Software asset management process

[sreedharkaliset]

hello All,
I am trying to set up SAM.
I have gone thru docs and based on my understanding i have jotted down the sequence of setting up software asset management, pls let me know if it is proper and my understanding is correct, also if there are any pointers to understand pls provide the same.

The process to set up Software assets will be as follows:
Load software models into the system
Load software installations into system using discovery or integration or data load.
Create license rights
Create software counters.

When I try to load sample installations into the system, installations are created, discovery models are auto created as expected but software models are not auto matched to discovery models.
I created sample license rights and counters for the data but fields on reconciliation tab(Counted by and entitlements) were not populated on software installation form.

[swarnadip]

Hi Sreedhar,

What you have understood is correct. However, all implementations have their own complexities.

It would be great if you can let show me the sample data you are trying to load. Also, try to play around the Version field on the Software Model table. Keep it to integers and then try matching the Discovery Models.

Thanks,

SR

[gmason]

Hello Sreedhar,

In order for you to have accurate software counts you have to ensure that you are receiving software electronic inventory from all hardware. Therefore, the first step is actually ensuring that all hardware is being scanned and that the electronic inventory is properly being imported into ServiceNow. Once the hardware is as accurate and the installation data is being normalized in ServiceNow you can begin on the software assets. You can approach the software in one of two ways; 1) Based on Discovery or 2) Based on Purchases.

• Based on Discovery
  • This is where you analyze the installation data to find the most highly used software and begin creating Software Models for those applications.
  • You create the Software Model, link the appropriate Discovery Models to it, then create the corresponding Software Counter.
  • Then you can create Software Licenses for all the license purchases of the above applications and link them to the appropriate Software Models.
  • When creating Software Licenses you can allocate the users or devices that each purchase was made for. This will provide additional data in the Software Counter reports.

• Based on Purchases
  • This is where you gather all the license purchases/contracts/license agreements and create the necessary Software Licenses. You will want to do the top publishers first (Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, Oracle, etc). This step is best done by putting all the purchase information into a spreadsheet and then importing the data into ServiceNow via a Transform Map.
  • You create the Software Models based on the purchases and link the appropriate Software Licenses and Discovery Models.
  • Then you create the Software Counters.

This is a very high-level outline of the steps, there are many details that need to be considered in the configuration of Software Licenses, Models, and Counters which will have an effect on the resulting license position. Things such as License Type/Calculation, Upgrade/Downgrade Rights, Application Suites, User/Device Allocations, etc. So it is very important that you fully understand the software product license scheme and use rights of each software being modeled in order to make the correct configuration choices.

GM