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Software seats and utilization

How to track seats, see how well an application is used, and set the alerts that flag over- and under-used software. For software/IT owners, finance, and admins.

Before You Begin

How Utilization Is Calculated
  • Seats Purchased is how many seats you pay for.
  • Seats in use is the number of active users attached on the Users tab (or a manual override).
  • Utilization % is seats in use divided by seats purchased.
  • Monthly waste is the unused seats multiplied by the cost per seat.

The Software List shows a seat bar with in-use / purchased and the utilization percentage on each row. When an application is over-provisioned (more in use than purchased), the seat count and bar turn red.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Set seat fields on an application

  1. Open the application and stay on the Overview tab.
  2. In the Details card, set Seats Purchased and Cost Per Seat.

These two values let the module calculate utilization and monthly waste.

Step 2: See utilization on the Software List

  1. Open Software → Software List.
  2. The Seats column shows the seat bar, the in-use/purchased count, and the utilization percentage.
  3. To focus on low-use applications, click the Underutilized tab above the grid.
  4. To include the cost of waste, show the Monthly Waste column from the column-chooser.

Tip: The summary strip at the top of the Software List shows your total monthly waste across all applications.

Step 3: Set account-wide utilization alert thresholds

Utilization alerts are configured once for the whole account.

  1. Open Settings → Organization Settings.
  2. Find the Software Utilization Alerts section.
  3. Set:
    • High threshold (%) — at or above this, an application is flagged as highly utilized (you may need more seats).
    • Low threshold (%) — at or below this for a sustained period, an application is flagged as underutilized (you may be over-paying).
    • Low consecutive days — how many days an application must stay low before a low alert fires.
  4. Click Save.

Note: The High threshold must be greater than the Low threshold, otherwise the save is rejected. If you leave a value blank, the account's built-in default is used.

Step 4: Respond to alerts

  • High utilization suggests you're running out of seats — consider buying more or reviewing who needs access.
  • Low utilization (sustained below your low threshold) surfaces the application in the Underutilized view — consider removing unused users or downgrading at the next renewal.

The module evaluates utilization once a day and surfaces underutilized applications automatically.

Tips & Best Practices
  • Keep the Users tab accurate — seats in use is driven by active users, so removing offboarded people immediately improves the numbers.
  • Set Cost Per Seat so monthly waste is a real dollar figure you can act on.
  • Revisit underutilized applications before each renewal to cut wasted spend.
Troubleshooting
  • Issue: Utilization shows a dash. Solution: Set Seats Purchased on the Overview tab — utilization can't be calculated without it.
  • Issue: The seat count is red. Solution: You have more active users than purchased seats (over-provisioned). Buy more seats or remove users on the Users tab.
  • Issue: My threshold change won't save. Solution: Make sure the High threshold is greater than the Low threshold.
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