Flexera: an alternative to IBM’s ILMT
Flexera: A great choice for IBM License Compliance
The IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT) is a free tool IBM provides to help organizations manage and track IBM software usage. It’s required to track licenses in virtualized and sub-capacity environments.
The verdict
Many organizations utilize multiple software vendors which makes maintaining a separate tool such as ILMT solely for IBM compliance inefficient and even obtrusive. Flexera One ITAM is the only certified alternative for ILMT and covers thousands of other applications. Additionally, Flexera's entitlement and usage data enables audit defense and optimization of your IBM license costs.
Differences between Flexera One ITAM and ILMT for IBM License Compliance
| Capability | ILMT | Flexera One ITAM |
|---|---|---|
| IBM Authorized Tooling for License Compliance | Yes | Yes |
| Importing of contracts and entitlement data | No | Yes. Flexera One ITAM uses AI to ingest entitlement data and automate license compliance, reducing time and errors. |
| IBM Cloud Pak usage metrics | Requires IBM License Service (ILS) to track VCP and app point consumption. | Yes. Flexera One ITAM automates IBM Cloud Pak license tracking across production and nonproduction environments, integrating with Passport Advantage and ILS. |
| License optimization | No | Yes. Flexera combines product use rights and usage data to accurately identify required licenses. |
| Data normalization and enrichment | No | Yes. Flexera powers realtime decisions with normalized, enriched data from its AIbased, humanverified Technopedia catalog. |
| Vendor coverage | IBM products | Flexera One ITAM manages license compliance for thousands of software vendors, including IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, and VMware. |
Key differentiators
What sets Flexera apart?
- One platform to optimize all of your software vendors
- Flexera One ITAM is the only ILMT alternative with other providers you will need to use both ILMT and their platform.
- Flexera optimizes IT for on-prem, SaaS, and cloud including cloud infrastructure with our FinOps solutions
- Flexera’s product use rights, and product use right templates provide deeper savings than competitors can find in software
Who is Flexera best for
Flexera is best suited for organizations with technology spend greater than $10M and a need to get control of sprawling costs and risks across their cloud and on-premises technology stack.
Customer outcomes and success stories
Real-world results
“Flexera empowers us as the IBM experts, playing a key role in achieving substantial yearly savings on underutilized software renewals. We also promptly report any exposure, effectively mitigating audit risk.”
Pricing and value
Transparent value
Flexera’s sales process focuses on aligning outcomes to meet your strategic business goals. We help you put forward a business case to demonstrate potential ROI grounded in customer experiences and market data. Start understanding your potential return on investment with our business value calculator.
Implementation and support
Getting started
Flexera supports your organization no matter where you are in your ITAM and FinOps journey. Flexera offers onboarding support via Flexera or through one of our world-wide partners. For organizations with limited staff or knowledge, Flexera partners also provide managed service offerings.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Flexera One ITAM offers a broader and more automated solution than ILMT. While both are IBM-authorized for license compliance, Flexera One ITAM supports multi-vendor environments, automates IBM Cloud Pak tracking (including production vs. non-production), enables contract and entitlement imports, optimizes license usage and provides enriched data for real-time decisions.
Flexera improves IBM license optimization by offering a certified alternative to IBM's ILMT that goes far beyond basic compliance tracking. Flexera One ITAM enables full automation of IBM Cloud Pak tracking, differentiates between production and non-production environments and supports importing entitlement data (e.g., invoices, POs, quotes) via AI-based ingestion, enabling automated license reconciliation and cost optimization.
If your organization isn't tracking licenses in virtualized and sub capacity environments, then you could be paying too much in licensing costs.
Flexera supports thousands of vendors for audit defense and license optimization - including SaaS applications such as ServiceNow and Salesforce - and helps optimize compliance across on-premises and cloud environments with our Cloud License Management offering.
Resources for IBM license compliance
- Flexera blog: Save more with product use rights and product use case templates
- Flexera blog: IBM LinuxONE 5 and Flexera: Driving revolutionary AI, robust security and sustainable IT management
- Video: Flexera One ITAM capabilities for IBM License Management
- FinOps Foundation: IBM Cloud Licensing Management Guide
- UserEvidence verified survey
- Software audit defense principles and ground rules
- IBM License Metric Tool information
- Sub-capacity licensing FAQs
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