By Chris Hughes
SAP BusinessObjects licensing follows SAP’s established practice of licensing its software using a combination of named user licenses and package licenses. As with other SAP software, there is no
hard enforcement of licensing within the software, and opportunities for Software License Optimization can arise through identification of users who are inactive or whose actual system usage (and therefore license requirements) are less than what they are authorized to do.
However, to accurately calculate a license position and budget future licensing costs requires an understanding not only of BusinessObjects but of the entire SAP portfolio. This is necessary because the named user licenses required for BusinessObjects are different depending on how users are already licensed for other SAP software.
For example, suppose a BusinessObjects user requires an SAP Business Expert User license to cover their role, and that by matching their BusinessObjects account with other SAP systems it is discovered that they are assigned an SAP Professional User license as well. Rather than purchasing an SAP Business Expert User license, the organization can purchase an SAP Business Expert Upgrade User license to achieve the same result at a reduced cost.
Don’t just optimize your BusinessObjects licenses. Optimize your SAP licenses including BusinessObjects. Taking this approach will yield an outcome that is greater than the sum of its parts, and which proves once and for all that 1 + 1 = 3.
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To learn more about optimizing your SAP licenses, please view our on-demand webinar: Lifting the Lid
on SAP Licensing.