Software Installed Count and Software Metering

Peter_Chong

Hello,

Good day. Can you advise if Cierson is capable of detecting the software installations by discovering itself and a combination of SCCM, or would you need to tell it to search for a certain software pattern? I'm trying to understand when looking at Configuration Items-->Asset Management-->All Software Assets if the 'Installed Count' is correct. I would like to understand how this works so I can setup the software metering.

Thanks,

Peter

Brett_Moffett

Installed count works in one of three ways:
1) Software detected via ConfigMgr inventory and imported in to SCSM via the ConfigMgr connector
2) Software metering data collected via ConfigMgr inventory and imported in to SCSM via the ConfigMgr software metering connector (Cireson product)
3) Site license. Don't bother counting at all.

Within the Software Asset, the Associated Software section allows for a software pattern to be given to search through the ConfigMgr inventory data for a specific pattern to count against this Software Asset and also a Software Metering Filename used to associate the ConfigMgr Software Metering data (If it is being used)


In it's default mode, the Asset Management workflow will count the number of PC's that have software installed that match the software pattern.
It is also possible in the settings to set the count to use the Software Metering data instead, however this is usually a very specific use case and is not widely used.

The other area where Installed Count can change is the Authorization tab.
This allows admins to specify what PC's should be included in the installed count so Software assets can be restricted to a specific range of PC's or users.
An example of this might be that one department purchased 5 licenses of Visio but they want that only to be used in their department and not shared throughout the entire business. So on the authorization tab the Cost Center or Organization is added to restrict the count to PC's within that Organization or covered by that Cost Center.
Individual PC's or Users can also be identified if more granularity is needed.

Finally, Software metering needs several pieces to work correctly and must be setup as per the detailed implementation instructions available from Cireson. (If you do not have a copy of the implementation instructions, please let me know)

I hope this answers your question.

Brett_Moffett

The update happens when the workflow runs.
This can be set in the settings within the SCSM Console under Administration -> Settings -> Cireson Asset Management.
OR, you can force it for the one Software Asset by clicking the "Update Software Asset" task when you are editing a Software Asset.

Hope this answers your question.

Brett_Moffett

Installed count works in one of three ways:
1) Software detected via ConfigMgr inventory and imported in to SCSM via the ConfigMgr connector
2) Software metering data collected via ConfigMgr inventory and imported in to SCSM via the ConfigMgr software metering connector (Cireson product)
3) Site license. Don't bother counting at all.

Within the Software Asset, the Associated Software section allows for a software pattern to be given to search through the ConfigMgr inventory data for a specific pattern to count against this Software Asset and also a Software Metering Filename used to associate the ConfigMgr Software Metering data (If it is being used)


In it's default mode, the Asset Management workflow will count the number of PC's that have software installed that match the software pattern.
It is also possible in the settings to set the count to use the Software Metering data instead, however this is usually a very specific use case and is not widely used.

The other area where Installed Count can change is the Authorization tab.
This allows admins to specify what PC's should be included in the installed count so Software assets can be restricted to a specific range of PC's or users.
An example of this might be that one department purchased 5 licenses of Visio but they want that only to be used in their department and not shared throughout the entire business. So on the authorization tab the Cost Center or Organization is added to restrict the count to PC's within that Organization or covered by that Cost Center.
Individual PC's or Users can also be identified if more granularity is needed.

Finally, Software metering needs several pieces to work correctly and must be setup as per the detailed implementation instructions available from Cireson. (If you do not have a copy of the implementation instructions, please let me know)

I hope this answers your question.

Peter_Chong

Hi Brett. Thank you for the detailed explanation. So, essentially it really is dependent on matching the software pattern.

Right now, I'm looking at the Software Pattern. If I input a value in this field, will Cierson update/refresh the installed count immediately, or would it take time to detect the pattern to pull the data?

Brett_Moffett

The update happens when the workflow runs.
This can be set in the settings within the SCSM Console under Administration -> Settings -> Cireson Asset Management.
OR, you can force it for the one Software Asset by clicking the "Update Software Asset" task when you are editing a Software Asset.

Hope this answers your question.

Peter_Chong

I will give it a try. Thanks again Brett.