Is Discovery Map required for SW Reconciliation?

[RahulY00040]

Hello friends,

I would like to understand if Discovery Map is required for effective and complete SW reconciliation?

I saw few SW models and they were reconciling successfully even if Discovery Map is missing.

In face, even if discovery map is missing UI action on SW Model record shows Matching Discovery Models. So would like to understand if its required for Reconciliation? Also, what's the significance of fields such as Version condition, edition condition, etc. Is it to locate the SW Discovery Models?

Thanks in advance,
Rahul Yamgar

[bondatej]

Hi @RahulY00040 

Discovery Map is not strictly required for Software Reconciliation in ServiceNow SAM. Reconciliation can still work if the Software Discovery Model is already normalized and can be directly matched to the Software Model, which is why some software models reconcile successfully even when the Discovery Map is empty.

The “Matching Discovery Models” UI action simply shows potential discovery models that match the software model attributes (publisher, product, version, edition, etc.). It does not mean a Discovery Map exists.

However, Discovery Maps are important for accurate and controlled reconciliation, especially for complex licensing scenarios such as:

Version or edition-based licensing

Suites/bundles

Upgrade or downgrade rights

Custom software products

Fields like Version Condition, Edition Condition, Platform, etc. are used to define which Software Discovery Models should map to the Software Model during reconciliation. These conditions help SAM correctly identify and associate discovered installations with the right license entitlements.

So in summary:

Simple products may reconcile fine without a Discovery Map.

Complex or license-sensitive products should use Discovery Maps for accurate compliance and entitlement mapping.

If you find this helpful. Mark this question as solved. 

Thank you 😊