Pre-Con Ed: Software Asset Management

Pre-Con Ed: Software Asset
Management: Working in the Trenches
Michel Avenel - Sr. Principal Product Manager - CA Technologies
AMX27E
AGILE MANAGEMENT

3 © 2016 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLD
© 2016 CA. All rights reserved. All trademarks referenced herein belong to their respective companies.
The content provided in this CA World 2016 presentation is intended for informational purposes only and does not form any type of
warranty. The information provided by a CA partner and/or CA customer has not been reviewed for accuracy by CA.
For Informational Purposes Only
Terms of this Presentation

Agenda
INTRODUCTION
LICENSE INVENTORY
Q&A
SOFTWARE INVENTORY
COMPLIANCE
SPECIAL CASES
1
2
3
4
5
6

Part 1: Introduction
A Day in the Life of a Software Asset Manager

Introduction
SETTING THE STAGE – The CA IT Asset Manager (CA ITAM) - Software Asset Management “A” MODEL

License Management
 CA ITAM software asset management (SAM) capabilities use an
“Entitlement Centric” approach for Compliance activities.
 Entitlement Centric solutions work differently than Asset
Centric solution to address Software License Management
outcomes:
– Asset Centric Solutions consider desktops or servers to determine
what software is installed and how many licenses required to cover
these installations?
– Entitlement Centric Solutions: consider purchased licenses and
their associated product use rights to determine how to calculate
the number of licenses required cover software usage.
 Auditors focuses on your legal obligations for “documented”
license purchases to ascertain compliance; hence, an
Entitlement Centric approach appropriate.
Asset Centric vs. Entitlement Centric

License Inventory
 How do I find out what I am licensed for and if there are
restrictions for use of a License?
 How do CA’s SAM capabilities support these activities?
 There are many different ways to procure licenses:
– All procurement methods provide details of your use rights and
restrictions within the documents.
– Extracting this information (data) is addressed through a
combination of review, analysis and reporting of the procurement
documents.
– CA’s SAM capabilities provide the central repository to manage this
information enabling you to identify purchased licenses and their
associated entitlements and restrictions.
License Procurement

License Inventory
 The next step in identifying License Inventory is to complete Receiving
Inspection activities.
 Receiving inspection is where the procurement data is verified against
the information in the Master Catalog.
– The Master Catalog is the central repository that provides
information required to assist in the correct identification of
licenses purchased.
– The Master Catalog knows what Product Use Rights (PUR’s) are
associated with each License either by referring to the
manufacturer standards or to extended master catalog records that
have been created to reflect specific customer negotiated terms.
– The mapping or reconciliation performed through the receiving
inspection process provides you with an Effective License Inventory
of the Product Use Rights (PUR’s) that are linked to the Licenses.
Receiving Inspection

License Inventory
 In addition to understanding the provisions of your Licenses, it
is essential to include relevant Contract terms in your analysis.
 These terms are captured through manual Contract review &
analysis to identify relevant information (data elements) and
entry into a central repository.
 CA’s SAM capabilities provide different methods for loading
Contract data:
– Standard import templates for all relevant tables.
– Manual entry can also be performance through the user
interface.
 CA Technologies also provides a Contract Import Template to
facilitate data loads.
Loading Contract Data

License Inventory
 Once License/Entitlement information has been compiled it should be
loaded into CA ITAM
 CA’s SAM capabilities provide different methods of loading
License/Entitlement data:
– Loading data from reseller or supplier reports can be done for
software titles purchased via these organizations.
– An interface (Connector) can be built into your centralized
procurement system to capture data from within
– Manual entry can also be performance through the user interface.
 CA also provides a Contract Import Template to facilitate data loads.
Loading License Entitlement Data

License Inventory
 Once the License is recognized from the procurement information, it
is forwarded to the License Clearing function.
 License Clearing captures Product Use Rights, Maintenance Rights,
Language, Version, etc.
 Relevant information is linked to the License purchase and
forwarded to your effective License inventory.
 Once we have our effective License Inventory, we can answer
questions and take action.
Effective License Inventory Actions

