Receiving and Using SBOMs
An SBOM Consumer is any organization or individual that receives Software Bills of Materials and uses them to make informed decisions about the software they depend on. As defined by the CISA SBOM Sharing Primer, consumers are the endpoint of the SBOM ecosystem — the ones who turn static component inventory data into actionable intelligence.
What You Can Do With SBOMs
Section titled “What You Can Do With SBOMs”Find Your Starting Point
Section titled “Find Your Starting Point”Not all SBOM consumers operate the same way. The right starting point depends on your organization’s size, operational model, and regulatory context. Select the type that fits your situation:
Solo Operator
Freelancer, independent consultant, solo practitioner
See your path →Small Business
2–20 employees, no dedicated IT or security function
See your path →SaaS-Only Mid-Market
50–500 staff, cloud-only, small or fractional IT team
See your path →Regulated Entity
Healthcare, financial services, utilities — compliance obligations drive security requirements
See your path →Development Organization
Internal engineering team, DevSecOps capability, dedicated security staff
See your path →SBOMs work alongside other documents like VEX and CSAF to communicate vulnerability status and exploitability. See Connected SBOM Artifacts for how these fit together.