Home›Training Academy›IBM Licensing Mastery

Training Academy · IBM

IBM Licensing Mastery.

The complete IBM commercial position, taught from the buyer's side of the table: the metric catalog, processor value units and the sub capacity bargain, ILMT and the reporting obligations that keep the affordable count available, Cloud Paks and the container estate, Red Hat, IBM software on public cloud, the mainframe and Tailored Fit Pricing, audit defence, and the negotiation itself. Twenty sessions, each with analyst grade slides, on screen knowledge checks with worked answers, clips from a senior licensing analyst, homework, and further reading.

20 sessions live20 sessions × ~20 minutes4 modules3 knowledge checks per sessionFree, no form

Start here. Session 1 is the map: the two obligations that come with an IBM licence, the documents that decide your metric, and the four questions that tell you which kind of estate you have.

Watch session 1

The progress tests

One test per module, drawn from the on screen knowledge checks in those five sessions. Free, no form, graded in the browser with the reasoning shown for every answer.

T1

Module test 1: Foundations of IBM licensing

Sessions 1 to 5. Fifteen questions, pass at 11 of 15, instant grading with worked answers.

T2

Module test 2: PVU, sub capacity and ILMT

Sessions 6 to 10. Fifteen questions, pass at 11 of 15, instant grading with worked answers.

T3

Module test 3: Containers, Cloud Paks and the modern estate

Sessions 11 to 15. Fifteen questions, pass at 11 of 15, instant grading with worked answers.

T4

Module test 4: Mainframe, audit and the negotiation

Sessions 16 to 20. Fifteen questions, pass at 11 of 15, instant grading with worked answers.

Certification

IBM Licensing Mastery Certification

The paid credential behind the free course: a 60 question exam across all four modules, deliberately harder than the progress tests. 800 USD per person, three attempts included, pass at 48 of 60, valid two years, no discounts. Access is by request, and every request is reviewed by hand.

Request exam access

The curriculum

Module 1 is the prerequisite; modules 2 and 3 can be taken in either order; module 4 assumes all of it. Sessions publish in order.

Module 1 · Foundations of IBM licensing

01

The IBM licensing landscape

The two obligations, the four documents, the metric families, and where IBM risk actually lives.

02

The IBM contract stack

IPLA, Passport Advantage, the License Information document, restricted use, and the four sub capacity obligations.

03

The metric catalog

PVU, VPC, RVU, UVU, the user metrics, Install and MAPC, and the variable each one follows.

04

Subscription and Support

The annuity, the anniversary, the uplift, lapse and reinstatement, and the 90 day agenda.

05

Building the entitlement baseline

Passport Advantage reports, bundled and restricted use entitlements, and what the portal cannot see.

Module 2 · PVU, sub-capacity and ILMT (the signature IBM topic)

06

The value unit table, how a count is built, eligible cores, and what full capacity costs.

07

Sub capacity licensing

The four obligations, the eligibility lists, the 90 day clock, and the approved alternatives.

08

The cadence stack, the connection that severs silently, the catalog, and the five failures.

09

Virtualization and capping

Clusters and mobility, the four ways a boundary grows, Power pools, and the capping levers.

10

The ILMT operating model

The calendar, the five numbers, the audit drill, and the first 90 days after a letter.

Module 3 · Containers, Cloud Paks and the modern estate

11

The VPC metric, the conversion ratios, the pool draw down, and the OpenShift entitlement.

12

Licensing in OpenShift and Kubernetes

The IBM License Service, the container blind spot, resource limits, and the workload boundary.

13

Red Hat inside IBM

Socket pairs, core pairs, two compliance regimes, and where you end up paying twice.

14

IBM software on public cloud

BYOSL and its two conditions, sub capacity in cloud, elasticity, and the geography clause.

15

Maximo, Watson and the newer portfolio

AppPoints and the tier gate, concurrency sizing, Resource Units, and consumption commitments.

Module 4 · Mainframe, audit and the negotiation

16

Mainframe licensing

MSU against MIPS, the rolling four hour average, the reporting clock, and shaping the peak.

17

Tailored Fit Pricing

The consumption models, the baseline that grandfathers, and how to run the comparison honestly.

18

The triggers, the first 72 hours, the scope letter, the three artifacts and the settlement.

19

Defending and settling a finding

The four layers of a claim, partial evidence, back maintenance, and the release clause.

20

Negotiating with IBM, and the capstone

The four rights, scope before price, the cap against the discount, and the capstone estate.

Learning the playbook and want it applied to your numbers? We work on contingency: 25% of what we save you. Nothing saved, nothing paid.

Course presenters are AI generated avatars. The curriculum and guidance are real, produced by Redress Compliance analysts from our consulting engagements and market network.