Software Inventory
 To create a License Balance you must focus not only on your
Licenses but also on software usage.
 Your Software Inventory Manager will load discovery data into CA
ITAM.
 The raw data from your discovery tools must be mapped to
licensable products (using the Master Catalog).
 The result is a Software Inventory showing which products are
installed on which machines or used by which users.
 In an asset centric solution it usually is the last step, you compare
your software installations to your licenses however, this is not the
case for an entitlement centric approach.
 With CA’s SAM solution, Software Inventory is not the last step.
Not Your Last Step

Software Inventory
 As previously mentioned, in an Entitlement Centric approach the
Software Inventory is not where License Management ends.
 Entitlement Centric does not need to know what or how many
installations you have, it needs to know how many Licenses you
need to cover the number of installations.
 To enable the Entitlement Centric approach, CA’s SAM capabilities
provide a unique function based on the Master Catalog – Metric
Engines – which facilitates this calculation.
Metric Engines

Software Inventory
 A Metric Engine calculates “Effective License Demand” based on the
metric assigned to the license product through data loading and
configuration activities.
 Metric Engines are a set of algorithms and rules built to calculate
Effective Demand by comparing all data entered into the solution to
enable the compliance calculation, including:
– Software Inventory
– Master Data
– Contract Data
– License/Entitlement Data
Effective Demand

Software Inventory
 Metric Engines are designed to manage for complex metrics found
in server environments, for example:
– IBM PVU or Oracle CPU metrics that tie to physical attributes of
a device on which the software is installed to calculate
consumption.
– Virtualized Environments
– Citrix Environments
Effective Demand

Software Inventory
 Complex algorithms required to calculate these metrics are
contained within the Master Catalog.
 The metrics define the parameters for how to calculate demand:
– IBM WebSphere installations will be detected via the Master
Catalog and the metric in the Master Catalog will control a
calculation for the number of Licenses required to cover the
installation(s).
 This means it is not the installation, but the calculated “demand”
that is compared to the available Licenses during balancing.
 This is identified in the “A” Model.
 Your Software Inventory is used by the metric engine calculation to
create your “Effective Demand.”
Effective Demand

Balancing (Compliance Checks)
 IMPORTANT: Compliance checks are highly dependent on both the
data provided and the quality of the data.
 CA’s SAM capabilities are designed to deliver a “Compliance
Position” even if you are missing data elements.
 It uses a concept of “default data” if key data elements are missing.
 It identifies where “default data” elements are used to enable you
to see and measure the risk associated with your Compliance
Position.
 To mitigate the risk and improve your compliance position
addressing data quality issues is essential.
Data Quality

 CA’s SAM solution uses a concept of “Validation Processes” to
improve the quality of the balanced elements.
 If “License Data” is missing at the time you execute a Compliance
Check, you must ensure remaining license records in the License
Clearing / Updating Process have no issues.
 If there is “Usage Data” missing at the time you execute a
Compliance Check, you must ensure Software Recognition function
processes data from source to compliance is transferred and
validated.
Data Quality

 License Managers on your Compliance Team are required to review
License Clearing and Software Recognition Processes to identify any
additional data required.
 This is an ongoing (steady-state) activity as data is constantly
updated.
– It is recommended that both processes are reviewed prior to
run each Compliance View.
 Creating and executing an internal remediation process is key to
managing data quality.
 Once data quality issues are resolved, re-running Compliance
Analysis is required.
Data Quality

 Senior Management is not necessarily interested in the individual
results of a Compliance Check.
 They are focused on risk and related cost/impact the Compliance
Positions create.
 CA supports the ability to create & understand the financial impact
of a specific Compliance Position.
 BEST PRACTICE:
– It is highly recommended that you include financial data as with
the entitlement information entered into CA’s SAM solution.
– It enables business impact analysis and prioritization.
– Without it you will find it difficult to define the impact of your
position.
Compliance Intelligence

 The Compliance Intelligence function uses financial information to
identify impact.
 It is also the function that provides drill down/drill up capabilities
during the analysis of your compliance Position.
 It allows you to drill up and down into:
– Manufacturers and products
– Organizational levels within your organization
 It provides a view into the associated risk and financial impact of
your Compliance Positions.
Compliance Intelligence

