License Reclamation
EmpowerID Azure License Manager includes a license reclamation framework that you can implement to reclaim unused or underutilized licenses, freeing those licenses up for reallocation throughout your enterprise as needed. Depending on license usage, license reclamation can significantly save licensing costs and give you real-time consolidated data for better allocation. The license reclamation framework includes the following components:
Reclamation policies – These are templated policies you author to specify the conditions for licenses to be reclaimed. Conditions include:
Reclaim for Disabled Accounts – Removes licenses from accounts that are currently disabled
Reclaim for Accounts Never Logged In – Removes licenses from accounts where the account owner has never logged in
Reclaim for Users Who Have Not Logged In For 90 Days – Removes licenses from accounts where the account owner has not logged in within the last 90 days
Reclaim for Person Terminated – Removes assigned licenses from accounts whose EmpowerID Person is marked as terminated.
Reclaim for Unused License – Removes assigned licenses from accounts who have never used those licenses
Custom Query Group Reclaim – Removes assigned licenses from accounts based on custom conditions
License Reclamation Compiler – This EmpowerID job processes license reclamation and creates inbox entries for licenses that are not in use or assigned to an invalid account based on the settings applied to the relevant reclamation policies.
License Reclamation Inbox Processor – This is an EmpowerID job that reviews license status on a scheduled basis to determine which assigned licenses are not being used. Unused licenses are claimed by the inbox and removed from users based on an organization’s reclamation policies.
License Reclamation Approval Inbox Processor – This EmpowerID job generates approval tasks for License Reclamation Inbox entries that need approval based on the approval settings configured for the relevant reclamation policies. Once approved, the License Reclamation Inbox Processor processes the approved items.
License Usage Permanent Workflow – This is a permanent workflow that runs in a continuous loop on a scheduled basis to return license usage information for each user account and license in your tenant. This information is used to provide you with cost analysis of pending/actual monthly savings achieved through license reclamation.
To implement license reclamation, you need to follow the steps below.
Create and your License Reclamation policies
Enable License Reclamation jobs
Enable the License Usage Permanent workflow
To perform steps 2 and 3, you must have the SaaS Admin role.
Procedure
Step 1 - Create License Reclamation policies
Browse to Azure License Manager > Configuration.
Select the Reclamation Policies tab and click the Add button in the grid.
This opens the Reclamation Policy form.Enter the following information in the form and then save the policy.
General Settings | |
---|---|
Setting | Description |
Name | Name of the policy |
Display Name | Display name for the policy |
Description | Description of the policy |
Enabled | When selected, enables the policy for compilation and processing |
Report Only Mode | When selected, compiles the policy and generates a report of the number of licenses that would be revoked if they processed |
Reclamation Settings | |
Setting | Description |
Reclaim for Disabled Accounts
| Instructs EmpowerID to remove all licenses from disabled accounts.
|
Reclaim for 90 Days No Login
| Instructs EmpowerID to remove licenses from accounts where the owner has not logged in with the last 90 days.
|
Reclaim for Person Terminated
| Instructs EmpowerID to remove licenses from accounts where the EmpowerID Person owning the account is terminated.
|
Reclaim for Unused License
| Instructs EmpowerID to remove all licenses from accounts where the owner has not logged in with the last 90 days.
|
Custom Query Group Reclaim
| Instructs EmpowerID to remove all licenses from accounts meeting the criteria specified by the query.
|
Email Notifications Settings | |
Setting | Description |
Admin Pre-Removal Notification | Allows for the selection of an email template to use to send notification emails of pending license removals to administrators. |
Manager Pre-Removal Notification | Allows for the selection of an email template to use to send notification emails of pending license removals to the managers of the people selected for license removal. |
User Pre-Removal Notification | Allows for the selection of an email template to use to send notification emails of pending license removals to users selected for license removal. |
Admin Removal Notification | Allows for the selection of an email template to use to send notification emails of completed license removals to administrators. |
Manager Removal Notification | Allows for the selection of an email template to use to send notification emails of completed license removals to the managers of the people who have had licenses removed. |
User Removal Notification | Allows for the selection of an email template to use to send notification emails of completed license removals to users who have had licenses removed. |
Step 2 – Enable License Reclamation jobs
Expand Infrastructure Admin > EmpowerID System Settings on the navbar and select EmpowerID Servers.
Select the Server Jobs tab and then search for reclamation.
Click the Display Name link for the License Reclamation Approval Inbox Processor job.
Click the Edit link on the job’s View One page to put the job in Edit mode.
Check Job Schedule Is Enabled to enable the job.
Click Save.
Next, expand the Server Roles accordion on the EmpowerID Job Details page and verify that the appropriate role is selected for the servers running the job in your environment. Depending on your environment, the appropriate role would be All-in-One Server or Application Full.
Repeat this process for the other two reclamation jobs until all are enabled and have the needed server roles.
If issues occur with seeing licenses being reclaimed, verify your servers have the designated roles.
Step 3 – Enable the Permanent Workflow
Browse to Infrastructure Admin > EmpowerID System Settings >Permanent Workflows.
Click the Display Name link for GetLicenseUsageReports.
Click the Edit link on the workflow’s View One page to put it in Edit mode.
Select Enabled and then click Save.
Once you have everything configured, you can view the status of license reclamation by navigating to the Manage Assignments page of Azure License Manager and viewing the Reclamation Inbox tab.
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