The normalization process compares the discovered publisher, discovered product, and discovered version and edition values against the ServiceNow repository of normalized equivalents. Matches are added to the corresponding normalized fields (publisher, product, version, and edition) of the Discovery Model table. The normalized fields are then used to reconcile entitlements purchased and to compute license positions.
Read more about is here.
Process to assess normalization
Before starting make sure that the latest content is being added to your instance. For this please check the Normalization and content tab- Central data service download status. In case data is not downloaded run the CDS client scheduled jobs ad hoc to make sure the latest content is available in the instance. ServiceNow Software Asset Management provides automated content to simplify the normalization of software installations and subscriptions, offering enriched data such as lifecycle information, downgrade rights, and suite definitions. This data is essential for maintaining accurate license compliance and optimization.
Steps to assess normalization
|
Activity S.No. |
Activity |
Activity Details |
|
3.1 |
Review Installs that are fully normalized |
Install that re fully normalized are good candidates for license compliance calculation. However, edition discovery is also critical for right license compliance calculation. Recommended Actions for SAM Managers/Analysts: If Edition is not discovered, check if the discovery solution supports the discovery of edition. If not, manually update the discovery model- edition override field. Check details here |
|
3.2 |
Review Installs that are partially normalized/publisher normalized |
Recommended Actions for SAM Managers/Analysts: Option 1: If you can wait for ServiceNow to perform research and come back: You can opt-in to content services and ServiceNow will share the data to auto normalize the discovery models Option 2: If you cannot wait Perform manual normalization and receive normalization suggestions which you can accept or reject Steps to manually normalize here Steps to accept/reject normalization suggestions here
|
|
3.3 |
Review Installs not normalized (match not found) |
Recommended Actions for SAM Managers/Analysts: If it is a home-grown software:
If it not a home-grown software
If you cannot wait
|
Common FAQs
Q1. What is the impact of not normalizing?
Ans. The impact would be that license compliance results will not be generated correctly. SAM pro shows you an install requiring action with reason as missing normalization for you to take action.
Q2. Is there a defined timeline for servicenow to normalize the partially/not normalized installs?
Ans. While we strive to normalize as fast as we can, we dont provide timelines. In case, you are not having time you can perform manual normalization and thereby servicenow will provide normalization suggestions in case the manually normalized installs are not in line with the expected normalization results.
Q3. Do you perform normalization on non licensable software?
Ans. Yes
Q4. What is the other enrichment data that ServiceNow adds as part of normalization?
Ans. ServiceNow adds a lot of enrichment data such as downgrade rights, suite components, suite inference, life cycle information as part of the normalization process.
Q5. I want to chage ignore installs flag on my software product as i believe for my case it is a true saas software. Can i change it?
Ans. Ignore installs flag determine if the install for the software product needs to be considered for licensing or not. This is licensing information and currently set by the product with no ability to edit.
Q6. Do I need to create discovery models.
Ans. No. These are automatically created after software installs are discovered.
Q7. Can i change the downgrade rights or suite components provided?
Ans. It is always recommended to have the downgrade/suite components to be the same as set by servicenow. ServiceNow content services provides a lot of content for these use cases after before detailed analysis across publishers. In case, you find something incorrec you can always raise a case with servicenow.
Q8. I know that certain product editions are non licensable even though the product may be licensable. How does SAM pro handle it as we know that normalization only considers publisher, product and version and not the edition?
ServiceNow ships details of which product's editions are licensable or non licensable. These details are mainted in the product exception rules table : samp_prod_lic_excep_rules
However, customers can add more custom product exception rules here. However, if a product is non-licensable, an exception rule can’t be created for a licensable edition. For this case, you must raise a case with the Content Service team with supporting documentation and the team reviews whether the edition must be tagged as licensable.
Q9. As soon as I enter a PPN an software model is created and which may lead to a number of software models being created automatically. For example software models created for suite components, downgrades and more. Is this te right practise as now i have a high number of software models created- which actually were created by the system and not me?
Ans.Yes, that’s completely acceptable when the software model is generated by ServiceNow Content (via PPN or DMAP). ServiceNow Content Services supplies all suite components and any necessary downgrade versions to maintain license compliance for each product. For instance, if your PPN entitlement is for Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Standard, but you actually have Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Standard installed, the 2022 entitlement must also cover that 2016 installation. As ServiceNow automatically creates a downgrade software model in this scenario from the PPN, allowing SAM Pro to apply the correct license compliance rules without extra effort.
