Tracking allocation and deallocation trail of devices to licenses

[mrasch]

Hey guys, 

as the title describes I'm looking for a way to track the allocation and deallocation of devices/users to licenses. I'm aware of the compliancehistory table in the compliance database.

But if I'm not mistaken, this table contains only changes that are made by a user via the WebUI or a BusinessAdapter. My challenge is to track the changes made by the system itself during a big recon. And I would expect these changes to be in that table as well.

Is there a way to get this information in an easy manner or is this only possible with customization?

Thank you in advance,

Max

[ChrisG · Accepted solution]

The history on a license (as recorded in the ComplianceHistory table in the database) tracks all allocations/deallocations, regardless of what process makes them. For example, here is a screenshot showing allocations/deallocations on a SaaS license that are done by the regular reconciliation process:

If you are looking for a history of changes to what devices/users are covered by (as opposed to allocated to) a particular license, then I'm not sure you will find that. As far as I can think, that type of change is not consistently recorded anywhere (except possibly for IBM PVU type licenses, where some historical information is tracked in order to be able to calculate peak usage).

[mfranz]

I think it is generally useful to understand that non-allocated license consumption can be very volatile. In case of multiple licenses with similar applications and use rights, the same user/device could* consume from a different license after each reconcile. There is no fixed assignment beyond (manual or automated) allocations (and exemptions) and maybe a few other examples. Keeping track of each of these daily changes would be a) a lot of data and b) usually irrelevant.

* I think there's mechanisms in the reconcile process to prefer existing consumption, but I don't know the exact details.

PS: I believe, this fluidity in the calculation process is actually positive, especially in complex environments.