Approximately two years ago, IBM’s Sanjay K. Saxena surveyed customers around the world to better understand their audit concerns and see what IBM could do to turn things around. As a result, the IBM Authorized SAM Provider Offering (IASP) was introduced as an alternative way to manage and verify IBM license consumption and improve customer satisfaction. We’re excited to share that Snow is now an officially approved substitute for IBM’s License Metric Tool (ILMT) under the IASP program.
Prior to creating IASP, Saxena discovered that IBM customers felt that audits were becoming too punitive and disruptive. Organizations reported feeling like vendors weren’t doing enough to help them remain compliant.
“Feedback from clients on licensing IBM software over hundreds of software acquisitions, combined with regular software audits, led to IBM creating an alternative that seems to have been well-received amongst the global client base,” said Sanjay.
Improving your compliance position
In a recent Snow survey, 81% of American IT leaders reported feeling concerned about vendor audits in the next 12 months. As we enter 2021, this announcement means that organizations with a large IBM footprint will no longer be required to have ILMT or BigFix Inventory deployed and they can instead use Snow’s technology to get a better compliance position and discover more opportunities for optimization, before anything gets reported to IBM.
The IASP program is currently designed for enterprise customers and runs on a “by invitation or client request” basis. Invited organizations need to select one of the authorized SAM partners – Anglepoint, Deloitte, EY or KPMG – to proactively manage their IBM software assets. Interestingly, the contract is between the authorized SAM provider and the customer. Previously, customers would be audited by one of these partners under contract to IBM, whereas today the relationship is directly between the customer and the partner. This provides a continuous, transparent way of managing license compliance.
How the IASP program works
- The IASP partner will establish the necessary reporting processes, including the setup of eligible sub-capacity measuring tools and assist with optimization.
- The initial baseline reports, after optimization, will be submitted to IBM.
- Any additional licenses required can be purchased at standard commercial terms.
- The baseline report is updated annually and true-ups occur after each report.
What are the benefits?
While organizations are part of the IASP program they receive significant benefits, including:
- Audit exemption The IASP partner ensures that the necessary data collection process is optimized and compliant for Sub-Capacity licensing.
- There are no Full-Capacity charges regardless of historical ILMT status.
- Commercial benefits including no punitive charges. Customers receive their agreed discounts even for compliance issues and they can purchase through their preferred resellers.
- Customers can perform certain optimizations on their estate prior to submitting reports to IBM.
- Customers no longer have to use ILMT to calculate their PVU consumption.
According to IBM’s Saxena, “There seems to be an inflection point in the marketplace, where clients are demanding more efficient options of verifying consumption of software and the publishers are actively looking at ways to satisfy that demand.”
With Snow’s inclusion in the program, customers can use the Snow technology intelligence platform to its fullest, combined with the IASP partner’s supporting processes to get to reliable and predictable results for IBM as part of their wider SAM program. We are proud to be recognized by IBM as worthy of a place in its IASP program – and look forward to providing more transparency and flexibility to our customers seeking visibility into their IBM investments.
If you want a better understanding of your IBM environment or are looking to improve your understanding and management of your overall technology stack, get in touch with one of our Consultants to learn more.