Introduction
Software Asset Management (SAM) is the process of managing, controlling, and protecting software assets within an organization. SAM includes management of the entire software lifecycle from needs assessment, purchase, installation, and maintenance to removal.
Snow License Manager is a SAM tool that enables you to manage and control your organization's software assets and optimize their use. The administration tool of Snow License Manager is called Snow Management and Configuration Center.
Platform overview
The Snow License Manager platform includes a number of system components with dedicated functions. The overview shows the data flow in the Snow License Manager platform.
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Snow Inventory Agents and Oracle Scanners | Computers and servers in the IT environment are inventoried by the Snow Inventory Agents and the Snow Inventory Oracle Scanners, and the data is then sent to Snow Inventory Server for processing. For more information, see Snow Inventory Agents and Oracle Scanners. |
| Snow Integration Manager | The Snow Integration Connectors integrate with third-party inventory solutions and virtualization technologies to collect inventory data. The data is then gathered in Snow Integration Manager and sent to Snow Inventory Server for processing. Data from the SaaS connectors is sent directly from Snow Integration Manager to the Snow License Manager database. For more information, see Snow Integration Manager. |
| Snow Inventory Server | Snow Inventory Server receives data from the inventory sources. After processing, the inventory data is stored in the Snow Inventory database. For more information, see Snow Inventory Server. |
| Data Update Job | Data Update Job is a daily recurring SQL job, which processes the information in the Snow Inventory database into a more usable format for software asset management. For more information, see Data Update Job. |
| Snow License Manager database | Data Update Job re-populates the Snow License Manager database with new and updated inventory information, applies software recognition rules, and calculates usage, and alerts. |
| Data Intelligence Service | Any unrecognized software is automatically sent to the Data Intelligence Service team for analysis. When an application has been identified, the team creates new software filtering rules and updates the central Software Recognition Service database. Snow License Manager retrieves updates from the Software Recognition Service database on a daily basis using Snow Update Service. For more information, see Data Intelligence Service. |
| Snow Management and Configuration Center | Snow Management and Configuration Center is used to manage the technical and administrative parts of Snow License Manager. For more information, see Snow Management and Configuration Center. |
| Snow License Manager user interface | All information on software installations, usage, users, computers, mobile devices, licenses, and agreements is managed in the user interface of Snow License Manager. |
| Snow License Manager API | The Snow License Manager API enables information to be retrieved from the Snow License Manager system. |
| Automation Platform | Automation Platform is used for the automation of processes, for example, software requests and re-harvesting based on usage or subscriptions. Information on available software, related settings, and license availability is synchronized via the Snow License Manager API. For more information, see Automation Platform. |
| ITSM Connectors | The ITSM connectors update third-party configuration management databases (CMDB) with normalized data, to enhance data quality, by pulling data from the Snow License Manager API and sending it to the CMDB. For more information, see ITSM Connectors. |
| Snow Update Service | Snow Update Service updates installed Snow products by downloading update files from Flexera’s central update server. Snow Update Service is not illustrated in the Platform overview. For more information, see Snow Update Service. |
Responsibility of the user
Snow License Manager is designed to efficiently manage large volumes of data and to provide competent tools for license compliance analysis, resource planning, cost administration, and much more. A lot of the information, such as inventory data and software recognition rules, is automatically fed into the system.
However, Snow License Manager also heavily relies on information not available through the inventory, in particular information on licenses. If the information entered by the user is incorrect or incomplete, the output will not be accurate.
Understanding central concepts is vital in order to achieve reliable results from Snow License Manager. All users of the Snow Management and Configuration Center User Guide are advised to read and understand Concepts, terminology, and features.