The Technology License Optimization Power BI template delivers actionable insights to maximize your software investments and eliminate waste. By analyzing actual usage patterns across your organization, this powerful dashboard identifies underutilized licenses, reveals adoption trends, and highlights optimization opportunities that translate to cost savings. Make data-driven decisions about your technology stack and ensure every license delivers measurable business value.
ActivConnect is available as an add-on to customers on a paid subscription plan. Learn more about ActivConnect here.
Contents
Template access requirements
Before you begin, ensure you have:
- An ActivTrak paid subscription plan and the ActivConnect Add-on
- Your ActivConnect username ([account_number]@activtrak.us) and password. Your account number is in the Account Information menu in ActivTrak; access it via the circle icon in the top right corner.
- An active Power BI license
Access the template
Validate your ActivConnect credentials
1. Navigate to Google Cloud Console
2. Log in with your ActivConnect username ([accountnumber]@activtrak.us) and password
Copy and update the License Cost Tracking Sheet
1. Make a copy of the License Cost Tracking Sheet template (File > Make a Copy) and give it a unique name. You should now be able to edit the copy of this Google Sheet.
2. Update column A, “app_or_site,” with your software's URL or application name. This should match how it appears within ActivTrak (Settings > Classifications)
3. Update column B, “app_alias,” with how you would like the tool to display in reporting. The same alias may be used for multiple websites accessed through the same license. For example, Google Mail, Google Documents and Google Calendar are all part of a Google Workspace (GWS) license. You must only enter the license information (count and cost per user) once per alias.
4. Update column C, "license_type," by entering PAID for paid resources or leaving it blank for free resources.
5. Use Column D, “license_count,” to enter the total number of licenses purchased for the tool.
6. Use Column E, “per_user_license_cost,” to enter the annual cost per user (without decimals).
Note: For software bundles (such as Adobe Creative Suite or Google Workspace), only assign the license count and associated cost to one application in the bundle, placing zeros in the remaining applications that share the same bundle (i.e., they share the app alias name in Column B). The example shows that the three Google Workspace applications (mail.google.com, docs.google.com, and calendar.google.com) all have the "GWS" alias; only the first application includes the license count and cost information in columns D and E.
App or Site, App Alias, License Type, License Count & Per User License Cost
7. Once the Google Sheet is updated, copy the URL.
Download and install the PBIT file
1. Within the ActivTrak app, navigate to API & Integrations > ActivConnect API.
2. Find the Technology License Optimization card and click the Power BI download icon.
Technology License Optimization Card
3. Unpack the zipfile and open the “Technology License Management.pbit” file using PowerBI Desktop.
4. Enter your ActivTrak Account ID and paste the URL of your updated License Cost Tracking sheet into the “Configuration URL” field. Note: Your account number is in the Account Information menu in ActivTrak; access it via the circle icon in the top right corner.
Log into Technology License Management.pbit
5. Click Load. This process will take a few minutes.
6. During data connection, a pop-up window will appear asking you to log in to Google Sheets. You will be redirected to the browser to complete the sign-in process, then back to PowerBI. Once you have signed in, click Connect in the bottom right corner.
Click Connect to log into Google Sheets
7. Another pop-up window will then appear to log into Google BigQuery. Ensure you log in with your ActivTrak-provided credentials in the format of [accountnumber]@activtrak.us.
8. Once complete, go back to PowerBI and click Connect.
9. The data refresh may take a few minutes. A successful connection results in messaging indicating the number of “rows from GoogleBigQuery” that were refreshed.