Belarc Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to the most commonly asked questions about Belarc products and services.
- Where can I download Belarc Advisor?
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The Belarc Advisor displays a detailed profile of your installed software, hardware and security vulnerabilities in your Web browser. The Belarc Advisor is licensed for personal use only and is not permitted to be used for any commercial or government purposes.
You can download it using this link.
- What is software asset management (SAM)?
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Software asset management (SAM) is the practice of tracking, managing, and optimizing the software an organization buys, deploys, and uses. ITIL frames it as the processes that control and protect software assets, and ISO/IEC 19770 — the international standard for SAM — formalizes them. The aim is to cut costs, ensure license compliance, and reduce security risk.
Source: ITIL; ISO/IEC 19770 - Why is software asset management important?
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Software asset management matters because software is one of the largest, least-visible IT costs and a major audit risk. Gartner estimates software accounts for roughly a fifth of the IT budget, and that the great majority of organizations could cut spend through license optimization. SAM delivers the visibility to control cost, prove compliance, and reduce security exposure.
Source: Gartner - What is the difference between SAM and ITAM?
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ITAM (IT asset management) is the umbrella practice covering all technology assets — hardware, software, and cloud — across their lifecycle. SAM is the software-focused subset, concentrating on licenses, usage, compliance, and cost optimization. ISO/IEC 19770, the international standard, treats SAM as part of a broader ITAM management system, so the two are nested rather than separate.
Source: ISO/IEC 19770 - What does a software asset manager do?
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A software asset manager owns an organization's software licenses end to end: maintaining an accurate inventory, reconciling what's deployed against what's owned, ensuring compliance, optimizing spend, and preparing for vendor audits. Many hold a recognized credential such as IAITAM's CSAM (Certified Software Asset Manager). The role blends procurement, IT, finance, and risk.
- How does the software asset management process work?
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The SAM process runs in five repeating stages: discover all installed and subscription software, normalize the raw data into recognizable products, reconcile usage against your entitlements, optimize by reclaiming or right-sizing licenses, and govern continuously. ISO/IEC 19770 defines these processes in a tiered model. Discovery and normalization are the hardest steps — and where accuracy is won or lost.
Source: ISO/IEC 19770-1:2017 - What is software license management, and how does it relate to SAM?
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Software license management is the part of SAM focused specifically on licenses: tracking entitlements, matching them to deployments and usage, and staying compliant with each vendor's terms. SAM is broader, also covering discovery, usage optimization, lifecycle, and governance. In short, license management answers "are we compliant?" while SAM also answers "are we spending wisely?"
- What is an Effective License Position (ELP)?
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An Effective License Position (ELP) compares what you are entitled to (your purchases) against what is actually installed and in use. A balanced ELP confirms compliance, a shortfall signals audit exposure, and a surplus reveals reclaimable licenses. It is the central SAM report — and it is only as reliable as the discovery and usage data behind it.
- How does software asset management reduce costs?
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SAM cuts costs by replacing guesswork with real usage data. Gartner has found organizations can cut software spending by as much as 30% through three practices: optimizing software configurations and use rights, recycling (reclaiming) unused licenses, and using SAM tools to scale the effort. Reclaiming idle licenses and right-sizing renewals makes those savings recur.
Source: Gartner, "Cut Software Spending Safely With SAM" - What are software asset management best practices?
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Best-practice SAM rests on trustworthy data: keep a complete inventory of every device, normalize software into a clean catalog, capture real usage (not just installs), reconcile against entitlements continuously, and govern new purchases.
- Why do software asset management projects fail?
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Most SAM projects fail for two related reasons. First, they're built on discovery data from tools never designed for SAM — like SCCM or Intune — which miss software, lack last-used usage, and can't read licensing metrics accurately. Second, fixing those gaps takes armies of consultants and custom scripts, so projects run late, over budget, and often never deliver trustworthy data.
- What should you look for in a software asset management tool?
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Look for accurate discovery out of the box — complete hardware and software inventory with real last-used usage, not just installs — across Windows, macOS, and Linux. The tool should normalize software automatically, read vendor licensing metrics (Oracle, Microsoft, IBM PVU), and deploy in weeks rather than depending on consultants and custom scripts to ever produce reliable data.
- How is Oracle licensing calculated?
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Oracle Database, middleware, and Java are licensed two ways: the Processor metric (cores multiplied by the Core Factor from Oracle's table — typically 0.5 for x86) and Named User Plus (every user or device with access, subject to per-processor minimums). Database options and packs are licensed separately, and on VMware Oracle often expects you to license every host.
Source: Oracle licensing policies - How does Microsoft licensing work?
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Microsoft licensing spans several models. Server products like SQL Server and Windows Server are licensed per physical core (with core minimums), often paired with Client Access Licenses (CALs) for users or devices, including indirect access. Microsoft 365 is per user, with E3 and E5 bundling different rights. Software Assurance adds benefits like license mobility and passive failover.
Source: Microsoft licensing policies - How are IBM PVU licenses calculated?
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IBM licenses many products by Processor Value Unit (PVU): each processor core is assigned a PVU rating from IBM's table, and you multiply that rating by the number of cores running the software. You can license full capacity, or sub-capacity (virtualization) — but sub-capacity requires the IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT) to track and report usage.
Source: IBM licensing (PVU / ILMT) - How do I reclaim or harvest unused software licenses?
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License harvesting means reclaiming licenses that are assigned but unused, then reassigning them or dropping them at renewal. Start with accurate usage data showing each application's last-used time, set an idle threshold (say 60–90 days), then reclaim through an automated workflow. Many teams recover hundreds of licenses a year this way — pure cost avoidance.
- How do you manage SaaS licenses?
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Managing SaaS licenses means tracking subscriptions, assignments, and — critically — actual usage, since seats are easy to over-buy and forget. Reclaim inactive seats, right-size at renewal, and watch for shadow IT. The hard part is usage data: many SaaS vendors, Adobe among them, don't expose it, so you often have to discover it on the device itself.
- What KPIs should a SAM program track?
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Useful SAM KPIs span cost, compliance, and efficiency: your license compliance position (ELP) by vendor, software spend and realized savings, percentage of licenses actually used, reclaimed licenses, audit exposure and outcomes, and renewal accuracy. The point is to show both risk reduction and hard dollars saved — the two things leadership funds a SAM program to deliver.
- What certifications do software asset managers need?
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No single certification is mandatory, but several are widely recognized. IAITAM offers role-based credentials including the CSAM (Certified Software Asset Manager) and the manager-level CITAM. ITIL certification helps connect SAM to IT service management, and familiarity with ISO/IEC 19770 — the international ITAM/SAM standard — is increasingly expected. Vendor licensing training also adds credibility.
Sources & standards referenced- ISO/IEC 19770-1:2017 — international standard for IT/software asset management
- ITIL — IT service management framework, SAM practice
- IAITAM — International Association of IT Asset Managers (CSAM, CITAM)
- Gartner — "Cut Software Spending Safely With SAM" and related cost-optimization research
- Vendor licensing policies — Oracle, Microsoft, and IBM (PVU / ILMT)