Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)

A Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) is a structured inventory of all the components that make up a piece of software. It lists libraries, packages, dependencies, and metadata in a machine readable format. The simplest way to think about it is to compare it with an ingredient list on packaged food. It tells you what is inside, where those ingredients came from, and how they relate to each other.

Why SBOMs matter

Modern software is assembled from many building blocks. Some are written in-house, but most come from open source or third-party suppliers. This shift has made development faster and more productive, but it has also created a visibility gap. When an incident happens, when a vulnerability is published, or when a regulator asks for evidence of control, organizations often discover they lack basic insight into what they are running.

SBOMs are designed to close that gap. They give you clear visibility into the composition of your software so you can:

• respond quickly to new vulnerabilities
• verify open-source licensing obligations
• detect unexpected dependencies or suspicious changes
• meet regulatory expectations for transparency
• demonstrate maturity to customers and auditors

Instead of working from assumptions or incomplete records, an SBOM gives you facts.

What an SBOM typically contains

An SBOM records the essential information needed to understand the structure and content of your software. Formats differ slightly, but most SBOMs include:

• names and versions of all components
• dependency relationships
• cryptographic hashes
• license information
• basic provenance details
• metadata about creation time and tooling

Some SBOMs also include vulnerability data, but this is optional and often supplied separately through vulnerability advisories or VEX/VDR documents.

Why adoption is accelerating

Only a few years ago SBOMs were an emerging concept. Today they are becoming standard practice across industries. Several trends explain this shift.

Growing dependency risk

Applications routinely rely on hundreds of transitive dependencies. When a new vulnerability is published, teams need instant answers about where that component exists in their environment. Without SBOMs this analysis is slow, error-prone, and often incomplete.

High-profile supply chain incidents

Events such as Log4j and the xz backdoor highlighted how little visibility many organizations have into their software supply chain. SBOMs give teams the ability to trace exposure quickly instead of relying on manual investigations.

Buyer and partner expectations

Procurement teams in finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure now ask suppliers to provide SBOMs as part of due diligence. Vendors who can provide them differentiate themselves by demonstrating transparency and trustworthiness.

Regulatory pressure

Regulators are converging on transparency requirements. Across the EU and US, SBOMs are becoming part of compliance frameworks related to cybersecurity, safety, and operational resilience. They are no longer optional for many suppliers.

Mature tooling

Most build systems and package ecosystems now support SBOM generation with minimal effort. This has lowered the barrier to entry and made SBOMs practical for everyday use.

Key benefits of SBOMs

Fast and accurate vulnerability response

When a new CVE becomes public, an SBOM lets you immediately identify whether you are affected and where. This reduces investigation time from days or weeks to minutes and decreases the risk of overlooking critical exposures.

Improved license compliance

Open-source licensing obligations require accurate and complete records. SBOMs provide a reliable source of truth so you can ensure that your software meets the terms of the licenses it contains.

Better supply chain security

Unexpected changes in dependencies or unusual components can be early signs of compromise. SBOMs make these deviations visible and easier to investigate.

Stronger regulatory posture

Whether you are preparing for an audit or responding to a compliance assessment, SBOMs provide concrete evidence that you understand your software and manage it responsibly.

Transparency with customers

Customers increasingly ask for assurances about the software they deploy. SBOMs provide a clear, verifiable way to demonstrate what is inside and how you manage it.

The visibility gap: software you do not build

Many organizations assume SBOMs only apply to their own applications. In reality, you also need visibility into software you buy, deploy, or rely on.

This includes:

• commercial software
• managed services and SaaS products
• container images from registries
• third-party libraries and tools

You may not control how this software is built, but you still need to know what it contains.

Vendor software

If you use commercial or closed-source products, you rely on the vendor to provide transparency. Asking for SBOMs helps you assess risk, verify compliance, and monitor vulnerabilities that affect your environment.

Container images

Container images often bundle entire operating systems and runtimes. Without an SBOM you cannot answer basic questions about vulnerability exposure or licensing. SBOMs give you the visibility needed to govern how containers are deployed and where.

Making SBOMs part of procurement

Including SBOM requirements in procurement puts you on equal footing with top buyers in regulated industries. Vendors who can deliver SBOMs show stronger security maturity and make it easier for you to meet your own compliance obligations.

SBOM formats

Two open standards dominate the ecosystem.

CycloneDX

Lightweight, focused on software composition, widely used in CI/CD pipelines and container workflows.

SPDX

Comprehensive, detailed, and often used in contexts with strong legal or licensing requirements.

Both formats are vendor-neutral and widely supported in tooling across ecosystems. For the exact versions and file types SBOM Observer supports, see Supported Formats & Standards.

Getting started

Using SBOMs effectively does not require a major transformation. Most organizations begin with a few practical steps:

1. Generate SBOMs for the software you build.
2. Request SBOMs from vendors and suppliers.
3. Centralize SBOMs so they can be searched, compared, and monitored.
4. Continuously evaluate them for vulnerabilities and policy issues.
5. Share SBOMs with customers to demonstrate security maturity.

Visibility grows release by release, and each step strengthens your supply chain resilience. For a guided walkthrough, start with the SBOM Observer Quickstart.

Where SBOM Observer fits in

SBOM Observer is designed to help organizations operationalize SBOMs rather than simply store them. It ingests SBOMs from internal builds and vendor deliveries, auto-imports and enriches them with additional attestations when available, evaluates them against your policies, and helps you respond quickly to changes in risk.

It gives you a single place to:

• upload and manage SBOMs
• enrich them with provenance, VEX, or VDR data
• apply compliance or security policies
• generate reports for customers and auditors

SBOM Observer does not replace your build tools. It provides the transparency and governance layer that organizations need to manage software at scale.

Next steps

• Learn how Policies and Evaluations help enforce compliance on your SBOMs
• Explore Deployment Models to find the right setup for your environment
• Try generating your first SBOM with Observer CLI