1. A computer-implemented method for managing licenses for software installations on virtual machine instances in a networked computing environment, comprising: collecting, 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; receiving a request for a license for a particular software installation of the set of software installations from a requester; determining whether the license is available; determining, 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 allocating the license to the requester responsive to the license being obtainable.