PeopleSoft IT Asset Management 9.1 PeopleBook

Working with the Asset Repository

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

Set up software in the asset repository.
Compare asset repositories.

Understanding IT Assets and the Asset Repository

This section discusses:

IT assets.
The asset repository.
Assets, asset types, and asset subtypes.
IT subtypes.

IT Assets

PeopleSoft IT Asset Management (ITAM) 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 within ITAM.

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

The IT assets that you add to the asset repository using PeopleSoft applications.

These assets reside in tables in the asset repository.
The IT assets that are discovered and stored in the cache tables.

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:

Identifies the IT assets that exist in the enterprise (using a third-party search and inventory application).
Compares the discovered IT assets to the IT assets stored in the asset repository.
Provides financial impact analysis and an interface for addressing and reconciling asset discrepancies.

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.

The 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.

ITAM also provides a way to reconcile nonfinancial assets in the asset repository with those gathered by discovery. By assigning a physical use status for assets, ITAM reconciles the information stored in the asset repository with that gathered by the discovery application based on Serial Id, thus enforcing uniqueness of Serial Id across all hardware assets that are in physical use. Asset transactions such as Additions, Interunit Transfers, Retirements, and Reinstatements affect the asset's physical use status for comparison with discovery and an alert is provided to indicate a that there is a discrepancy.

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:

Business Unit
Department
Custodian
Location
Manufacturer
Model
Serial Number
Software
User-defined fields

See Understanding the Asset Repository.

Assets, 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.

IT Subtypes

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

Asset subtypes are created within PeopleSoft Asset Management and describe assets recorded in the asset repository.
IT asset subtypes are created within PeopleSoft IT Asset Management and are used to compare and reconcile the IT assets reported by the third-party inventory application with the assets stored in the asset repository.

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.

Setting Up Software in the Asset Repository

This section discusses how to:

Define software titles.
Associate Stock Keeping Units (SKUs with software titles.
Define software contracts.
Define software inventory.
Declare device licenses.
Resolve device licenses.

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) , Define Software Inventory (IT_SFTWR_ASSET) Declare Device Licenses (IT_SWGRP_LICENSE) Resolve Device Licenses (IT_SWG_UNRSLV_LIC) components.

Pages Used to Set Up Software in the Asset Repository

Page Name	Definition 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.

Defining Software Titles

Access the Define Software Titles/Users page (IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Define Software Titles/Users, Define Software Titles/Users).

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

Select this check box if authorization is required for the title. If permission is no longer required, deselect the check box. Once deselected, a new effective-dated row appears (for currently active rows only) with an effective date equal to the current date and a Status as of Effective Date equal to Inactive. This provides an audit trail of software authorization for the software title. For rows that are inactive, no new row is inserted if this check box is deselected because it is already inactive.

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

Note. When both Track Requisition and Permission Required check boxes are deselected, 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).

Display Effective Date

Available only in Include History or Correct History modes, this field is used in conjunction with the Display button to display a view of current rows based on the effective date provided. The default for the effective date field is the current date.

Display

Available only in Include History or Correct History modes, click the display button to display all current effective dated rows as of the date entered in the Display Effective Date field. Upon clicking the Displaybutton, all data on the page is presented as display-only, the Save button is no longer effective and all authorization values are consolidated in the same grid. This functionality should be reserved to assist with querying the effective dated history of the Software Title and should not be utilized while making changes to the effective-dated rows.

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.
Effective Date	Enter the effective date of activation or inactivation of authorized members for a software title. This provides an audit trail of authorization changes.
Status as of Effective Date	Select a status as of the corresponding effective date as either Active or Inactive. Note. If the Permission Required check box was previously selected and then deselected, the new effective-dated rows are added with a status of Inactive. Note. Although it is possible to change the status of a given row when in Correct History mode, it is recommended that you add a new effective-dated row for a valid change in status to maintain an accurate audit trail. The only time you might want to change the status within the same effective-dated row would be to correct an error.
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.
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.
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.

Associating SKUs with Software Titles

Access the Associate SKU to Software Title page (IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Associate SKU/Software Title, Associate SKU to Software Title).

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.

Defining Software Contracts

Access the Define Software Contract page (IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Define Software Contract, Define Software Contract).

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.

Defining Software Inventory

Access the SKU/Contract page (IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Define Software Inventory, SKU/Contract).

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.

Software Title

Access the Software Title page (IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Define Software Inventory, Software Title).

The Software Title page displays the Software Title and number of licenses.

Declaring Device Licenses

Access the Declare Device Licenses page (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. 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	Displays the Serial ID of the device.
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. If you enter a Declared License value that differs from the number in the CPU column, a check mark automatically appears in the Override column for that device. The override value that is entered on the Declare Device License page impacts the Installed and Declared License column on the Software Device Inventory page. 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. When overridden, the Software Device Monitor derives its declared devices from the overridden value rather than the CPU value from the Asset Repository. If you deselect this check box, the declared license value resets to zero (displayed as a blank). Note. Any value that is entered in the Declared Licensecolumn that differs from the value displayed in the CPU field is considered an override. If Zero is entered for Declared Licenses it will not display or trigger an override. 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.

Resolving Device Licenses

Access the Resolve Device Licenses page (IT Asset Management, Software Attributes, Resolve Device Licenses).

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.

You must run the Software Device Monitor to create the rows for the Resolve Device Licenses page.

