I've had the following question asked me by an App Portal user, 'in the "View all Inventory" screen. There are different columns for "Used" and "Utilized". I understand what "Used" is, but I'd like to know what "Utilized" is.'
I'd like to know if this is a common question, so If you know could you please share it with the group, or if not , then let us know and in a short while I'll publish the 'Official' Viewpoint.
The used column will indicate the number of devices which have actually used the software at least once. The utilized column should indicate how many of these actively using the software in the last X number of days. The legacy inventory model uses two different collections for reclamation.. These are the inventory group collection and the metering collection.. The number of devices in the inventory collection generates the used count. The second collection being used is the metering collection. You define parameters on your metering collection (within App Portal) including number of days, hours of usage, etc.. This information is used to create the query on the metering collection.. This collection is limited by the inventory collection. If the device shows up in the metering collection it is considered to be NOT utilized and will be reclaimed. If the device is in the inventory collection, but not the metering collection, then the software would be considered to be utilized. The utilized column shows the number of devices which are using the software, and the percentage of devices where the software is being used. Ideally, you want the used and utilized columns to have the same count, as this would indicate that all underutilized software was being reclaimed.
Do you have a screenshot you can share? To be honest, I've only worked with one or two customers that use the inventory feature in App Portal. Most customers own FlexNet Manager Suite and integrate App Portal with that for inventory/compliance management, so I don't even have a test environment I can look at that has the inventory feature available.
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The used column will indicate the number of devices which have actually used the software at least once. The utilized column should indicate how many of these actively using the software in the last X number of days. The legacy inventory model uses two different collections for reclamation.. These are the inventory group collection and the metering collection.. The number of devices in the inventory collection generates the used count. The second collection being used is the metering collection. You define parameters on your metering collection (within App Portal) including number of days, hours of usage, etc.. This information is used to create the query on the metering collection.. This collection is limited by the inventory collection. If the device shows up in the metering collection it is considered to be NOT utilized and will be reclaimed. If the device is in the inventory collection, but not the metering collection, then the software would be considered to be utilized. The utilized column shows the number of devices which are using the software, and the percentage of devices where the software is being used. Ideally, you want the used and utilized columns to have the same count, as this would indicate that all underutilized software was being reclaimed.
