Working with the Asset Repository

This chapter provides an overview of information technology (IT) assets and the asset repository and discusses how to:

Click to jump to parent topicUnderstanding IT Assets and the Asset Repository

This section discusses:

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicIT Assets

PeopleSoft IT Asset Management compares the expected state of IT assets—the state reflected in the PeopleSoft Asset Management database (asset repository)—to the state reported by a third-party inventory process. PeopleSoft IT Asset Management integrates with a third-party application that performs the inventory, and reports the results to PeopleSoft IT Asset Management. PeopleSoft IT Asset Management posts the data to cache tables in the asset repository.

This process provides two images of the IT assets within the enterprise:

PeopleSoft IT Asset Management enables organizations to track their IT assets and reconcile discrepancies between the IT assets maintained in the asset repository and the actual IT assets discovered in the enterprise. Specifically, PeopleSoft IT Asset Management:

PeopleSoft software tracks IT assets in the same way that it tracks other assets: it stores the attributes of each asset as an entry in the asset repository.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicThe Asset Repository

The majority of the transactions between PeopleSoft IT Asset Management and the asset repository occur as the result of scheduled PeopleSoft IT Asset Management processes that you define during setup. IT asset data is stored in the asset repository for both known IT assets and IT assets discovered by your third-party application. PeopleSoft IT Asset Management queries this data to report discrepancies. These discrepancies are then posted to Manage Exceptions, where you can reconcile them as appropriate for your enterprise.

Some of the identified discrepancies may require reconciliation; others may not. It is up to your organization to determine which discrepancies to reconcile and which (if any) to ignore.

The third-party inventory application periodically inventories IT assets (or their absence), and financial action may be necessary in order to reconcile discrepancies. For example, an asset listed in the asset repository may have been taken out of service or transferred from one business unit to another. If, after researching the discrepancy, the PeopleSoft IT Asset Management user determines that a financial attribute for an asset must be updated in the asset repository, they can issue a request for the update. This request becomes a worklist item that is routed to an appropriate PeopleSoft Asset Management user. These indirect changes to the asset repository can include moving an asset to inventory or requesting that an asset be retired. PeopleSoft IT Asset Management also facilitates direct changes to the Asset Repository for some reconciliation actions.

The asset repository stores data about all known enterprise assets, including IT assets, and represents the most current information that exists about the IT assets present within the enterprise.

In addition to the asset tables, there are cache tables dedicated to IT assets. These tables provide a temporary storage space for IT asset data discovered and transmitted by your third-party inventory application. PeopleSoft IT Asset Management compares the data in these cache tables to the data stored in the asset tables, and identifies discrepancies. You can then use PeopleSoft IT Asset Management to reconcile these discrepancies and update the data stored in the asset tables.

Note. The data in the cache tables is not persistent. Once PeopleSoft IT Asset Management has reconciled the data discrepancies, it empties the cache tables in preparation for the next inventory cycle.

You can compare and reconcile the following attributes:

See Understanding the Asset Repository.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicAssets, Asset Types, and Asset Subtypes

The purpose of the asset repository is to store records of all enterprise assets. Enterprise assets include not only IT assets, but all items in the possession of the enterprise. These assets can include items as small as chairs and as large as buildings. Each is an asset, but a different kind or type.

The asset repository differentiates among the various types of assets by assigning them unique asset type and asset subtype attributes. PeopleSoft Asset Management includes a predefined set of asset types and each asset recorded in the asset repository has an asset type attribute. To support PeopleSoft IT Asset Management, the asset repository includes two asset types devoted to IT assets, IT Hardware and IT Software. Typically, a PeopleSoft Asset Management user would also create asset subtypes beneath the IT Hardware asset type to distinguish among different kinds of hardware. For example, the IT Hardware asset type might have asset subtypes of DESKTOP, LAPTOP, and SERVER. Asset subtypes provide a means to differentiate in the asset repository between different kinds of assets that fall under the same general asset type.

Note. You predefine asset types in the asset repository, and you can only create asset subtypes using PeopleSoft Asset Management (as opposed to IT asset subtypes, which are discussed in the next section).

See Establishing Asset Processing.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicIT Subtypes

IT asset subtypes differ from asset subtypes in where they are defined and how they are used:

Note. The IT asset subtypes that you define in PeopleSoft IT Asset Management must match the asset subtypes defined within PeopleSoft Asset Management.

See Adding and Maintaining Asset Information.

