Use Software Asset Management and Application Portfolio Management to manage technology onboarding

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Use Software Asset Management and Application Portfolio Management to manage technology onboarding

    This content explains how ServiceNow customers can leverage theSoftware Asset Management (SAM)application alongside theTechnology Reference Model (TRM)from Application Portfolio Management to effectively manage the onboarding and lifecycle of technologies within their organization.

    Show full answer Show less

    The TRM is a curated list of software products with approval statuses and associated lifecycle phases, maintained by enterprise architects and utilized by application owners. SAM integrates with the TRM to provide visibility into these lifecycle phases and automate software compliance and reclamation processes.

    Key Features

    • Integration with TRM: When a software model is created and linked to a TRM-approved product, the system automatically marks the software as certified, enabling its use.
    • Certification Synchronization: If a product’s approval status in TRM changes, SAM reflects this status when software models are opened, displaying banners to alert users when software is no longer approved and prompting manual certification updates to maintain sync.
    • Automatic Reclamation: If a product is marked unapproved in TRM, SAM automatically creates reclamation candidates for all installations of that product, facilitating compliance and cost control.
    • Lifecycle Phase Visibility: SAM provides visibility into TRM lifecycle phases for all software models, aiding in governance and strategic planning.

    Practical Use Case

    The use case illustrates managing software certification and restrictions based on TRM approval changes:

    • Creating a software model (e.g., SW1) linked to an unapproved TRM product marks it as uncertified and restricted, automatically creating removal candidates.
    • Upon TRM approval of the product, reopening the software model displays a banner prompting certification update to true; older versions remain restricted until updated.
    • New software models created after TRM approval (e.g., SW2) are automatically certified and unrestricted.

    Key Outcomes

    • Ensures software usage complies with enterprise technology standards and approvals.
    • Automates identification and reclamation of unauthorized software installations.
    • Maintains alignment between software asset records and enterprise architecture governance.
    • Supports application owners and asset managers in managing software onboarding efficiently and transparently.

    Use the Software Asset Management application along with Technology Reference Model (TRM) of Application Portfolio Management to manage onboarding of technologies.

    TRM is a list of software products with information on their approval of use. Each product is associated with a set of lifecycle phases with a start and end date. The TRM library is maintained by the enterprise architect and used by application owners. For detailed information on TRM, see Exploring Technology Reference Model - Legacy.

    The Software Asset Management application gives visibility into the TRM lifecycle phases for all products associated with software models. When a software model is created and associated with a product that is approved for use in TRM, the Certified check box in the software model form is selected by default. All software models associated with that product are then available for use.

    Software model from

    If the same product in TRM is later marked as unapproved, the existing software models associated with that product don't reflect that change. However, when you open the existing software models, a banner appears stating This software is not approved for use in the Technology Reference Model (TRM). To be in sync with the TRM, set the Certified flag to FALSE..

    If a new software model is created with this product, that software model is marked as unapproved, and a banner isn't displayed as this software model is in sync with TRM.

    If a product is marked as unapproved in TRM, reclamation candidates are automatically created for all software installations that are associated with that product. After the product is approved for use in TRM, the existing reclamation candidates are either marked Closed complete or Closed canceled.

    Software Asset Management and TRM use case

    This section describes a use case that demonstrates how the Software Asset Management application and TRM interact.

    For example, you create a software model SW1, on September 15, 2022, and associate it with PostgreSQL, which is an unapproved product in TRM. By default, the Certified check box in the SW1 form is set to false and the Restricted software check box is set to true. Also removal candidates are created for any installations discovered.

    On September 18, 2022, release 14.5 of PostgreSQL gets approved for use in TRM. If you now open SW1 a banner appears stating the following This software is approved for use in the Technology Reference Model (TRM). To be in sync with the TRM, set the Certified flag as true. However software models with older versions would continue to be restricted.

    If you create another software model SW2, on September 19, 2022, and associate it with PostgreSQL, the Certified check box is set to true and the Restricted software check box is set to false in the SW2 form.