Import software usage SCCM

[asd13]

Hi,

I'm setting up software asset management and SCCM is the source.   I'm using the 2012 r2 plugin and everything seems good except the Software Usage (cmdb_sam_sw_usage) table isn't getting populated.   Looking at the wiki, it says SCCM can populate but there's no provided data source or map.   Has anyone configured this and can share the query to pull this data from SCCM?

thanks

David

[jake_mckenna]

The Software Usage table's purpose was to hold non-discoverable items. What i think you are looking for, and what SCCM should be populating is Software Installations(cmdb_sam_sw_install). This one is that table that you will want to start looking into and understanding your data to move towards Counters and license compliance reporting. If you do not see this table make sure that you enable the Software Asset Management plugin after you enable the SCCM plugin as there are some changes made once that plugin is active to make sure data gets into the latest tables.

[asd13]

Thanks Jake.   The Software Installs installs table is getting populated OK but the Usage table can actually record if and when software is actually used rather than just installed.   I want to track who's actively using the licenses.   The excerpt from the wiki article referenced below indicates SCCM can provide this and I'm assuming it's related to the Software Metering part of the app that we'd need to extract this from.  

Using Counters for Software License Reconciliation - ServiceNow Wiki

To use software counters with your own information, follow the steps in the software asset management process. ServiceNow Discovery does not populate the Software Usage (cmdb_sam_sw_usage) table. Use a third party tool such as Microsoft's System Center Configuration Manager to add information about software assets to the Software Usage table.

[Community Alums]

This is a common misconception based on the name of the tables, and I believe that line in the wiki may need to be corrected.

There are two different types of "usage" information that can be used in software asset management:

1. For licensing - consider web meeting software (like Webex) or Software as a Service (like ServiceNow). With these types of software, you do not have installation information you can capture to match up with how the software is licensed. You need to get that information from another source to properly track your licensing. This information is stored in that Software Usage [cmdb_sam_sw_usage] table in ServiceNow to help you match against the license rights you purchase to determine if you are compliant.
2. For optimization - Is a user really using the software installed to his or her computer? This is sometimes called metering. This information is stored in usage related fields in the Software Installation table that Jake references. This allows you to import foreground and background usage times (if your metering tool supports this information) and the last used time. It also includes the last scan time so you can identify if your data is a little stale. You can then use this information to determine if software should be reallocated in your environment based on how much a user is using it. This is not designed to generate complex usage trending reports. It is just meant to provide you with the basic information you need to see how much software is used in the environment.

I hope this clarifies what Jake described and clears up some confusion between the different "usages" in software asset management.

Ben

[asd13]

Thanks for the explanation Ben - I'm a little clearer on the different tables and I hadn't realised there was usage info on the installation table which would probably meet the "is this license actually being utilised" question.   The standard SCCM plugin doesn't query or map to those fields so I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's pulled this out from SCCM - what tables the metering resides in, .   We're also using some SaaS licensing so the usage table would still be useful to populate so I'd like to hear how others are populating.

I'll grab some SCCM doco and post back if and when I get a solution together for it.

Cheers

Dave