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

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated September 14, 2022
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Use Software Asset Management and Application Portfolio Management to manage technology onboarding

    ServiceNow enables customers to manage technology onboarding by integrating Software Asset Management (SAM) with the Technology Reference Model (TRM) from Application Portfolio Management. The TRM serves as a curated list of approved software products, each linked to lifecycle phases with defined start and end dates. This integration helps enterprises maintain control over software usage aligned with architectural governance.

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    Key Features

    • Technology Reference Model (TRM): Maintained by the enterprise architect, the TRM lists software products along with their approval status and lifecycle phases. Application owners rely on this list to ensure software compliance.
    • Certified Flag in Software Models: When creating a software model linked to a TRM-approved product, the Certified checkbox is automatically selected, indicating the software is approved for use.
    • Approval Synchronization: If a product’s approval status changes in TRM, existing software models do not automatically update the Certified flag. A banner notifies users of discrepancies, prompting manual updates to maintain synchronization.
    • Reclamation Candidates: Marking a product as unapproved in TRM triggers automatic creation of reclamation candidates for all installations, aiding in license compliance and cost control. When the product is reapproved, these candidates are closed appropriately.

    Practical Use Case

    For example, if a software model (SW1) is created for an unapproved product like PostgreSQL, the model defaults to unapproved status with removal candidates generated. When PostgreSQL later becomes approved, a banner alerts users to update SW1’s Certified status to true. New software models (e.g., SW2) created after approval automatically inherit the approved status, simplifying compliance management.

    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 Technology Reference Model.

    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.