Asset Intelligence Reporting Limitations

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One of our senior PM's posted about a new doc that should be hitting the web either today or tomorrow that talks about the limitations of Asset Intelligence Reporting.  Most of the issues we see seem to center around misunderstandings regarding what Asset Intelligence Reporting can and cannot do, and what it should and should not be used for so hopefully this will straighten some of that out.  I posted the Executive Summary and Introduction below, followed by a link to his post where he should have a link once it goes live.

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Executive Summary

Microsoft® System Center Configuration Manager 2007 includes hardware and software inventory and software metering capabilities that help IT organizations understand exactly what hardware and software assets they have, who is using them, and where they are. Asset Intelligence translates the inventory data into information, attaching metadata to inventory, and provides rich reports that IT administrators can use to optimize hardware and software usage. With Configuration Manager 2007 and Asset Intelligence, companies can make informed decisions about their IT assets, improve IT operations and mitigate compliance risks. The intent of this paper is to clarify the scope of Asset Intelligence report knowledge, and to provide guidance on reporting limitations of the Asset Intelligence data.

Introduction

Asset Intelligence translates inventory data into useful information, providing rich reports that help you optimize software and hardware usage. Through a "live" connection organizations can also dynamically update their knowledge based on changing asset conditions. As a result, Asset Intelligence reports are capable of providing large amounts of information about installed software titles and purchased software licenses in use. The information collected and reported within these reports is however, not designed as a sole point of reconciliation, and should not be used as the primary source for determining purchased software license compliance.

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For more information see Dan Boldo's post at https://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=3068287&SiteID=17.

Enjoy!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer