Ask IBM License Experts
The more things change the more they stay the same with IBM licensing. Although there are new metrics for cloud licensing and new detailed rules to follow, you’re most likely to be caught out of compliance by IBM for improper sub-capacity licensing, according to Koen Dingjan, who has been helping enterprises license IBM for nearly 10 years.
Koen, along with IBM’s own Antonio Gallotti, will present “Emerging Trends with IBM Licensing” next week at the SAM Summit London.
While Gallotti will focus on current developments and emerging trends in IBM licensing, Koen will deliver the nuts-and-bolts of meeting licensing requirements and IBM audit defence.
In his work with customers across Europe, Koen has seen every type of IBM licensing error. “I see a lot of the same licensing mistakes with customers,” he says. “The range of IBM products makes it complex to license property, and, because IBM continually acquires new software companies, customers have to expand the scope of what they’re managing for IBM.”
The two most common licensing sins are (1) not installing IBM’s software asset management tool, the ILMT, and (2) not updating ILMT to the most current version.
“Some customers have made no effort at all to be compliant,” says Koen, “while others have made an effort but still fall short because they don’t have the latest ILMT version or updates. IBM is becoming stricter about that.”
However, one new ray of flexibility in IBM’s otherwise firm policy doctrine is a new license metric called VPC or virtual processor core, used mainly for cloud licensing. “This is my favorite metric right now because I can use it in different scenarios,” says Koen, “Customers can use VPC to avoid the sub-capacity licensing issue without installing IBMs tool, and, when customers are out of compliance on select IBM products, I suggest settling for a better dollar amount by using the VPC metric rather than having to buy the full-capacity licenses.”
VPC is a good deal right now, Koen says, and it can also be used on-prem. But it may not last long. “Right now, IBM is not forcing customers to use ILMT for cloud, they’re just recommending it,” says Koen. “But my impression is that IBM’s cloud rules are not fully developed, and we can expect more changes soon.”
IBM complexity, rules in flux, developing cloud offerings are the reason SAM Summit London will have experts on IBM and experts from IBM on hand next week to answer YOUR questions.
Join us. Cost: 200￡. Register at SAMSummitLondon.com
The SAM Summit London on May 16, not only features more than a dozen sessions on digital transformation, ITAM, SAM, audits, security, GDPR and more, but also, you’ll have an opportunity to meet one-on-one with KPMG’s software asset management experts who have the 40,000-foot view of the industry.
