hat), Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, and VMware publisher packs are available as add-ons. They provide the capability to manage software licensed under the publisher licensing models. Installing [SaaS License Management](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ibxB~LgwXWioC8f5Nls79w "SaaS License Management tracks and controls cloud-based application subscriptions within Software Asset Management (SAM). This capability helps organizations manage subscriptions, monitor usage, and control costs across hybrid and direct SaaS models.") adds the Subscription and Consumption metric groups. You can view descriptions of your license metrics by selecting the reference ![]() icon next to the License metric field in your software entitlements. {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__table_zqx_hhf_b1b__entry__2} | Metric group | License metric | |-|-| | Adobe Note: Adobe license metrics are visible only if the Adobe publisher pack is installed. | * Per Device: Licenses a device for the number of installations of software. * Per User: Licenses a user for the number of installations of software. * User Subscription: Licenses a user for the number of activated software subscriptions. When you run a reconciliation for software models with one or more entitlements, a right is consumed for each active unique software subscription record assigned to a user. * A right is considered Allocated in use when a user has both a user allocation and a subscription record. * A right is considered Not Allocated in use when a user doesn't have a user allocation but has a subscription record. * A right is considered Allocated not in use when a user has a user allocation but doesn't have a subscription record. {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__ul_nvk_r5n_phb} If multiple rights are assigned to a user in a user allocation, then the user has the corresponding number of subscriptions for the software model. For example, a user has a user allocation with two rights but only one subscription record related to a software model. In this example, one right is considered Allocated in use and the second right is considered Allocated not in use. {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__ul_qzn_vd1_scb} | | Citrix Note: Citrix license metrics are visible only if the Citrix publisher pack is installed. A discovery process is required for Citrix data to be collected. Admin users must create a [Discovery schedule](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=t_CreateADiscoverySchedule&version=australia&pubname=australia-it-operations-management&ft:locale=en-US) to run on the Citrix Delivery Controller for communication with the Citrix License Server. See for information on the Citrix discovery pattern and tables. | * Concurrent User: Licenses the number of simultaneous users accessing the program. * Per Device: Licenses a device for the number of installations of software. * Per Processor (CPU count): Licenses processors on either a physical server or virtual machine. * Per User: Licenses a user for the number of installations of software.If you're reconciling Citrix server software through a client access record, this license metric licenses the users that are accessing the server. * Per User/Device: License a unique user or a shared device. If the license is assigned to a user, they have unlimited connections to an unlimited number of devices. If the license is assigned to a device, an unlimited number of users can connect to a single device.If you create an entitlement with the Citrix metric group and the Per User/Device license metric is specified, the license calculator checks the compliance of all related software models based on the number of distinct users and devices. If you're reconciling Citrix server software through a client access record, this license metric licenses the users and devices that are accessing the server. {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__ul_njx_xd1_scb} | | Common | * Per Core: Licenses cores on a physical server or virtual machine. CPU core count * CPU count * Per Device: Licenses a device for the number of installations of software. * Per Named Device: Licenses a specific device for the number of installations of software. Note: You must add allocations. * Per Named User: Licenses a specific user for the number of installations of software. Note: You must add allocations. * Per Processor (CPU count): Licenses processors on either a physical server or virtual machine. * Per User: Licenses a user for the number of installations of software. * User CAL: Licenses each user that accesses your server, regardless of the number of devices that each user is using to access the server. * Device CAL: Licenses each device that accesses your server, regardless of the number of users that are using each device to access the server. * User/Device CAL: Licenses each user or device that accesses your server. * Resource Consumption. Consumption-based license metric that supports CAL reconciliation. A 1:1 ratio calculation between the Unit consumption column in the Resource Value \[samp_sw_resource_value\] table and the Licenses required column in the License Metric Results \[samp_license_metric_result\] table. * Concurrent