See Defining IT Subtypes.

Click to jump to parent topicSetting Up Software in the Asset Repository

This section discusses how to:

To set up software in the asset repository, use the Define Software Titles/Users (IT_SFTWR_DEFN), Associate SKU with S/W Title (IT_SFTWR_SKU), Define Software Contract (IT_SFTWR_CNTRCT), and Define Software Inventory (IT_SFTWR_ASSET) components.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicPages Used to Set Up Software in the Asset Repository

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Define Software Titles/Users

IT_SFTWR_DEFN_01

IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Define Software Titles/Users, Define Software Titles/Users

Define new software titles to be recognized by PeopleSoft IT Asset Management.

Associate SKU to Software Title

IT_SFTWR_SKU

IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Associate SKU/Software Title, Associate SKU to Software Title

Associate an SKU with one or more software titles, particularly in cases for which a single license applies to a software bundle.

Define Software Contract

IT_SFTWR_CNTRCT

IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Define Software Contract, Define Software Contract

Add a new software contract or update an existing one.

SKU/Contract

IT_SFTWR_ASSET

IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Define Software Inventory, SKU/Contract

View and drill down into the list of IT software assets.

Software Title

IT_SFTWR_TITLE

IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Define Software Inventory, Software Title

View software title details.

Declare Device Licenses

IT_SWGRP_LICENSE

IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Declare Device Licenses

Search for software assets by Software Device Group ID, Group Owner ID, Software Title, or Machine Serial Number.

Resolve Device Licenses

IT_SWG_UNRSLV_LIC

IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Resolve Device Licenses

Alternatively, click the unresolved number link from the Software Device Monitor portal pagelet.

Displays all the machines that do not belong to a Software Device Group, are not in the ARM, or belong to a Group but do not have Confirmed licenses yet.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicDefining Software Titles

Access the Define Software Titles/Users page.

Software Title

Displays the title of the software asset.

Software Publisher

Enter the name of the software publisher or select a vendor ID from the vendor table.

This value may be different from the Purchasing Vendor ID since the software may not have been purchased directly from the publisher. The publisher of the software may be a vendor as well.

License Type

Select either Installation or User to specify the license type.

With a per-seat or per-device license, you pay for every machine on which the software is installed, regardless of how many people actually use the software. With a per-user license, a specific individual is allowed to use the software for each license you purchase. A restriction may exist as to the number of machines on which a user can install the software.

Installations Per User

Enter the number of installations allowed per user. This field is required if User is selected for the license type.

Track Requisition

Tracks requests to install the software, and identifies how many licenses are required. If you select this option, the software title appears on the Pending Requisitions pagelet.

Permission Required

Indicates if authorization is required for the title. If this check box is selected, the Software Authorization grid appears.

Only software that requires permission is tracked on the Software Inventory Monitor metric.

Note. When both the Track Requisition and the Permission Required check boxes are cleared, the associated Software Title data will be deleted during the next Compare Asset Repositories process. The data associated with the Software Title will be removed from both the comparison error table (IT_RECON_SFTWR) and the software cache table (IT_SFTWR_CACHE).

Software Authorization

Authorize

Select one of the following options:

  • Employee: Only an individual user has authorization to install the software.

  • Employee Group: Any user in the employee group has authorization to install the software.

  • Device Group: The group owner or content manager of a group of machines (devices) has authorization to install the software. A device group associates a group owner or content manager (by EmplID) to a group of machines (by their Serial ID.)

    Note. You must enter every Device Group with an associated Authorized License value into the software authorizations if you want to create summary level metrics for the Group Id. These summarized values are displayed in the Software Device Monitor pagelet and in the Software Device Inventory page once the Generate Metrics process is run.

    See Defining Software Device Groups.

Value

Select or enter the Employee, Employee Group ID, or Device Group ID of the employee or group authorized to install the software.

Description

Displays the description of the selected employee or group.

Licenses Per User

Enter the maximum number of licenses authorized for the selected employee or for an individual employee within the selected group. The default is 1.

PeopleSoft IT Asset Management processing compares software installations reported from third-party inventory with PeopleSoft IT Asset Management software authorizations, first by individual employee, then by employee group, and finally by device group.

