Measuring, Managing, and Optimizing Licenses with Symphony License Measurement

By Vignesh Ganesan

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, effective license measurement and management have become critical for organizations relying on complex software ecosystems like SAP. Mismanaged licenses lead to significant financial losses, compliance risks, and operational inefficiencies.

1. In 2022, global organizations spent over $34 billion on software that was underutilized or mismanaged (IDC).
2. SAP audits reveal that 40% of customers overpay for licenses they do not fully use, resulting in substantial overspending.
3. Organizations using manual license management processes report compliance costs that are three times higher than automated approaches (Ponemon Institute).
4. Companies implementing automated license management solutions achieve up to 30% annual savings on software costs (Gartner).

What Is License Measurement?

License measurement involves tracking, assessing, and optimizing the use of software licenses within an organization. It ensures compliance with vendor agreements, prevents over-provisioning, and maximizes the value derived from software investments.

Challenges in License Measurement

Despite its importance, organizations face numerous challenges in measuring, managing, and optimizing licenses effectively. These include:

1. Measurement Challenges

Complex Licensing Models: The traditional licensing model enumerated perpetual licenses for SAP S/4HANA deployed either on-premise or in a cloud environment of their choice (private cloud, public cloud, or hybrid) which meant one-time purchase with ongoing maintenance fees. With the RISE with SAP model, licencing would be based on assigned authorizations within systems, not actual usage. A generous authorization concept can quickly become very costly, not to mention the compliance risks. This lack of clarity can lead to under-licensing or purchasing unnecessary licenses, which can have significant financial repercussions.

Dynamic Usage Patterns: Frequent organizational changes, such as mergers and employee turnover, disrupt accurate tracking.

Manual Processes: Relying on spreadsheets or surveys often results in errors and inefficiencies.

Indirect Access: Mismanagement of third-party interactions with SAP systems leads to hidden costs and non-compliance issues.

Absence of Centralized License Control: Licenses ownership is rarely concentrated in one department who are disconnected from the usage information, making license ownership difficult to track.

2. Management Challenges

User Misclassification: Assigning higher-tier licenses unnecessarily inflates costs and leads to over-licensing.

Shadow IT: Untracked or unauthorized software usage complicates license governance.

Contract Complexity: Poor understanding of vendor agreements results in missed optimization opportunities.

Failure to Conduct Regular Audits: In the absence of regular internal audits, discrepancies go unnoticed, leading to non-compliance issues and mismanagement of purchased licenses.

3. Optimization Challenges

Underutilized Licenses: Paying for unused licenses drains resources.

Inefficient Reallocation: Failure to reassess licenses regularly leads to mismanagement.

Scalability Issues: Adapting license management processes to accommodate growth is often cumbersome.

How Organizations Can Optimize Their Licenses

Optimizing licenses requires a strategic approach. Here are the best practices:

Conduct Regular Usage Analysis: Periodically assess how licenses are being utilized across the organization.

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Assign licenses based on actual user roles and needs. For instance, a complete Professional User License, which would be far more expensive, shouldn't be granted to a user who only requires access to basic HR capabilities.

License Usage Rightsizing: Rightsizing entails reevaluating the license types assigned to each user. A Professional User License, for instance, may be downgraded to a Limited User License if a user's role no longer calls for advanced functionalities.

Implement Automated Tools: Leverage advanced solutions to monitor and optimize usage dynamically.

Internal Audits: Conduct proactive compliance checks to prepare for vendor audits.

Consolidation: Eliminate redundant licenses across departments or geographies.

The Process of Traditional License Measurement

Steps Involved:

Data Collection: Aggregating usage data from software systems.

Analysis:Identifying patterns of underutilization and over-provisioning.

Compliance Verification: Comparing usage data with contractual terms.

Manual Adjustments: Reallocating licenses based on findings.

Audit Preparation: Compiling reports for external scrutiny.

