Replacing SCCM w/ VMWare Workspace One

[ryan_hoverman]

Hi!  Our company is starting to look at SCCM replacements and one that came up is VMWare Workspace One.  Has anyone tried to connect FNMS to Workspace One to replicate the SCCM Inventory Import?  

[ChrisG]

I'm not intimately familiar with Workspace ONE, but believe that the technology which gathers inventory in Workspace ONE may be AirWatch.

See the following thread for discussion about using AirWatch as a source of inventory: AirWatch support

While AirWatch is a useful tool for device management, from my experience with it I can say that it is not a great source of inventory for FlexNet. There are a range of data elements that are typically important or at least helpful to have access to in order to support license management that AirWatch does not gather (at least, without custom configuration). These include:

• Various hardware/computer properties including processor count, processor type, processor speed, core count, operating system, chassis type, hardware manufacturer, memory, hard drive count, disk space, display adapter count, network card count, IP addresses, and domain name
• Data that FlexNet can treat as installer evidence for all software installed on the device
• File evidence

[ryan_hoverman]

Thanks so much for these data points.  I will follow up with them to see thoughts on how similar or upgraded this is vs the original AirWatch. 

In this case would the best practice be to install the Flexera Agent globally and then utilize App Portal integration? (we also use App Broker)

Thanks!

[ChrisG]

Yes, installing the FlexNet agent will give more comprehensive insight into what software is deployed and the licensing implications of those deployments that you will get from connecting FlexNet to AirWatch.

[ryan_hoverman]

Thanks for the data!  Is there a white paper or any data out there on the agent?  Our workplace team would like to learn more.  For example, how often does a device need to connect to the network for the agent to report back, etc.

Thanks!

[ChrisG]

@ryan_hoverman - to your question on learning more about the agent, you may want to check out the Gathering FlexNet Inventory PDF guide.

This may be more detail than you're looking for, but some pointers to sections which may be helpful are:

• Look at the "Adopted: Normal Operation" section in the "Adopted: Details" chapter for information about agent operation
• Search for "System load benchmarks" in the document for some benchmarking information

[ryan_hoverman]

Another related question - does the Flexera agent have any ability to deploy applications or is it inventory collection only?  For example, if someone goes to a ServiceNow catalog and requests software, App Broker verifies the license, and then could you trigger a software install from the Flexera agent?

Thanks!

[kclausen]

The Flexera Agent only captures enhanced hardware and software inventory.

App Broker depends on a tool such as SCCM or JAMF/Casper to install or remove software on a targeted computer.

Kirk

[svouch]

2 years on -- has there been any updates on this?  Can VMware WorskpaceOne be relied upon as an inventory source for software compliance in FNMS/FlexeraOne?

[kclausen]

In terms your specific question, I am unsure of the answer.

Regardless, there is no productized inventory connector for Workspace One at the present time for FNMS/FlexeraOne.  I have also looked on the Ideas Portal and do not see that anyone has requested such an adapter.  You may want to raise an Idea and promote that within the Community for others to vote on.