The number of licenses per user is important information for both an individual employee and a group. Enter the number of licenses for a specific title that a user is allowed to have, either as part of a group or as an individual. If a user exceeds that license count on the same asset (for example, by installing the same product in multiple locations on the same computer), PeopleSoft IT Asset Management will detect the licenses and recommend a warning message. If a user has exceeded the license count by installing on multiple IT assets, PeopleSoft IT Asset Management identifies the IT Asset Serial ID that has the lowest software usage record, if software usage is tracked.

Lowest software usage is also the metric by which PeopleSoft IT Asset Management selects machines to target when the number of licenses in a group exceeds the total allowed for the group. In the unlikely event of identical software usage data, PeopleSoft IT Asset Management makes a random selection from the identical set.

For Software Authorization Groups, PeopleSoft IT Asset Management provides the ability to email the group owner with a request to initiate action.

Count Licenses

Select this check box to maintain the count of licenses that are inventoried or discovered to be in use on the machine or group of machines. This check box becomes visible when you select Device Group for authorization.

Authorized Licenses

Enter the number of available licenses for the group. This field is a required field and appears only for employee groups and device groups.

Note. If the Count Licensescheck box is selected, then the Authorized Licenses column becomes disabled for Device Groups. Authorized Licenses cannot be zero.

Note. When an employee is neither authorized individually nor as a part of the group and has a Software Title installed, a warning message appears.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicAssociating SKUs with Software Titles

Access the Associate SKU to Software Title page.

Software Title

Enter the title of the software associated with the SKU.

No of Licenses (number of licenses)

Enter the number of licenses available for the SKU.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicDefining Software Contracts

Access the Define Software Contract page.

Contract Id

Enter the unique identifier for this contract.

Renewal Notice

Enter the number of days in advance of contract expiration that PeopleSoft IT Asset Management should display the software title on the Software Renewal portlet.

Business Unit

Enter the business unit with which the contract has been made.

Inception Date

Specify the date on which the contract comes into force.

Contract Type

Select or enter the type of contract.

Expiration Date

Specify the date on which the contract expires. Expiration date is required if renewal notice days are not equal to zero.

Vendor ID

Select or enter the vendor ID for the contract. This value may be different from the software manufacturer or publisher.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicDefining Software Inventory

Access the SKU/Contract page.

Note. The search dialog displays the complete inventory of your software titles.

Asset ID

Displays the asset ID for the selected software asset.

SKU

Enter or select the SKU of the software asset in the inventory.

Quantity

Enter the number of items (one for each instance of the SKU) present in the inventory.

Contract Information

Select a contract to associate with the software title.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicDeclaring Device Licenses

Access the Declare Device Licenses page.

Search for software assets by Software Device Group ID, Group Owner ID, Software Title or machine Serial Number. Enter one or more search criteria to limit the results of the search. The search returns all of the machines (by serial number) in the groups that match the criteria that was entered, as well as the confirmed licenses associated with those machines. The number of licenses required for a machine or device can be overridden when authorizing software by device (serial number) rather than by employee. The default for declared licenses is the number of CPUs that the asset has as defined in the asset repository. Any discrepancies that exist between the number of CPUs and the declared licenses can be obtained by running the delivered query, AM_IT_ASSETS_SERIAL_ID.

The data retrieved for this page is created during the execution of the Generate Metrics process. Devices are also added to device groups through the Resolve Licenses page. The Generate Metrics process generates data for declared licenses for every software title for which a device group is defined. It also calculates the number of installed and assigned licenses for the device. You can override the number of declared licenses from this page, if necessary.

Use Saved Search

Select a saved search for efficiency with common queries.

Group ID

Select a Device Group ID to limit the results to a specific device group.

Group Owner ID

Select a device group owner to limit the results to a specific group owner.

Software Title

Select a software title to limit the result set to a specific software.

Serial Number

Select a serial number to limit the result set to a specific machine or device.

Group Members

Serial ID

Click this link to open the Machine Discovery Detail page, which provides the machine name from the PeopleSoft IT Asset Management third-party information cache.

Group ID

Displays the Group ID to which the listed Serial ID/device belongs.

Group Name

Displays the name or description of the Group ID to which the Serial ID/device belongs.

Group Owner ID

Displays the Group Owner Id of the Group ID to which the Serial ID/device belongs.

Software Title

Displays the name of the software with which the Group ID is associated. Device Groups can be associated with multiple software titles.

CPU

This column displays the number of physical CPUs in the machine by manufacturer’s standard. This field is populated from the ASSET record.

Declared License

Enter the number of licenses (for a given software title) that the device actually needs to comply with the software agreement for that title and that particular machine configuration. Any change in this field will add a check mark in the Override column for that device.