User: Licenses the number of simultaneous users accessing the program. Note: For the Concurrent User license metric, create a related record in the Resource Value \[samp_sw_resource_value\] table to identify the resource being measured. For more information, see [Create a resource value record](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/TBz0WQMzMkiiSBLiJaoCmQ "Create a resource value record for each software model for which you want to calculate licensing requirements."). {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__ul_uwx_nhf_b1b} | | Concurrent Licenses Note: Concurrent Licenses license metrics are visible only if the Software Asset Management Professional for Engineering Applications (sn_samp_eng_app) plugin is activated along with OpenLM and Open iT integration. | These licenses are based on the number of simultaneous users or devices accessing the software. * Floating: Shares and manages a pool of software among users or devices on a network. Checks out a license when a user or device requests access to the software. If there's no license left at the peak of license consumption, the user or device is denied access to the software. The number of rights consumed is based on the peak number of licenses checked out during a specified time. * Token: Shares and manages a pool of tokens among users or devices. Checks out a token or a set of tokens when a user or device requests access to the software. If there are no tokens left at the peak of license consumption, the user or device is denied access to the software. The number of rights consumed is based on the peak number of tokens checked out during a specified time. * Network: Shares and manages a pool of licenses among users or devices within a specified TCP or IP network. Checks out a license when a user or device requests access to the software. If there's no license left at the peak of license consumption, the user or device is denied access to the software. The number of rights consumed is based on the peak number of licenses checked out during a specified time. {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__ul_ohl_zcy_nnb} | | Consumption Note: Consumption license metrics are visible only if the SaaS License Management is installed. | SaaS Consumption: Licenses an organization based on the unit of measure for the software units that can be consumed. | | CrowdStrike | * Reserved Hourly Average Sensor: Counts the number of unique active endpoints per clock-hour and averages them over a rolling 28-day period. The count of Reserved Hourly Average Sensor Licenses resets at the start of each clock-hour. * Sensor Subscription: Calculates license usage by averaging endpoint counts over four consecutive weeks. Weekly endpoint counts are based on the total number of endpoints consumed in the previous seven days. {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__ul_bzc_qbd_p2c} Note: These license metrics are available with Yokohama Patch 1, Software Asset Management - SaaS License Management (sn_sam_saas_int) 15.0.8, and Software Asset Management (sn_itam_samp) 2.1.0 version onwards. If you are on any version for Yokohama below Patch 1, refer [KB1801232](https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sys_kb_id=ef634dac83935610cdbbc430feaad3d9). | | IBM Note: IBM license metrics are visible only if the IBM publisher pack is installed. | * Authorized User: Licenses each user who is granted access to an IBM software product. * Authorized User Value Unit: Licenses the number of select users who are granted access to an IBM software product. * Employee User Value Unit: Licenses the total number of users within your organization who are granted access to an IBM software product. * External User Value Unit: Licenses the total number of users outside your organization who are granted access to an IBM software product. * Per Device: Licenses a device for the number of installations of software. * Per Named User: Licenses a specific user for the number of installations of software. * Per Processor (CPU count): Licenses processors on either a physical server or virtual machine. * Per User: Licenses a user for the number of installations of software. * Processor Value Unit (PVU): Licensing is based on the processor technology and the number of processors that are made available to the program. Full capacity PVU entitlements require licenses for all activated processor cores in the physical hardware environment. Subcapacity PVU entitlements require licenses for less than the full capacity of your server or group of servers. * Resource Value Unit (RVU): Licensing is based on the number of activated processor cores used or managed by a product. Full capacity RVU entitlements require licenses for all activated processor cores in the physical hardware environment. Subcapacity RVU entitlements require licenses for less than the full capacity of your server or group of servers. * Virtual Processor Core (VPC): Licenses the number of virtual CPUs (vCPUs) that are available to or managed by a product. Note: This license metric is available only if you request and install the IBM License Compliance for Software Asset Management application from the ServiceNow Store. {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__ul_tyv_jjd_fbb} Note: