Question about importing alm_license, and, number of generated Catalog Items

[nagaryu]

We are currently investigating SAM Pro.
Currently, customers select the Microsoft products they want to apply for licenses for from the Excel file and request the support by email, but we would like to convert this to ServiceNow.

The Excel file contains the PPN number, amount, and easy-to-understand name for internal users.

There are about 600 items.

I think these records will probably be imported into the alm_license table. In other words, I imagine that end users will select the contents of alm_license instead of the Software Model when applying.

So, as a test, we imported about 70 items using the template posted in the Software Asset Workspace, and the PPN number was probably matched with the Content Library, and "Software model, License type, Metric group, License metric", etc. were automatically entered and imported into the alm_license table.

Now, we have encountered some problems here, so please tell us the best practice.

<1>
There was no corresponding field for "easy-to-understand name for internal users", so we set it in the Asset tag field, but this field has a limit of 40 characters, so the part exceeding that was cut off.

→Question: Should I increase this to, say, 100 characters in the Dictionary settings, or create a custom field and set it there?

I would like to display this name on the screen where users apply, i.e., on the Catalog Item.

＜2＞
There are records for which the PPN number does not exist. When I compared the PPN numbers with those registered in samp_sw_product_definition, about half of them, 300, did not match.

Incompatible PPN numbers include, for example, AAA-10386-2024, AAA-04851-2020, AAA-10387, AAF-18850, and AAD-85941.

There are currently 4,675,360 records in samp_sw_product_definition.

→Question: Is there no other way than to manually create 300 alm_license records?

However, if I do it manually, I don't know which Software Model to link it to. . .

<3>
In OOTB, when you create a catalog item using the "Publish to Software Catalog" button in the Related Links of the Software Model, I think that the Software Model and the catalog item are generated in a "one-to-one relationship".

However, at this point, of the 70 items imported into alm_license, about 60 independent software models were automatically created.

(In other words, there are 60 software models, and each one was automatically generated with one or two alm_license records linked to it.)

→Question: If you create a catalog item according to the OOTB operation, will it be "60 catalog items created, and end users can select them from the portal screen and apply"?

However, we are concerned that this will make it difficult for end users to select (it is less visible than Excel), and that maintainability will also be poor. This is because if we end up importing about 600 records, we will probably have to generate and maintain about 400 to 500 catalog items.

<4>
As a countermeasure to the above concerns, we are considering creating several independent Catalog Items that are not linked to the Software Model (such as units such as MS E3, MS E4, and MS E5), making their Variables Reference type, and making the reference to the alm_license table so that users can select them.

However, with this method, it is obviously not linked to the Software Model, so after applying, the sc_request > sc_task > Source Request button > License assignment screen cannot be used.

→Question: I think that the only way to assign a license is to use a script such as Business Rule to automatically create an alm_entitlement_user record for the alm_license selected by the end user when an sc_task is closed, but what do you think?

However, if this is used, if the "reservation" function is used, a new alm_license record will be automatically generated, but I am concerned that it will not be possible to assign it correctly, or that a complex script will be required.

I apologize for asking so many questions, but I would appreciate any advice.

[Vickie Cooper · Accepted solution]

There are a lot of questions going on here. I suggest you take a look at these documents which are very helpful when getting started. 

• SAM Process Guide: https://nowlearning.servicenow.com/nowcreate/en/pages/assets?id=nc_asset&asset_id=fb47538787264e9cf2...
• ITAM Process Diagrams- HAM, EAM and SAM: https://learning.servicenow.com/nowcreate/en/pages/assets?id=nc_asset&nc_ai_search=true&sys_id=2beea...
• SaaS License management: https://www.servicenow.com/standard/resource-center/data-sheet/ds-saas-license-management.html
• Software Entitlement Fields: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bundle/xanadu-it-asset-management/page/product/software-asset-manage...

As for your use cases and what I suggest: 

<1> The asset tag is automatically generated (named something like SWL100000XXXX - SWL for Software License).  I would not touch this. When you publish to the software catalog you can update the name that shows up on the form there (which is pulled from the software model).

＜2＞There are records for which the PPN number does not exist. 

You can create custom part numbers OR you can input a request to have all of those added to the content library. 

https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0790305

<3> When you publish to catalog it will be the software model itself (so the 60). You can have unlimited entitlement (alm_license) records associated to it. The idea is that users will add to cart all of the software that they would like to order (like amazon experience).

<4> There should be a software model for M365 E3, E5, etc with office, teams, etc as the children of that software model. You should just publish the parent. Ideally the end user should not be touching the alm tables at all. It should be the software managers, sam admin, etc. Take a look at the process doc I shared that has the RAA outlined. 

Reservations are specific for Microsoft (basically use now pay at true up time). 

[nagaryu]

Thank you for your reply.
Thank you for the links to the process guides, etc. There is a lot of information, so I will check it little by little.

Regarding <4>, the current application method involves end users selecting from an Excel list with PPN numbers assigned, so I think this is essentially the same as "selecting from alm_license."

However, unlike the SAM approach, I think that OOTB should allow the parent Software Model to be selected, so I will check with the customer again to see if such an operational change is possible.