Content updates for Software Asset Management

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Content updates for Software Asset Management

    The Software Asset Management (SAM) Content Service delivers weekly content updates to your ServiceNow instance to help normalize and maintain accurate software asset data. These updates cover various aspects of software asset management, ensuring your data stays current and consistent with industry standards and ServiceNow best practices.

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    Key Features

    • Content updates include categories, discovery maps, normalization suggestions, product classifications, license exception rules, product names and types, publishers, suite definitions, software model life cycles, software model suggestions, custom software product suggestions, and Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) normalization rules.
    • Software models do not update their display names when a publisher's name changes unless the product moves to a different publisher, in which case the model is updated accordingly.
    • Product types can be adjusted at the product edition level using custom product license exception rules. Exception rules help manage licensability status for different editions.
    • The SAM - Apply latest content changes scheduled job processes and applies content updates to your instance, including updating related transactional data and downstream records.
    • The SAM - Create suites for a software model scheduled job updates suite components and life cycle information in software models.
    • Automated content updates can be disabled on a per-software model basis by clearing the Allow automated content updates flag.
    • Life-cycle data added through content updates cannot be deleted but can be deactivated; this data is sourced from ServiceNow.
    • Reports like Software Models with deactivated discovery maps help identify software models linked to inactive discovery maps.
    • The SAM Content Audit table provides visibility into changes made to the software library via content updates.
    • Content updates do not modify custom products or custom discovery maps.

    Practical Considerations for Customers

    • If you encounter a product edition that should be licensable but is marked otherwise, you must submit a case with supporting documentation to the Content Service team for review.
    • To prevent automated updates for specific software models, utilize the Allow automated content updates flag.
    • Use reporting tools to monitor and manage updates, ensuring your software asset data aligns with organizational policies and compliance requirements.
    • For customers interested in contributing content for inclusion in future updates, guidance is available on how to share information with ServiceNow’s SAM content service.

    The Software Asset Management Content Service provides content updates to your instance weekly that you can use to normalize your data.

    The following types of content can be updated as part of a content update:
    • Categories
    • Discovery maps
    • Normalization suggestions
    • Product classifications
    • Product license exception rules
    • Product names
    • Product types
    • Publishers
    • Suite definitions
    • Software model life cycles
    • Software model suggestions
    • Custom software product suggestions
    • Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) normalization rule
    Note:
    Software models aren’t updated when a publisher's name is updated as part of the content updates. The software model isn't updated because its display name is removed from the core company's reference. However, if a product moves to a different publisher, then the software model gets updated during content updates when the product goes from one core company to the other core company. The publisher name is updated for new software models but not for existing software models.

    Product types can be updated on a product’s edition level using the Custom Product License Exception Rules [samp_cust_prod_lic_excep_rules] table. For cases where certain editions are non-licensable, the product type gets updated automatically if the exception rule is defined in the Product License Exception Rules [samp_prod_lic_excep_rules] table or the Custom Product License Exception Rules [samp_cust_prod_lic_excep_rules] table. 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.

    The SAM - Apply latest content changes scheduled job runs and processes the content updates. After the content download is complete, the updated content is pulled from the staging columns to the corresponding target columns. Related downstream records are also updated.

    A query runs and identifies what transactional data in your instance must be updated with the new content. After the changes are identified, the changes are then propagated to your instance.

    Another scheduled job, SAM - Create suites for a software model, runs and propagates suite component and life cycle changes to your software models. If you don't want content changes applied to a software model, then you can clear the Allow automated content updates flag on the Software Model form. By default, the flag is selected to enable automated content updates to all software models.

    Note:
    If a content update adds life-cycle data, it can't be deleted from the software model, but you can deactivate it. Any life-cycle data that is added as part of a content update has the source set to Servicenow.

    Use the Software Models with deactivated discovery maps report to show software models that are pointing to any deactivated discovery maps.

    To see the changes that have been made to the software library, review the SAM Content Audit [sam_content_audit] table.

    Note:
    Content updates don't have an impact on any custom products or custom discovery maps.

    For more information on how to send your content to ServiceNow and include it in the content updates, see Enable sharing information with Software Asset Management content service. For more information on content updates, see KB0824127.