Getting Started with License Analytics

License Analytics analyzes data to determine compliance for your installations of supported Microsoft products (also known as LA titles). Before you can use it, you need to perform some steps to collect meaningful data:

  1. In CAM Administrator, inventory all machines that have supported Microsoft products installed on them.
  2. Also in CAM Administrator, configure and run virtual environment discovery.
  3. In Purchasing, do the following:
    • Enter your Microsoft contract information.
    • Enter purchasing data for supported Microsoft products.
    • Associate Microsoft software line items to the appropriate Microsoft contract.
  4. To collect meaningful SQL Server data, it's important to perform these additional tasks:
    • Upgrading customers: Check the Status panel in Purchasing. If your to-do list at the top right of that panel includes a yellow Exceptions or Migrate section, select on these links to accomplish tasks necessary for generating meaningful data for analysis. You will see these sections, for example, if you added purchasing data for these Microsoft products in earlier versions of CAM. Support for capacity-based (per core or per processor) Windows Server licensing analysis was added in CAM 13.0; support for SQL Server debuted in CAM 13.2.
    • New and upgrading customers: In Purchasing, assign SQL Server licenses to your physical or virtual machines. Assignments are necessary for correct licensing calculations.
    • New and upgrading customers: Back in License Analytics, select the icon next to Summary in the left pane to recalculate data.
    • New and upgrading customers: If shown, select Microsoft SQL Server (Unknown) in the left pane to view any items where more information is required for correct analysis.

      New and upgrading customers: Check the Exceptions tab for the other SQL Server nodes for any issues you want to correct before calculating data.

  5. Back in License Analytics, check whether you have any exceptions you want to correct for any LA title. Use the help link at the top of the each Exceptions tab for guidance with correcting any listed issues, and recalculate data. Continue with this process until all issues are resolved.

For complete details on how Microsoft licenses products, and for rules and guidelines for assigning licenses, see the Microsoft website.