The following license metrics are available from Australia Patch 6 onwards. For each license metric in the following list that you select on a software entitlement, create a related record in the Resource Value \[samp_sw_resource_value\] table to identify the resource being measured. For more information, see [Create a resource value record](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/TBz0WQMzMkiiSBLiJaoCmQ "Create a resource value record for each software model for which you want to calculate licensing requirements."). * Application Instance: Licenses each running instance of an IBM software product deployed on a server, container, or virtual environment. * Concurrent User: Licenses the number of simultaneous users accessing an IBM software product. * Connection: Licenses each connection or link between an IBM software product and a database, application, or device. * Events Per Second: Licenses the average number of security events processed per second by an IBM software product. * Floating User: Licenses each user accessing an IBM software product at any given moment. A separate entitlement is required for each installation accessed simultaneously by the same user. * Flows Per Minute: Licenses the average number of network flow records processed per minute by an IBM software product. * Managed Client Device: Licenses each client device whose configuration, security, or lifecycle is managed by an IBM software product. * Managed Device: Licenses each computing or network device whose configuration, state, security posture, or lifecycle is managed or monitored by an IBM software product. * Managed Virtual Server: Licenses each virtual server, or unpartitioned physical server, that is managed or monitored by an IBM software product. * Order Lines: Licenses each order line processed by an IBM software product. Sales and quote order lines are included; return and shipment lines are excluded. * Resource Value Unit - Decimal Petabyte Managed: Licensing is based on the number of decimal petabytes (10^15^ bytes) managed by an IBM software product, calculated using a tiered rate. * Storage Device: Licenses each independently powered, channel-attached storage device that runs, accesses, or is managed by an IBM software product. * Terabyte: Licenses each terabyte of data available to or managed by an IBM software product. The measurement basis is defined by the applicable License Information document. * Token: Licenses access to an IBM software product from a shared pool of tokens. Each installation consumes a predefined number of tokens per user session, and simultaneous consumption across users and installations must not exceed the licensed pool. {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__ul_c51_1yb_ckc} | | Microsoft Note: Microsoft license metrics are visible only if the Microsoft publisher pack is installed. | * Device CAL: Licenses the number of device client access licenses to server software. * Per Core: Licenses the cores on both the physical server and the virtual cores that support virtual machines and presents a cost-efficient model based on the number of rights used. For information on Per Core for Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise edition with Software Assurance, see [Create entitlements for Microsoft Software Assurance in Software Asset Management classic](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/OenZcNtHQmj10QYgGWzwgg "Define license details for Microsoft Software Assurance (SA) to manage your contracts start and end dates, software upgrades, and related software entitlements."). Note: Per Core (Physical Core) and Per Core (Virtual OSE) metrics is deprecated from the New York release. Any existing entitlements using Per Core (Physical Core) and Per Core (Virtual OSE) metrics are replaced with Per Core. You may see a change in your reconciliation results. * Per Core (with CAL): Licenses physical servers. The number of licenses depends on the number of installs and Operating System Environments (OSEs).Per Core (with CAL) licenses at the cluster level only when the physical server is an ESX Server and is a part of a cluster. This license metric uses all processors on every ESX Server within a cluster to determine the total number of cores or processors that must be licensed on the cluster. Note: If vMotion or DRS is enabled on a cluster, any virtual machine can move to any ESX Server within that cluster. The peak capacity of the cores on all the ESX Servers is considered for the rights needed to license the cluster. * Per Device: Licenses a device for the number of installations of software. * Per Processor: Licenses a set number of processors on a physical server. * Per User: Licenses a user for the number of installations of software. * Server (Per Instance): Licenses a set number of software installations on either a physical server or virtual machine. * Server (Per Server): Licenses all software installations on a physical server and any virtual machines hosted by the physical server. * User CAL: Licenses the number of user client access licenses to server software. * User Subscription: Licenses a user for the number of activated software subscriptions. When reconciliation is run for a software model that has