 Challenges:
– Many people / roles / organizations involved
– Complex, parallel sub-processes (requiring different domain)
– Information exchange / process independent communication
– Labeling / clearing optimization and validation of data
– Marking the work progress of the data
Challenges and Approach

 Approach:
– Introduction of status systems
– Data Identification (e.g. validated, in progress, out of scope)
– Display processes step by step:
 Prefix for ordering
 Responsibilities [CA/ASP], [Customer])
– Information Exchange (Review required information provided)
Challenges and Approach

Overview of SAM Roles
License Balance Manager (LBM)
Software Inventory
Administrator (SIA)
License Inventory
Administrator (LIA)
Application Interface Administrator (AIA)

CA ITAM’s Software Asset Management Roles
Overview
Coordinator Roles Description
SAM Service Coordinator (SSC) These roles are primarily focused on communication and guidance
to ensure that Role specifications and defined processes are known
and followed. Coordinators support the operative teams in case of
questions or issues and control communication to other teams.
Application Interface Coordinator (AIC)
Software Inventory Coordinator (SIC)
License Inventory Coordinator (LIC)
Operator Roles Description
Corporate License Compliance Manager (CLCM) These are roles that are primarily focused on the actual work on the
data and the compliance checks and analysis within CA SAM.
Application Interface Administrator (AIA)
Software Inventory Administrator (SIA)
License Inventory Administrator (LIA)
Supporting Roles Description
Hosting Provider (If Applicable) These are roles focused on tasks not usually involved in the actual
asset or license management function, but support these activities
providing related services.
Application Administrator
Data Source Owners (for each data sources)

Overview of SAM Roles
Sign-Off Overview
License Balance
Software Inventory License Inventory
Development of a Compliance View Sign-Off is required in three areas

How Sign-Off Impact Your Compliance View
Roles Cascade
License Balance Manager: For quality validation, check with corresponding inventory administrator
Inventory Administrator: For qualify validation, check with corresponding coordinator and data provider
Coordinator Roles: Liaison with data source owners to ensure complete & accurate data is received
Data Source Owner: Non-SAM function, but critical content supplier to support SAM outcomes
Inventory Administrator ensures inventory is complete and valid
QUALITY
REPORTS
EXCEPTION
REPORTS /
DELIVERY
REGISTER
The License Balance Manager check data using the balance process

Part 2: License Inventory

License Inventory Administrator
 Review License Inventory to ensure it is correctly processed:
– Effective licenses, Update licenses, Inactive licenses (Expired)
– Check Import Pool for failed positions
 Validate:
– Correctness of data:
– Use Rights identified as expected?
– Correct Organization?
– Completeness of data:
– Any item missing?
– All data feeds integrated?
– Check License Transfer and License Pools
Tasks & Responsibilities
If OK:
 Sign-off and set status to validated
If Clarification Required:
 Set status to “In Progress” and
follow-up internally
If Incomplete / Inaccurate Data:
 Provide additional or updated
data, as needed, or
 Contact License Inventory
Coordinator to obtain missing or
updated data (from existing feeds
via connectors)

License Inventory Administrator
 If a License Move is required:
– For intra-organizational assignments move according to your use rights.
– For cross-organizational assignments contact the License Inventory Coordinator and License
Ownership Administrator.
 If additional update assignment is required:
– Contact your License Manager or License Inventory Coordinator in order to request assignment.
 All checks should be documented by setting the Statuses for Reporting to the License Balance Manager.

License Inventory
 These are the main tasks for a License Inventory Administrator:
 Check if all feeds for the commercial environment are integrated.
 Check receiving inspection.
 Check for update/upgrade licenses.
 Acknowledge Licenses: Set status to “In Progress”.
 Check expired maintenance / subscription licenses.
 Qualification/Sign-Off.
Steps for License Inventory Administrator

License Inventory
 Did all license imports run successfully (Management Module)?
 Check receiving inspection for clearing status.
 Check for unassembled update/upgrade licenses.
 Check Effective Licenses for licenses status.
 Check expired maintenance / subscription licenses.
 Check contracts.
 If there is an issue, consult with the License Inventory Administrator.
Steps for License Balance Manager

