An installed base is the total number of active, deployed units of a product that are currently in use by customers, such as software licenses in production, subscribed accounts, devices in the field, or systems running a vendor’s technology. It represents the existing customer footprint that can generate renewals, maintenance revenue, upgrades, add-ons, and cross-sell opportunities.
What Counts in the Installed Base
What is included depends on the business model and how “active” is defined:
- Software and SaaS: active subscriptions, paying accounts, provisioned or used seats, connected workspaces
- Hardware and IoT: devices deployed in the field and currently operating
- Enterprise platforms: environments, nodes, endpoints, or integrations running in production
- Hybrid models: a combination of subscribed customers plus deployed units tied to those customers
Companies often distinguish between licensed, provisioned, and actually used units to avoid overestimating adoption.
How Installed Base Is Measured and Maintained
Installed base is typically maintained using multiple data sources:
- CRM and CPQ: accounts, contracts, entitlements, renewal dates
- Billing systems: subscription status, invoices, payment state
- Product telemetry: last active date, feature usage, consumption levels
- Asset management: serial numbers, warranty status, deployment location for hardware
Modern teams use identity resolution and de-duplication to align product usage with account hierarchies, especially when customers have multiple workspaces or subsidiaries.
Why Installed Base Matters
Installed base is a core input for commercial planning and customer strategy:
- Retention and renewals: identifies what must be renewed and when
- Expansion planning: shows where upsell and cross-sell potential exists
- Support and operations: estimates support demand and required capacity
- Product strategy: informs feature adoption and upgrade planning across existing customers
- Forecasting: improves renewal forecasts and usage-based revenue expectations
For usage-based businesses, installed base can also represent the population eligible to consume, not just the population that pays.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is installed base the same as total customers?
Not always. Installed base can be counted in units like devices, seats, endpoints, or environments, while “customers” is typically account count.
What is the difference between installed base and active users?
Installed base measures deployed or entitled units in the field. Active users measure actual usage behavior within a time window.
How is installed base used in SaaS?
It is used to track subscribed accounts and entitlements, manage renewals, and identify accounts with low adoption or expansion potential.
What does “installed base growth” mean?
It means the installed base increased over time, such as more active customers, more seats, or more deployed devices.
What data issues commonly affect installed base reporting?
Duplicate accounts, unclear parent-child hierarchies, mismatched entitlement vs usage data, and inconsistent definitions of “active” or “deployed.”