one or more entitlements with the User Subscription license metric, one right is consumed for each active unique software subscription record assigned to a user. {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__ul_bng_4hf_b1b} | | Oracle Note: Oracle license metrics are visible only if the Oracle publisher pack is installed. | * Named User Plus: Licenses the physical host.If you are reconciling Oracle server software, such as Oracle Database Server or Oracle WebLogic Server, through a client access record, this license metric licenses the users that are accessing the server. * Per Processor: Licenses the number of cores on a processor. Note: For the Oracle Per Processor license metric, enable Hyper-Threading if you're using a virtual machine (VM) running Amazon Web Services (AWS). * Employee: Licenses the total number of full-time, part-time, and temporary employees, including those employed directly and indirectly through agents, contractors, and consultants according to Oracle's definition of internal business operations. Note: The number of licenses required is determined by the total number of employees and not the number of employees using Oracle Java SE Universal. {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__ul_gss_4hf_b1b} Note: You can select the level of aggregation for the reconciliation calculation of VMware -based Oracle instances using the com.snc.samp.oracle.reconlevel property. See [Software Asset Management properties](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/J7WJ6bTTJaVCokIsa3QO0Q "You can set default reconciliation properties such as grouping and reconciliation debugging."). | | Red Hat Note: Red Hat license metrics are visible only if the IBM publisher pack is installed. | * Per Socket-pair: Licenses the number of socket pairs on the physical host or the number of virtual machine (VM) pairs running a Red Hat Enterprise Linux server on a physical host. * Per Core: Licenses the cores on both the virtual cores that support virtual machines and the physical server. It also presents a cost-efficient model based on the number of rights used. {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__ul_ct5_vbf_czb} | | SAP Note: SAP license metrics are visible only if the SAP publisher pack is installed. | * Named User: Licenses the number of named users that can be assigned a Named User Type. The Named User Type is defined by the software model linked to the entitlement. * Engine Measurement: Licenses the amount of engine usage. * Digital Access: Licenses the indirect usage of SAP applications through a third-party application or a non-SAP intermediary software by the count of documents created by the third-party application. * Full Usage Equivalent (FUE): Licenses the number of users that are authorized to access specified solution capabilities of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition. {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__ul_rvh_zg2_llb} | | Subscription Note: Subscription license metrics are visible only if the SaaS License Management is installed. | User Subscription: Licenses for the number of users. | | VMware Note: VMware license metrics are visible only if the VMware publisher pack is installed. | * Per Application Instance: Licenses the number of application instances. Applies to VMware products: vCenter Server software. * Per Device: Licenses a device for the number of installations of software.Applies to the VMware suite of products: Horizon FLEX, ThinApp, ThinApp Virtualization Packager, and Mirage Windows Migration. * Per Named User: Licenses a specific user for the number of installations of software.Applies to VMware named users: Horizon Advanced, Horizon Enterprise, Horizon Suite, Mirage, Horizon Socialcast on Premise, Workspace (Portal), Workspace Suite, Horizon Air, Horizon Air Desktop DR, ThinApp, ThinApp Virtualization Packager, vRealize Operations for Horizon, User Environment Manager, vRealize Business. * Per OSI: Licenses the operating system (OS) that is running on a virtual machine (VM) or physical host. Applies to the VMware suite of products: vRealize Operations, vRealize Log Insight, vRealize Automation, vRealize Business for Cloud, and vRealize Code Stream. * Per Processor: Licenses the processors (CPUs) on a physical host. Each CPU requires one right for every 32 cores. A Maximum cores per processor metric attribute with a default value of 32 is automatically created on software models for VMware per processor entitlements. This metric attribute is used during reconciliation to determine license compliance. Applies to VMware suite products: vSphere, vSphere with Operations Management. * Per Core: Licenses the processor cores on a physical host. A minimum of 16 cores must be licensed per processor.Applies to subscription-based VMware suite products: VMware vSphere Standard (VVS) and VMware vSphere Essentials Plus (VVEP) | [Table 1. License metrics] {#c_SAMLicenseMetrics__table_zqx_hhf_b1b} * **[Unlimited software licenses](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/jY9kjKFb7klvkj5tHHUY8A)** Unlimited software licenses help you to create entitlements with unlimited allocations and unlimited rights, allowing you to license any number of software installations with no true-up cost.