License Inventory
 Check the Receiving Inspection for any failed License imports.
 Data stored in the Receiving Inspection is not yet effective.
 Refer to the Commercial Inventory Coordinator for additional information (as needed).
 If additional assistance is required contact the License Inventory Coordinator.
Step 1: License Imports

License Inventory
 Existing data feeds and their current processing can be checked within the Data Feed Register:
 For automated License Imports:
– Check for status of the License Imports to ensure they all ran successfully.
– If they did not run successfully, contact your License Inventory Administrator to correct the issue.
– If they all ran successfully, move to the next step.
Step 2: Receiving Inspection

License Inventory
 All Licenses not considered “full” Licenses (Updates/Upgrades, Maintenance, Extended Subscription) go to
the Update Pool first and are processed according to the agreed upon rules.
 Data stored in the Update Pool does not impact Effective Balance.
 If additional assistance is required contact the License Inventory Coordinator.
Step 3: Assemble Update/Upgrade Licenses

License Inventory
 Check License Status
 Check if related to correct Contract, Addendum or Schedule (which contains actual scope and end dates)
 Search for the expired dates and contact License Inventory Administrator
– For assignment of the current maintenance entitlement
– For versioning of the remaining product
Step 4 & 5: Licenses Statuses & Dates

License Inventory
Step 6: Check Contracts
 Check contract status active (validated)
 Check for correct end dates and Maintenance
dates
 Check for correct contract scopes

License Inventory
Step 7: Sign-Off
 Go to Licenses > Effective Licenses
 Modify selection according to your needs
(e.g. Data for a certain division or legal entity)
 Use “auto filter” in order to access charts

Part 3: Software Inventory

Software Inventory Administrator
 Review Usage data
– Software Inventory, effective usage
 Validate
– Correctness of data
– Completeness of data
– Demand Calculation
 Check Completeness:
– Source Completeness: check internally
– Import Completeness: check exception reports
– Run Coverage Reports
 All checks must be documented by setting the statuses for
Reporting to the License Balance Manager.
If OK:
 Sign-off and set status to
validated
If Clarification Required:
 Set status to “In Progress”
and follow-up internally
If Incomplete / Inaccurate Data:
 For central data feed contact
the Central Coordinator
 For individual feeds contact
Data Owners

Software Inventory
 These are the main tasks for a Software Inventory Administrator:
 Check if all feeds for the technical environment are integrated.
 Check expected devices versus delivered devices.
 Check orphaned devices.
 Check Signature Coverage Report.
 Acknowledge (new) Software Inventory and set status (In Progress).
Steps for Software Inventory Administrator

Software Inventory
 These are the main tasks for a License Balance Manager:
 Did all software imports run successfully (Management Module)?
 Check devices for Device Status.
 Check Signature Coverage and Signature Statuses.
 Check Software Inventory for Inventory status.
 Check Effective Demand calculation.
 If there is an issue, consult with the Software Inventory Administrator.

Software Inventory
Step 1: Data Feeds
Existing data feeds and their current processing can be checked within the Data Feed Register.
For automated Software Imports:
 Check for the status of the Software Imports to ensure that they all ran successfully.
– If they did not run successfully, you must contact your Software Inventory Administrator to correct
the issue .
– If they ran successfully then move to the next step.

Software Inventory
Step 2: Check Devices
 Check status if all devices are approved.
– Meaning, device is existing, device attributes (Current CPU Type) and device capacities (MSU and
MIPS) are correct.
 If not, contact the Software Inventory Administrator.

Software Inventory
Step 3: Signature Coverage
Check Signature Coverage Report to ensure all Raw Data is processed and assigned to products correctly:
 Select the appropriate data source and drilldown (summary).
 Check for records with 0 signatures, e.g. data does not lead to Software Inventory >> no risk if nothing in
scope unprocessed.
 Check for “Ineffective“ signatures and their corresponding Status: follow up on data in Status
“[Customer]_review.”

Software Inventory
Step 4: Acknowledge New/Existing Software Inventory
 Check the installations found on the Devices:
 New records have no Status, search for =““.
 New data is to be acknowledged by setting the Status to “In Progress”.
 May be directly approved -Status Validated.

Software Inventory
Step 5: Check Effective Demand and Metrics (1)
 For generic metrics like “Installations“ check if quantity matches.