Note. To report those assets that have a CPU number that differs from the declared licences, run the delivered query, AM_IT_ASSET_SW_LICENSE_DEVICES - (Software License for Devices.)

See Running Delivered Queries for Comparison to the Asset Repository.

Override

This check box indicates that the Declared License field has been edited or overridden. Select this check box manually to accept the default.

Note. Any value that is entered in the Declared Licensecolumn that differs from the value displayed in the CPU field is considered an override. Zero is not a valid value.

Note. The explanatory text in bold on this page is displayed above the search results grid. It is also displayed below the grid if more than 10 rows are returned in the search results.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicResolving Device Licenses

Access the Resolve Device Licenses page.

This page displays the machines that do not belong to a Software Device Group, are not in the Asset Repository, or belong to a Device Group but the Group has not yet been authorized for the Software Title. (Groups are defined and authorized in the Software Title/Users page.) If they have controlled software titles associated with them, these machines appear in the Unresolved column in the Software Device Monitor. The Resolve Device Licenses page can be accessed from the link in the Software Device Monitor or by direct navigation.

Use Saved Search

Select a saved search for efficiency with common queries.

Software Title

Select a software title to limit the result set to a specific software.

Serial Number

Select a serial number to limit the result set to a specific machine.

Group Members

Serial ID

Displays the serial number of the device that needs resolution.

Software Title

Displays the software title that was discovered on the device that made the device eligible for this data set.

Machine Name

Displays the device network name obtained from the third-party discovery tool.

In ARM

Indicates whether the device is already in the Asset Repository. Devices already in the Asset Repository may be added to a Software Device Group. Assets not already in the Asset Repository must first be added as assets.

CPU

Displays the number of CPUs on the device from Asset Basic Information. This column displays as blank for assets that are not in the Asset Repository; however, it is considered to be 1 for processing and aggregation of total licenses.

Declared License

Select a Group ID to which to add the device and click the Add Device to Group button. The CPU field value then defaults from the Asset Repository as the Declared License value and the Group to which the device was added is displayed in the Group ID column.

Group ID

Select a group to which eligible machines may be added. This component includes explanatory text. Adding a machine to a group definition adds that machine to every software title authorized for that group, without regard for the title that appears here. You must then remove the machine from any group or groups to which it does not belong.

Note. The explanatory text in bold on this page is displayed above the search results grid. It is also displayed below the grid if more than 10 rows are returned in the search results.

Note. You may not add to a Source from ARM group using this method. Source from ARM groups do not appear in the prompt list.

Click to jump to parent topicComparing Asset Repositories

This section provides overviews of the comparison process and the Compare Asset Repositories process and discusses how to compare asset repositories.

Use the Compare Asset Repositories (IT_RECON_RUN) component to compare asset repositories.

See Understanding the Asset Repository.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicUnderstanding the Comparison Process

The third-party integration process includes a run control page that enables you to request the data to be returned to PeopleSoft ITAM for comparison. This process may also be scheduled to run at specific intervals, for example, nightly. You can run the comparison process for all assets that you have already identified as reconcilable, or you can run the process by IT asset type—hardware or software. You can narrow the asset selection further by specifying asset subtypes for hardware or specific titles for software. In this way, you can structure the process to refresh the Manage Exceptions lists based on your business needs. For example, you might want to reconcile only those asset discrepancies that were created by a mass rebuilding of old laptops. Using the appropriate comparison setup, you can do this without running a complete asset comparison.

The comparison creates the initial discrepancy information that populates reconciliation transaction tables. A portlet displays the comparison transaction summary by the business rules that you define. This high-level summary portlet allows you to drill down to see the details of the comparison exceptions. The assets that are found to be in discrepancy based on your business rules will show as exceptions in the detail Manage Exceptions pagelet. To reconcile the differences generated by the comparison of the Asset Repository and the inventory tool, access Manage Exceptions.

If no differences are found between the asset repository and the third-party database, the asset is considered in balance and is not added to the reconciliation transaction tables. Assets found to have differences are grouped together with their counterpart from both the third-party database and the asset repository and added to a header reconciliation discrepancy table. The sub-component or attribute with the discrepancy is added to a detail exceptions table that tracks the assets' individual comparison exceptions, including the comparison rule that was broken.

