Glossary
and unifying your team’s Open iT conversations.
A
Adoption Rate
Percentage of users who adopt software over time.
Agent
Are a flexible, unified licensing system from Altair that provides access to their entire software suite and partner products through a shared pool of units, optimizing software utilization.
Software license paid yearly, usually renewable.
Audit
Review of software use for license compliance.
Being consistently prepared with records and reports to demonstrate license compliance in the event of a vendor audit.
Audit Trail
A chronological, tamper-evident record of changes within a system, crucial for security, compliance, and troubleshooting.
Authorized User
B
Percentage of users who adopt software over time.
C
Forecasting future software needs based on usage trends to ensure adequate license availability.
Metric based on consumed capacity units.
A method for tracking and assigning software usage costs to individual departments, cost centers, teams or projects.
Classification
The process where users temporarily acquire (check out) and then release (check in) a software license from a central pool. This allows users to utilize software.
Procurement of software via cloud platforms.
An external or internal check to verify adherence to software licensing terms.
Concurrent Tokens
A legally binding agreement between two or more parties that defines the terms and conditions related to the use, licensing, development, sale, or maintenance of software.
Contract Lifecycle Management
The process where two or more parties who are bound by an existing contract agree to modify, amend, or completely rewrite some or all of its terms and conditions.
Violation of software intellectual property rights.
D
Analysis of software or license usage data.
Software used to identify and inventory software installed across an organization.
Distributor
Dongle
E
Elapsed Time
Flexible licensing scaling with usage.
Legal agreement defining software usage terms.
End of Support
The right to use a specific software product under the terms of a licensing agreement.
Financial management of cloud and IT costs.
F
FinOps
Floating License
Software available at no monetary cost.
G
Governance, Risk, and Compliance
Management of compliance and security risks.
H
Hosted Applications
Apps hosted on a vendors infrastructure or cloud provider.
I
A framework that ensures IT investments support business goals, including policies for managing software assets.
(Information Technology Asset Management) is a set of business practices that systematically track, manage, and optimize an organization’s IT assets throughout their entire lifecycle.
Idle License Detection
Identifying licenses that are checked out but not actively used, so they can be reclaimed or redistributed.
Intellectual Property
Legal rights protecting software creations.
L
Right or document to use a software product.
Ensuring that software use aligns with the terms of the license agreement to avoid legal or financial penalties.
The process of centralizing and reducing redundant or overlapping licenses.
Occurs when a user tries to access software but is blocked due to all licenses being in use.
Occurs when a user tries to access software but is blocked due to all licenses being in use.
License Harvesting
A complete and current list of all software licenses owned, used, and deployed within an organization.
License Manager
License Optimization
License Pool
Changing license from one user to another.
M
Maintenance and Renewals
Master Service
Main contract outlining service terms.
Max in Use
Standard to measure software use or cost.
Multi-tenant Cloud Service
Cloud service used by multiple clients.
N
Named User
License assigned to a specific individual.
Network License
License restricted to a specific device.
Non-Commercial Use License
O
On-prem Applications
Open Source
Order Form
P
R
Reclamation
Right-Sizing
S
A software solution that supports the automation and tracking of SAM processes.
SaaS Subscription
(SLA) is a contract between a service provider and a customer that defines the level of service expected. It specifies measurable metrics (like uptime, response times, and resolution times), responsibilities of both parties, and consequences if the agreed-upon service levels are not met.
Shadow IT
Software Asset
A tracked software or license asset.
Software Asset Provisioning
Software Discovery
Software Lifecycle
The phases software goes through in an organization, from procurement and deployment to usage and retirement.
Software Metering
Software Usage Monitoring
T
Token Pool
Tokens
True-Up
U
The period during which demand for licenses is highest, often requiring more resources or better allocation.
User Lifecycle Management
V
Entity that creates or sells software.
The process of evaluating the number of software licenses currently in use, identifying opportunities to reassign license types or packages to optimize their utilization for users, and calculating the potential cost savings resulting from these adjustments.