Software license management in a networked computing environment

A system for managing licenses for software installations on virtual machine instances in a networked computing environment, comprising:

• a memory medium comprising instructions;
• a bus coupled to the memory medium;
• and
• a processor coupled to the bus that when executing the instructions causes the system to:
• collect, on a computer storage device, data pertaining to usage of a set of software installations on a set of virtual machine (VM) instances in the networked computing environment;
• receive a request for a license for a particular software installation of the set of software installations from a requester;
• determine whether the license is available;
• determine, responsive to the license being unavailable, whether the license is obtainable based on the data and a current configuration of the networked computing environment, wherein the current configuration of the networked computing environment comprises at least one of:
• inactivity of the licenses, respective priority of users for using the licenses, frequency of use of the set of software installations, geographic location of the users, or at least one datacenter location;
• and
• allocate the license to the requester responsive to the license being obtainable.

A computer program product for managing licenses for software installations on virtual machine instances in a networked computing environment, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage media, and program instructions stored on the computer readable storage media, to:

• collect, on a computer storage device, data pertaining to usage of a set of software installations on a set of virtual machine (VM) instances in the networked computing environment;
• receive a request for a license for a particular software installation of the set of software installations from a requester;
• determine whether the license is available;
• determine, responsive to the license being unavailable, whether the license is obtainable based on the data and a current configuration of the networked computing environment, wherein the current configuration of the networked computing environment comprises at least one of:
• inactivity of the licenses, respective priority of users for using the licenses, frequency of use of the set of software installations, geographic location of the users, or at least one datacenter location;
• and
• allocate the license to the requester responsive to the license being obtainable.