The comparison process is dependent on accurate and up-to-date information about an employee, such as job, department, supervisor, name, language, and e-mail addresses. This information is brought into PeopleSoft IT Asset Management via a full-sync message from the PeopleSoft HRMS application and the third-party applications. The comparison process is also dependent on definitions and the status of business rules. The Compare Asset Repositories process applies all active business rules to generate the list of exceptions.

As part of system data, business rules data has been delivered to identify exceptions for the following attributes:

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicUnderstanding the Compare Asset Repositories Process

The Compare Asset Repositories process, when run by itself, performs a portion of the Load (IT_LOAD_PROC) process to bring back assets that had validation or translation errors but have since been corrected. When the Compare Asset Repositories process is run as part of a streamlined process, immediately after the Load process, the portion of the Load process mentioned above is not performed.

This process cleans up previous exceptions for assets that were corrected and identifies new exceptions or previous exceptions that are yet to be corrected and records them. These transactions are referenced on the Manage Exception page. If this process is run as a part of a streamlined process, it initiates the Generate Metrics process to present the latest picture of inventory exceptions.

Note. The Compare Asset Repositories process provides users with the ability to process multiple streams in parallel. Users can divide the processing load among different IT subtypes so that one stream can process all desktops, a second can process all Laptops, and a third can process all Servers.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicPages Used to Compare Asset Repositories

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Compare Asset Repositories

IT_RECON_RUN

IT Asset Management, Asset Discovery and Validation, Compare Asset Repositories, Compare Asset Repositories

Compare discovered data with asset repository data.

Query Manager

AM_IT_ASSETS_SERIAL_ID

Reporting Tools, Query, Query Manager

Run the delivered query to detect duplicate and blank Serial IDs.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicComparing Asset Repositories

Access the Compare Asset Repositories page.

Streamline Batch Process

Select this option to automatically create the run control for the Generate Metrics process. If you select this option, a dialog box gives you the choice of creating the run controls automatically or manually.

If the run control for Generate Metrics is created automatically, it is created with the same Run Control ID shown previously: ABC. Conversely, if you choose to create the Generate Metrics run control manually, then for the Streamline batch process to work, the new run control for Metrics must have the same Run Control ID.

Process Frequency

Select the frequency for the process to be run. Select Always to allow the process to run every time it is called. Select Once to allow it to be run one time only, after which it resets to Don't, preventing restarts.

Reconcile Delta Only

Select this option to reconcile delta discoveries only. During the comparison process, assets that have been processed are marked. When reconcile delta discoveries is selected, the comparison processes only the changes that were made in the Asset Repository. If changes have been made to assets or if mapping errors have been corrected, this option cleans up those items without doing a complete reconciliation.

When Reconcile Delta Only is selected, the comparison process only processes rows that have never been processed before. When this option is not selected, the system processes both sets of rows; those that have been processed before as well as those never processed.

Asset Type

You can select Hardware or Software to narrow the reconciliation. If you select Hardware, the IT Subtype field is available. If you select Software, the Software Title field is available.

If the Asset Type is left blank, the Compare Asset Repositories process reconciles all available IT assets in the cache tables. It evaluates both hardware and software-related business rules, which can greatly affect performance.

When the Asset Type is Hardware and the IT Subtype is left blank, then all hardware assets are processed. All active business rules are applied to determine exceptions. When an IT subtype is specified, then all active business rules are applied to hardware assets belonging to the specified IT subtype. Software rows are not evaluated for possible exceptions.

When the Asset Type is Software and Software Title is left blank, then all software rows that require permission or authorization to install are evaluated for exceptions. When a Software Title is specified, then all rows belonging to the specified software title are evaluated. When the asset type is Software, business rules for hardware attributes such as model, manufacturer, and so on are not evaluated.

IT Subtype

Indicate which IT subtypes are to be processed. If you do not select a specific IT subtype, all hardware assets are processed.

Software Title

Indicate which software title should be processed. If you do not select a specific title, all software titles are processed.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicRunning Delivered Queries for Comparison to the Asset Repository

PeopleSoft IT Asset Management delivers two queries for comparison to the Asset Repository:

Serial Id Correction

Access the AM_IT_ASSETS_SERIAL_ID query from the Query Manager page.

Run the query and view the detail results to find duplicate or blank Serial IDs. The message log in the Process Monitor reports if there were discrepancies:

Software License for Devices

Access the AM_IT_ASSET_SW_LICENSE_DEVICES query from the Query Manager page.

This delivered query reports those assets that have a CPU number that is different than the declared licenses.