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Category: IBM

Does IBM audit cloud?

There is a misconception that ‘IBM does not audit cloud’. This statement cannot be considered universal.  Cloud describes different services and cannot be simplified in such a fashion.  Let’s review what Cloud could be, and whether there is something to examine for licensing purposes. Software as a Service (SaaS) that is provided by IBM, such as IBM Analytics (Cognos), Bluemix, or API Connect.  IBM is aware of one’s usage of these software products because they host and invoice the client […]

How to Buy Oracle, Microsoft & IBM Blockchain Products

There’s a new buzzword that you may be hearing, both in technical circles as well as in the mainstream: Blockchain. While generally mentioned in reference to cryptocurrency, blockchain will soon be brought up in situations outside of the news you hear of Bitcoin rocketing upwards and plummeting downwards more than your average roller-coaster.  From tracking financial transactions, to the maintenance of medical records, to providing reliable tracing of products and goods from source to customer, the technology has the potential […]

When is a Terabyte not a Terabyte?

When you’re licensing with IBM (and possibly others*). This licensing metric used for IBM software storage products seems to be self-described by its name – Terabyte.  A Terabyte (TB) is a unit for measuring digital information.   Tera– represents the fourth power of 1000, or 1012, or one trillion bytes. However when you read IBM’s licensing definition of the Terabyte metric, it’s not 1012:  A Terabyte is 2 to the 40th power bytes.  Outside of IBM, 240 is generally considered a […]

Modern Policies Supersede Legacy Software Contract Terms

Modern Policies Supersede Legacy Software Contract Terms Server Metric Just because a legacy contract doesn’t include rules on virtualization or multi-core processors, it doesn’t mean the organization can simply ignore the vendor’s current policies on those subjects.  When virtualization technologies were developed, software vendors changed the way servers were licensed.  When a server had a single processor and core, the entire server was licensed as a Server metric. With the introduction of hardware with multiple processors and then multi-core processors, […]

Flexera’s FlexNet Manager for IBM in lieu of IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT)

IBM uses their own proprietary software asset management tool, ILMT.  “The IBM License Metric Tool [ILMT] helps you maintain an inventory of the PVU based software deployed for your Full Capacity or Virtualization (Sub-) Capacity environment, and measures the PVU licenses required by software Product. It is intended to help you manage your IBM software licensing requirements, and help you maintain an audit ready posture. Customers are responsible for supplying hardware and installation services required for installing the tool” according […]

7 Signs of an IBM Audit

Do you recognize the signs of an IBM audit? These 7 Signs of an IBM audit are red flags that you should recognize. You Get a Letter Introducing KPMG or Deloitte These are two of the “Big 4” accounting firms that manage the actual software license audit process on behalf of IBM.  IBM refers to them as, “third party independent auditors”.  Keep in mind that when it comes to their “independence,” these firms are paid by IBM for their services. […]

AWS Cloud Crash Shows Why Some IT Assets Should Stay On-Premise

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud located in the company’s Virginia data center crashed on February 28, 2017, causing many of the largest sites and apps on the internet to slow or stop working entirely.  Amazon referred to the incident as an “increased error rate” at the time and has now traced the issue to a mistyped command by an Amazon employee. The outage highlights what many cloud vendors don’t want their clients to know, that some assets are actually […]

Warning: Your Software Asset Management (SAM) Tool is NOT Certified

IT professionals must remember that a tool does not understand the rules Many software license management tools claim to be certified by Oracle, Microsoft, IBM and others, but none actually are. For example, Oracle’s LMS page does list a number of tools, but only as supplements, not as certified tools, and they often miss 90% of Oracle products. “Tools from the following vendors have been verified to provide the required data set to supplement a LMS engagement. The scope of […]

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