Organizations waste 25-30% of software spend on idle licenses. Compare nine practical methods — from automated discovery and usage metering to license harvesting, SaaS spend analysis, and SAM managed services — for detecting and reclaiming unused licenses across Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, VMware, and SaaS estates.
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9 Ways to Find and Remove Unused Software Licenses
Organizations waste 25-30% of software spend on idle licenses. Compare nine practical methods — from automated discovery and usage metering to license harvesting, SaaS spend analysis, and SAM managed services — for detecting and reclaiming unused licenses across Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, VMware, and SaaS estates.
Hollie Palmer
Director of Marketing, LicenseFortress
June 2026
13 min read
The bottom line
Organizations waste 25-30% of software spend on idle licenses. Compare nine practical methods — from automated discovery and usage metering to license harvesting, SaaS spend analysis, and SAM managed services — for detecting and reclaiming unused licenses across Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, VMware, and SaaS estates.
- LicenseFortress is an independent software licensing advocate — we never sell vendor licenses and take no vendor commissions.
- $2.4B+ in vendor claims defended and $625M+ saved for clients.
- Coverage across Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, SAP, VMware by Broadcom, and Adobe.
- Licensing experts working alongside software contract attorneys.
From our case files
Unused capacity we found and removed:
Utility Cuts Licensing Costs 80% Rightsizing SQL Server with LicenseFortress + DBmarlin Integration
Utility rightsizes SQL Server with LicenseFortress + DBmarlin—80% fewer cores, $200K/year savings, 194% ROI on $68K/year.
Read the case studyOracle License Optimization Saves $70,000 Annually for an Oceania Government Organization
Oceania agency avoided new Oracle costs during a hardware upgrade by aligning infrastructure strategy with license compliance rules.
Read the case studyAbout the author
Hollie Palmer
Director of Marketing, LicenseFortress
Hollie translates the LicenseFortress team's licensing expertise into practical guides and checklists.
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