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. Once you save the page, an active, effective-dated row is inserted for the Group Id provided. A row is also inserted into the Declared License table (IT_SWGRP_LIC) for every software title to which the Group belongs. 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.
Add Device to Group	Click to add a device to the selected device group. Note. If the asset or device is already manually added to a Software Device Group, then if you try to add it again using the Resolve Device License page, you will receive the following message: "Serial Id xxxxxxx already exists in the Group Id zzzzzz. The asset/device has already been added to a Software Device Group".
Define Software Device Groups	Access the Software Device Groups page from this link where you can define new device groups from which to select.

Comparing 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.

Understanding 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 pagelet displays the comparison transaction summary by the business rules that you define. This high-level summary pagelet 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 subcomponent 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 email addresses. This information is brought into PeopleSoft IT Asset Management via a full-sync message from the PeopleSoft HCM application and the third-party applications. The employee information is not required for assets that are Authorize Software by Device. 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:

Business Unit.
Department.
Custodian.
Location.
Manufacturer.
Model.
Serial Number for assets that were not discovered by third-party software but exist in the Asset Repository.
Serial Number for assets that were discovered by third-party software but do not exist in the Asset Repository.
Software with Unauthorized Install and Over Limit Installs.

Understanding the Compare Asset Repositories Process

The Compare Asset Repositories process, when run by itself, performs a portion of the Load process (IT_LOAD_PROC) 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.

To process nonfinancial IT assets for comparison, a physical use flag is selected when adding, transferring, retiring or reinstating hardware assets within Asset Management. Only those assets that are selected for physical use are included in the comparison process. When an asset is partially transferred, the same serial ID can be in use across both assets. Only one should be selected for physical reconciliation.

It is also possible for assets to be in actual use, but for some reason the physical use flag is not selected. The Manage Exceptions page provides an alert that there is an asset in the asset repository that is not in physical use or has a duplicate serial ID and, therefore, is not included in the asset reconciliation set. It is very possible that the existing asset is a match for the asset that is found in the discovery system. The correct course of action is most likely to change the physical use flag associated with the asset that is already in the repository rather than to add a second asset. This can be done by accessing the Manage Physical Use page. Any changes made to this page are incorporated in the main asset record within the asset repository. The Manage Physical Use page provides a way to maintain the physical use for partially transferred assets as well as tracking assets that have duplicate serial Ids, regardless of their transfer history.

After identifying the exceptions for the assets, the comparison process evaluates the Business Rules. For those rules that have actions that are set to Execute, the associated corrective action automatically executes as part of the comparison process.

See Defining Business Rules.

Note. The Compare Asset Repositories process provides the ability to process multiple streams in parallel. You 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.

Pages Used to Compare Asset Repositories

Page Name	Definition Name	Navigation	Usage
Manage Physical Use	IT_PHY_USE	IT Asset Management, Asset Discovery and Validation, Manage Physical Use.	View or modify the In Physical Use flag for hardware assets and resolve duplicate serial ID issues in ITAM
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.

Managing Physical Use

Access the Manage Physical Use page (IT Asset Management, Asset Discovery and Validation, Manage Physical Use).

This page can be accessed from the portal menu or from the Exists column (duplicate serial ID) link on the Manage Exceptions page.

Select desired criteria and click the Search button to retrieve the assets within the Assets result grid.

Duplicate Asset

This field indicates whether an asset has a duplicate serial ID.

In Physical Use

Select or deselect this check box to resolve discrepancies between the asset repository and discovery. Changes made to this page are incorporated in the main asset record within the asset repository. When the page displays multiple rows of the same serial Id (duplicate assets) with the In Physical Use check box selected, deselect the duplicate(s) so that only one asset/serial Id remains in physical use. If the page displays multiple duplicate serial Ids and none are in physical use, select the one asset that is considered to be in physical use. This asset will be used in the Compare Asset Repository process.

An edit exists to check that the serial ID of the asset that is either put in or taken out of In Physical Use has only one asset designated as In Physical Use. This edit will not occur unless one of those two assets (in the pair) has had its record modified; in other words, the In Physical Use value has changed.

Comparing Asset Repositories

Access the Compare Asset Repositories page (IT Asset Management, Asset Discovery and Validation, Compare Asset Repositories, Compare Asset Repositories).

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

After running the Compare Asset Repositories process (IT_RECON_RUN), you can review the message log in the Process Monitor to see what discrepancies were found (PeopleTools, Process Scheduler, Detail, Message Log) :

Running Delivered Queries for Comparison to the Asset Repository

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

AM_IT_ASSETS_SERIAL_ID - (IT Assets Serial Id Correction) - This delivered query detects duplicate and blank Serial IDs.
AM_IT_ASSET_SW_LICENSE_DEVICES - (Software License for Devices) - This delivered query reports those assets that have a CPU number that is different than the declared licenses.

Serial ID Query

Access the AM_IT_ASSETS_SERIAL_ID query from the Query Manager page (Reporting Tools, Query, Query Manager).

In addition to the alert provided on the Manage Exceptions page for duplicate serial IDs, you can run the query and review the detail results to verify duplicate or blank Serial IDs.

Software License for Devices

Access the AM_IT_ASSET_SW_LICENSE_DEVICES query from the Query Manager page (Reporting Tools, Query, Query Manager).

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

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	Select this check box if authorization is required for the title. If permission is no longer required, deselect the check box. Once deselected, a new effective-dated row appears (for currently active rows only) with an effective date equal to the current date and a Status as of Effective Date equal to Inactive. This provides an audit trail of software authorization for the software title. For rows that are inactive, no new row is inserted if this check box is deselected because it is already inactive. Only software that requires permission is tracked on the Software Inventory Monitor metric.

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.

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.

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