IBM SPSS licensing and audit defense.

SPSS is licensed mainly on user-based metrics: authorized user single install, concurrent user, and add-on modules layered on the base. Each named individual who can run the software needs an entitlement, and each add-on module is counted separately. The number that matters in an audit is the count of distinct entitled users mapped against what is deployed, not the raw install count the discovery tool returns.

• Stale installs. Software left on machines of departed staff or decommissioned desktops is counted as live deployment unless you can show otherwise.
• Module stacking. Add-on modules get counted against every base user rather than only the users actually entitled to them.
• Concurrent versus authorized. Concurrent licenses are reconciled as if they were authorized user, inflating the required count well past the peak concurrent usage.
• Shared accounts. A single shared install accessed by a team can be read as one entitlement or many depending on how the data is framed.

We map the actual entitled users to live deployments, strip stale installs from the count with evidence, and reconcile concurrent entitlements against measured peak usage rather than headcount. Add-on modules are matched to the users who truly hold them, and over-deployment that survives is moved into the negotiation as a directional reduction rather than a fixed penalty.