Using the software catalog

The principle reason for the software catalog is to provide a list of managed software titles and versions. The software catalog links information about installed software (provided by Configuration Manager) to your list of soft­ware titles (what you are managing).

Use the software catalog to:

• identify which products are approved for use in an organization

• determine at a glance the licensing status (over or under licensed)

In order to understand how many titles you have and where those titles and versions are installed, you need to link software items to software titles. Consult the Unmapped Software Items view for a list of items that were discovered and then add them to the software catalog (as software titles). You will want to review the software items in the Unmapped Software Items view and determine:

• if they need to be included in the software catalog and tracked by the IT Asset Management Pack

• if any similar software items need to be related together, such as Adobe Reader 9.0.0 and Adobe Reader 9.0.3

When you create a software title, you can roll-up or associate multiple soft­ware items to the same software title and version. Software items associated in this manner are included in licensing calculations against the same title and version.

See Also ▶

Creating a software catalog

To create a software catalog from discovered software items:

1. Go to the IT Asset Management workspace and expand Software Asset Management > Software Catalog > Software Catalog Maintenance > Unmapped Software Items view.

2. Sort by the Product Name column to group like products together or use the Filter to search for a specific product.

3. Select several software items that you wish to relate to a single Publisher, Software Title and Version entry in the software catalog.

4. NOTE:

   Even when you import software titles into the IT Asset Management Pack, you still need to link any unmapped software items to software titles in the catalog.

5. In the Tasks pane, click Add to Software Catalog. The Add Software Item to Software Catalog form opens.

6. Complete the fields on the form:

7. Publisher:  Enter the name of the publisher if it is not already displayed. You may also select the name of an existing Publisher. The names in the list correspond to the Companies defined in the Administration folder of the IT Asset Management Pack.

   Title:  Enter the title of the software or select it from a list. The title becomes the name of the software title. For example, the title could be Microsoft Office Enterprise.

   Version:  Enter the version number or select it from a list. For example, the version could be 2007.

8. Click OK to save the software catalog title.

The software items are mapped to a new software title created for you in the Software Titles Tracked by Installation view.

NOTE:

The IT Asset Management Pack recalculates, on a periodic basis, all the val­ues used to show the licensing status of each software title. The calculated values are available in the Software Titles Tracked by Installation view. You may also recalculate the values manually, see Updating the licensing status values.

Use the Software Item to Title Mapping view to see a list of software items that you have mapped to software titles.

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