To license IBM software by subcapacity, the IBM subcapacity licensing terms under Passport Advantage require customers to install and run ILMT (IBM Licensing Metric Tool). A customer may substitute another IBM tool such as TAD4d (Tivoli Asset Discovery for distributed) instead of ILMT.
IBM lists exceptions. Currently ILMT is not required if:
• Less than 1000 PVUs physical capacity in global environment.
• Less than 1000 employees, including contractors and seasonal help.
• Current hardware not supported by ILMT.
• Current virtualization method not support by ILMT.
As soon as something changes – let’s say you had 800 employees and then acquired another company with 250 employees – you need to install ILMT and begin running quarterly reports.
When none of these exceptions apply, if you fail to install ILMT or another IBM tool, run reports at least quarterly, and keep less than 2 years of verified reports on hand, you would need to license to the full physical capacity of the server. IBM’s initial tolerance for lack of ILMT use has faded over the years.
However, other exceptions are possible. The purpose of IBM’s licensing tools is not to grind your production machines to a halt. With your free ILMT license also comes free IBM support. Utilize their resources, and if you can build a case to prove that ILMT is not working, ask for an exception. With the exception request there must be an alternate plan suggested. What will you utilize as a software asset management tool in place of ILMT?
IBM’s tools are the only ones certified by IBM. With the breadth of IBM software available, other software vendors cannot maintain a complete library of software signatures as well as IBM. Although ILMT or other IBM tools need an investment of time and resources to set up, an IBM-heavy environment can make good use of the free ILMT tool from IBM. In a mixed environment or one that favors another vendor’s software, ILMT’s usefulness is limited.