First, let’s define ILMT. ILMT is short for IBM License Metric Tool that helps organizations to track and maintain PVU deployed software for full and sub-capacity environments. Secondly and a very important point, any software customer of IBM’s under the Passport Advantage Agreement is eligible for a license review, or in other words, an audit.
IBM audits customers regardless of their ILMT use or non-use including the following scenarios:
1 – An enterprise that claims they have never heard of ILMT
2- Organizations that say they have no license entitlement to ILMT
3- Companies that have downloaded ILMT
4- Clients frequently updating ILMT table definitions
If you would like to opt for sub-capacity licensing, you can and must, with little exception, install the IBM License Metric Tool. The reports are kept on-site, not transmitted to IBM. You would have to manually submit them to IBM or the company’s auditor. In a virtualized environment, sub-capacity licensing is more advantageous and requires fewer licenses most of the time. If you do not want to install ILMT, there is no penalty. You can continue to license IBM software at full capacity, the default licensing method.
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