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

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Create and manage software suites using the legacy Software Asset Management plugin

    This documentation explains how to create and manage software suites using the legacy Software Asset Management (SAM) plugin (com.snc.softwareassetmanagement) in ServiceNow. A software suite groups related software products sold as a single unit, such as Microsoft Office Professional, which includes PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, and Access. Accurately defining suites and their components helps ensure proper license counting for your organization.

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    Key Features

    • Software model roles: Each software model can be designated as a suite (parent) or a component (child). Components can belong to multiple suites.
    • Inference controls:
      • Inference percent: Defines the percentage of suite components that must be installed to infer the suite is installed.
      • Inference mandatory: Specifies if a particular component must be installed for the suite to be inferred.
    • Configuration process:
      • To define a suite, add components as suite children in the software model record.
      • To add a software as a component, link it as a child to one or more suites in its software model record.
      • Optionally mark components as mandatory for inference to refine suite detection.
    • Automatic recalculation: When suite configurations change, a scheduled job runs immediately to recalculate suite installations and updates the cmdbsamswinstall table with inferred suite data.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By using the legacy SAM plugin to model software suites accurately, you can:

    • Ensure license compliance by correctly counting installed software suites based on component installations.
    • Improve SAM reporting accuracy by leveraging inference settings to reflect real-world software usage.
    • Maintain flexibility as components can belong to multiple suites and suites can be managed centrally.
    • Benefit from automated recalculations of suite installations upon configuration changes, reducing manual maintenance.

    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.