Software Inventory
Step 5: Check Effective Demand and Metrics (2)
 For calculating, check table metric calculation table to see if missing device attributes or capacities or
default values were taken.

Software Inventory
Step 6: Software Inventory Sign-Off
 Software > Software Inventory > Devices / Accounts.
 Modify selection according to your needs, e.g. Data for
a certain division or legal entity.
 Use “Auto Filter” in order to access charts.

Part 3: Compliance

 Run License Balance / Receive License Balance Report.
 Validate License Inventory and Effective Usage with the responsible Inventory administrators.
 If Product is new in balance: start Validate (Licenses/Usage) and set Status to “In Progress”.
 If data must be improved: consult with responsible Inventory Administrator for appropriate action.
 Follow up with Central Coordinator for central feeds (such as ERP systems).
 If Product has been improved: Review current Status.
 If data is fully correct, sign off and set Status to “Validated”.

 For configuration of additional Downgrade Paths contact the License Inventory Coordinator
 For assistance with general balance interpretation contact the License Inventory Coordinator
 License Balance Sign-Off should be managed at the organizational level in focus.
Note: License Balance Manager roles may be delegated per Legal Entity level or groups of Legal Entities (i.e.
Regional License Manager).

Compliance
These are the main tasks for a License Balance Manager:
 Run Balance
 Check effective Sign-Off of License (Commercial) Inventory
 Check effective Sign-Off of Software (Technical) Inventory
 Check Additional Rights:
- Downgrade
- Parallel Usage
- Secondary Copy
- Other
 Qualify/Sign-Off Balance

Compliance
 Run Balance (Compliance View)
 Check the results for unexpected data
Step 1: Run Balance

Compliance
 Analyze the underlying License Inventory data and check Status for validity.
 The Compliance view provides direct access to Licenses (Use rights) and Effective Usage.
Step 2: Sign-Off Effective License Inventory

Compliance
Check Status of Effective
Demand and list
Inventory Data for
validation.
Step 3: Sign-Off Effective Demand
Complete analysis of the underlying Software Inventory.

Compliance
 The License Balance Manager should understand the correct Use Rights.
 The License Balance Manager should ensure that all relevant Use Right information is made available.
 The License Balance Manager should ensure downgrade paths are correctly activated and configured
according to License terms.
 The License Balance Manager is the internal key Role who should be providing all key information for
License Inventory Administration.
Step 4: Validate Additional (& Special) Use Rights

Compliance
Step 4: Effect of Downgrade on Compliance
 Use the table configuration to show “Downgrade Path” and “Downgrade Path Position.”
 Filter for a Downgrade Path you want to check and click “Downgrade Path Position” to sort by this value.
 Within the same Downgrade Path, Position indicates the order in which CA SAM provides un-used licenses to demand not
covered directly.
– In most cases demand is covered by the license at the closest higher position.
 For exceptions check the Downgrade Rights matrix.

Compliance
 Use the table configuration to show “Effective demand (ignored)”.
 Filter for value larger than 0.
 Check the reason by drilling down into the Installations (ignored). There you find the reason why these
installation are ignored calculating the demand.
 In this case, the reason is “Parallel Usage (all members)” meaning all members of this Downgrade Path are
allowed to be installed in parallel resulting in only 1 demand of the highest product within this path.
Step 4: Effect of Parallel Use on Compliance

Compliance
 Set product status to “Validated”
 Can be accomplished in singled or multiple edit mode
Step 5: Balance Sign-Off

Recommended Sessions
SESSION # TITLE DATE/TIME
AMX23E CA Software Asset Management - Key Customer Topics 11/15/2016 at 3:30 pm
AMX21S
Case Study: Create Time out of Thin Air - Automate and
Stop Manual Software License Compliance
11/16/2016 at 3:00 pm
AMX122S
Case Study: Taking IT Asset Management to the Next
Level With Process Automation
11/17/2016 at 3:45 pm

Must See Demos
Service Desk
and Support
Analyst xFlow
Experience
Software and
Hardware Asset
Management
Request
Management
and Self-service
Management
Insights –
Reporting and
Dashboards

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Pre-Con Ed: Software Asset Management

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Editor's Notes