ServiceNow Otto for Software Asset Management (SAM) AI agent collection to evaluate software removal candidate agentic workflow
Summarize
Summary of ServiceNow Otto for Software Asset Management (SAM) AI agent collection to evaluate software removal candidate agentic workflow
The Evaluate software removal candidate agentic workflow in ServiceNow Otto for Software Asset Management (SAM) automates the assessment of installed or subscription-based software for potential removal. It analyzes software usage over a defined period to identify eligible removal candidates and, upon user confirmation, initiates reclamation. This workflow is enabled by default and integrates AI agents to ensure intelligent and context-aware evaluation for safe software removal.
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Prerequisites and Access
- Integration with a software asset management system that utilizes AI agents.
- Access to the ServiceNow Otto panel.
- AI agents must have access to reclamation rules, removal candidates, products, and license metric data.
- Required roles to initiate the workflow include samuser or samadmin.
- Role masking governs who can use agentic workflows, necessitating proper security control configuration if restricting access by roles.
How to Initiate the Workflow
The workflow can be started from three primary locations within the ServiceNow interface:
- Software Asset Overview page: Use the Activity center, select suggestions under Removal candidates, then open the Otto panel and choose Evaluate removal candidates.
- Publisher Details page – Publisher level: Navigate to License usage > Publishers > Removal candidates tab, select Evaluate removal candidates, then open the Otto panel to pick a product.
- Publisher Details page – Product level: Similar to the publisher level, use License usage > Publishers > Removal candidates tab, select Evaluate removal candidates, then open the Otto panel to select a product.
Workflow Process and Outcomes
- The AI agent performs multiple checks based on product ID, software type (installed or subscription), last usage, and other metrics.
- If any checks fail, an error message is displayed, preventing continuation.
- If successful, the system notifies the user of the number of identified removal candidates and prompts for reclamation confirmation.
- Upon confirmation, the reclamation process begins, changing removal candidates’ status from Ready to Awaiting User.
- Users can monitor progress and status in the Removal candidates tab within License Usage.
- Work notes are automatically updated in the Activity tab of each removal candidate record after reclamation.
AI Agent Role
The core AI agent involved—the Software removal candidate evaluation AI agent—automatically identifies users eligible for removal by analyzing their software usage within a defined timeframe. It excludes VIP users from removal recommendations and ensures users are informed about the total number of candidates eligible for reclamation. This AI agent is enabled by default to streamline compliance risk reduction and license cost savings.
Use the Evaluate software removal candidate agentic workflow to assess installed or subscription-based software for potential removal by analyzing their usage over a specified period and determining the total number eligible for removal. After user confirmation, the workflow initiates the eligible removal candidate for reclamation.
Evaluate software removal candidate overview
Use the Evaluate software removal candidate agentic workflow to identify and evaluate genuine software removal candidates and recommend software installations for reclamation, based on a series of intelligent checks that help ensure sufficient context for safe removal actions.
- Your organization has a software asset management system integrated with AI agents.
- Access to the ServiceNow Otto panel.
- AI agents have access to reclamation rules, removal candidates, products, and license metric results.
Role masking
Roles required: sam_user.
Agentic workflows and their AI agents use role masking to determine which users can access them. Ones installed with your applications have specific roles that come included with the application. If you select Users with specific roles for user access, you must configure the security controls to include these roles. For the instructions to change the security controls, see Define security controls for an agentic workflow.
Evaluate software removal candidate agentic workflow
By automatically examining and verifying software removal candidates, the Evaluate software removal candidate agentic workflow helps in reducing manual effort, minimizing compliance risk, and unlocking measurable license cost savings.
Any removal candidates that is in the Ready state can be reclaimed.
To start the agentic workflow, you must have the sam_user role or the sam_admin role.
- Software asset overview page
- Publisher details page; both from the publisher level as well as from the product level.
Depending on the page you are on, follow the steps mentioned in the following table:
| Software asset overview page | Publisher details page- publisher level | Publisher details page- product level |
|---|---|---|
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The AI agent initiates a series of checks using multiple criteria, assessing factors such as the product ID, whether it's installed or subscription-based software, and its last usage, among other metrics. If any check fails, the panel displays an error message indicating that the workflow can’t continue. If all the checks are successful, a message appears to indicate the number of removal candidates identified for the particular product. You’re then asked if you would like to reclaim the software. If you confirm, the reclamation process gets initiated and the state of the removal candidates changes from Ready to Awaiting User. You can navigate to the Removal candidates tab in the License Usage view to see the removal candidates and their current state. After the process is complete, you’re informed about all the removal candidates that were successfully reclaimed for the specific product.
Once a removal candidate has been reclaimed by the agentic workflow, the Activity tab in the removal candidate record is updated with relevant work notes.
AI agents used in the Evaluate software removal candidate agentic workflow
| AI agent | AI agent role |
|---|---|
| Software removal candidate evaluation AI agent | Identifies or proposes users for removal from a software product by assessing their usage within a set time frame and ensuring that the total number of eligible candidates for reclamation is notified to the user, while excluding any VIP users. |