Create and manage software suites using the legacy Software Asset Management plugin

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Create and manage software suites using the legacy Software Asset Management plugin

    This feature allows ServiceNow customers to manage software licensing more accurately by organizing related software products into suites rather than bundles. A software suite represents a group of related software components sold as one unit, such as Microsoft Office Professional, which includes applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

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    Using the legacy Software Asset Management (SAM) plugin, customers can create software suites and define their components. This setup ensures that license usage reflects the actual software deployed across the organization.

    Key Features

    • Suite and Component Designation: Each software model can be defined as a suite (parent) or a component (child). A single software model can be part of multiple suites, and it can also simultaneously be a suite and a component if needed.
    • Inference Percent: This setting specifies the minimum percentage of suite components that must be installed to recognize the suite as installed, enabling flexible detection of suite usage.
    • Inference Mandatory: This option enforces that specific components must be installed for the suite to be considered installed, providing precise control over suite identification.
    • Suite Management Interface: Customers can add components to suites via the Suite Components section of a software model record, and assign suites to components via the Suite Parents section.
    • Automated Suite Calculation: When suites are modified, a scheduled job called "Calculate suites" runs immediately to update suite installation records. These calculations are stored in the cmdbsamswinstall table under inferred suites.

    Practical Application

    By defining software suites and their components, ServiceNow customers can:

    • Ensure accurate license counting that reflects the true software installed in the environment.
    • Leverage inference settings to tailor how suites are detected based on component installation patterns.
    • Manage complex software licensing scenarios where components belong to multiple suites.
    • Automate the analysis and recognition of software suites to maintain compliance and optimize software asset management.

    Software uses the concept of suites instead of bundles.

    A software suite is a group of related software offered as one unit. An example is the Microsoft Office Professional suite of office productivity software tools that includes Powerpoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, and Access. You can use the legacy Software Asset Management (com.snc.software_asset_management) plugin to create suites and add components to the suite so that the licenses your organization own are counted accurately.

    For any software model, you have the option to specify whether the model is a suite (parent) or a component (child). A software model can be a component in multiple suites. For example, Microsoft Word is a component in Microsoft Office Standard and Microsoft Office Professional. Although you can set a single software model as both a suite and a component, software is not typically sold as nested suites.

    Use the Inference percent and Inference mandatory options for even greater control of suites.
    • Inference percent: specifies what percentage of the components in the suite must be installed for the software to be identified as a suite.
    • Inference mandatory: enforces that a specific component in a suite must be installed to infer that the suite is installed.
    For example, specify the Inference percent as 80% and set the Inference mandatory option to true on Microsoft Access. These settings specify that Microsoft Access must be installed, along with 3 out of 4 other products (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Outlook) to infer that Microsoft Office Professional is installed.
    Figure 1. The interference percent and interference mandatory fields
    The interference percent and Interference mandatory fields
    To make the new software model record a parent record in a suite:
    1. Open a software model record.
    2. In the Suite Components section, double-click an empty row under Suite child.
      Figure 2. Suite child
      The suite child
    3. Add the software to include in the suite.
    4. [Optional] Set the Inference mandatory option to true if the software must be installed to count the model as a suite.
    5. Repeat as necessary.
    To make the new software record a child item:
    1. Open a software model record.
    2. In the Suite Parents section, double-click an empty row under Suite parent.
      Figure 3. Suite parent
      The Suite parent
    3. Add the suite to which this software model should belong.
    4. Repeat as necessary.
      Note:
      When a change is made to a suite, a scheduled job called Calculate suites [Software Suite Model] is created. The job runs instantly, calculates any suites, and then deletes itself. The calculations are stored in the cmdb_sam_sw_install table under inferred suite.