Challenges:

Data Blind Spots: Endpoints often remain unmonitored, leading to incomplete data.

Reliance on Surveys: Employee self-reporting introduces inaccuracies.

Time-Intensive: Manual processes are laborious and error-prone.

The Need for Automation in License Measurement

Automation is no longer a luxury—it’s essential. Manual methods cannot keep up with the complexity and scale of modern software environments.

Symphony’s License Measurement Feature

Symphony is a game-changer in license measurement and optimization. It simplifies the process with robust automation, actionable insights, and user-friendly interfaces. The main purpose of the SAP License Manager is to monitor license usage, track license purchases and renewals, and align licenses with business needs.

How does Symphony Work?

Symphony uses the t-code based transaction data to analyse the license usage. Symphony runs a job that routinely analyses the logon date, tracks the t-code based usage data, and based on this data creates a comprehensive report on the technical user type, the current license type, status of usage and activity whether they are active or dormant. Symphony proposes changes in license type based on the activity logged by the user i.e if the license warrants an upgrade or a downgrade. The Licensing Dashboard in Symphony displays the organization's SAP licensing data visually, so stakeholders can keep track of license usage, compliance status, and costs in real-time. Symphony provides consolidated reports on the unique count of users, newly created users, and IDs that haven't been synced recently, as well as License Analytics by month and overall.

Symphony provides

Comprehensive Monitoring: Provides centralized dashboards to track license usage.

Role Recommendations: Dynamically categorizes users based on real usage data. It provides recommendations of license types aligned to the usage. Symphony can also recommend license types based on the role provisioned through integration with IAM solutions.

Digital Access Reporting: Tracks and optimizes third-party system interactions.

Dynamic Reporting: Generates detailed, audit-ready reports tailored to the organizational needs. Symphony traces, tracks and provides detailed reports on users’ activity and proposes license recommendations based on the same.

Optimization Engine: Suggests recommendations for licence allocation efficiently using a transaction database.

Customizable Rules: Adapts to unique organizational requirements, including vendor-specific contracts.

Symphony’s license management feature is also designed to analyze BTP Licenses and HANA licenses. Shortly Symphony will also foray into measurement of non-SAP licenses.

Optimizing Licensing in RISE with SAP: The Role of User Authorizations

As businesses transition to the RISE with SAP model, licensing shifts from traditional named user licenses to a Full Use Equivalent (FUE) system. This change places a greater emphasis on user authorizations, as licensing is now determined by the roles and transactions that users are authorized to access, rather than their actual system usage.

Why This Matters

Users with broader authorizations may require more comprehensive licenses, which can significantly impact costs. To manage licensing expenses effectively, organizations must optimize user roles and authorizations before migrating to RISE with SAP. Key Considerations:

Over-authorized users can drive up costs by requiring higher-tier licenses unnecessarily.

Regular audits of user roles and authorizations are essential to ensure compliance and cost-effectiveness.

Optimizing access before migration helps reduce expenses and ensures a more efficient licensing structure.

How Symphony’s License Manager Helps

With Symphony’s License Manager, businesses can assess their user authorizations before migrating to RISE with SAP. This feature provides a detailed analysis, enabling organizations to:

Identify potential licensing impacts before migration.

Gain visibility into which authorizations are driving users toward specific license types.

Detect excessive authorizations and take corrective action to optimize access.

By leveraging Symphony’s License Manager, businesses can proactively manage their SAP licensing, ensuring they only pay for what they truly need while maintaining compliance and efficiency. Are you ready to optimize your SAP licensing strategy? Start your assessment today with Symphony!

The Symphony Advantage

License measurement, management, and optimization are critical for reducing costs, ensuring compliance, and maximizing software ROI. Symphony’s advanced features empower organizations to achieve these goals with unparalleled efficiency and accuracy. Whether it’s simplifying audits, optimizing indirect access, or enabling scalability, Symphony ensures you’re always one step ahead.