Accessing Software Asset Management

[Frank Reay]

I have seen mention made of Software Asset Management and in particular this screenshot:

However in our instance we only see this:

I think it is a fairly basic module and I don’t think needs to be paid for. There is very little mention of it in the wiki.

Am I missing something?

[Steven Boardman]

@Frank Reay you will need to assign the following role to see this menu option

There is no additional cost for this feature, it is part of the Service Manager subscription.

[Frank Reay]

Thanks @Steven Boardman
So that has now enabled me to access the SAM screen. However I have gone down the same rabbit warren as seen in this Forum Topic:

There is a Forum message where a user has clearly integrated SCCM but I cannot find any info on how that has been done and what the product offers. I just can't tell if this module is of any value to us.

Is this indeed related to ITOM as you suggest?

[Steven Boardman]

@Frank Reay SAM is not dependent on you using the Hornill ITOM module.

You can import the installed software from SCCM or other discovery tools and view this in the Software Asset Management views inside Hornbill Service Manager:

This can be viewed in a number of different places:

• On an individual asset view 

 

In order to see this accordion section on an asset record, you need to have enabled it via the Manage Asset Types options and enabled it for each Asset Type where it is relevant (Laptops, Server etc)

 

• In list view - from here you can see all installed software, with a vendor filter and in the righthand side panel which assets the software is installed on.

 

If you hover over the Actions column for an entry on the list, you will see an option to Add a software license record, which will allow you to manually create a software asset type record to record information about that installed piece of software  

This will allow you to record, the software type, vendor, license numbers, etc.

You will need to amend your import scripts to also import installed software information:

https://wiki.hornbill.com/index.php?title=Database_Asset_Import

I will ask the team to update the wiki to provide the above information.

[Frank Reay]

@Steven Boardman

That's very helpful - thanks. You have opened my eyes to a number of opportunities.

One more question - The Mobile Device Class does not have 'Installed Software Information'. We use that Class for our laptops and mobile phones (basically our EUC estate) to keep them distinct at a high level from Servers (which are grouped under the Computer Class) with our Network kit under Network Devices. Is there any reason why 'Installed Software Information' cannot be added to Mobile Device Class?

[Steven Boardman]

@Frank Reay no problem,  ill ask one of the development team to comment on the mobile class.

[Frank Reay]

@Steven Boardman hi there - is there a chance for some input here as mentioned above please?

[Steven Boardman]

@Frank Reay I've raised this with the development team, @AlexTumber could you comment here for Frank please?

[Steven Boardman]

@Frank Reay this has now been enabled for the Mobile Device asset class too, this will be available in the next Service Manager update, which is expected in the next two weeks.  Please look out for the release notes, on the next update.