How to Suggest Changes to the ARL SKU Library or PURL?
How to Suggest Changes to the ARL SKU Library or PURL?
Summary
This article explains how to suggest changes to the ARL, SKU Library, or PURL.
Question
How can I suggest changes to the FlexNet Manager Suite ARL, SKU Library, or PURL?
Answer
Flexera welcomes requests from our customers for updates to the Application Recognition Library (ARL), Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) Library and Product Use Rights Library (PURL).
I have not purchased a maintenance plan or it has expired. Can I still suggest changes? Simple content requests which fulfill the criteria below can be submitted to the Content team. However, Flexera will not provide updates on the progress or completion of any request and they may be denied by the Content team.
Where do I submit the content request? Content requests should be submitted through a support case in our Community at https://community.flexera.com
When will my request be completed? Requests will be qualified and prioritized at our discretion. As general guidelines:
We accept all submissions sent through Support.
Most requests we receive are completed within 1 to 2 weeks. For example, ARL updates are often available within 1 to 2 weeks; SKU and PURL requests are usually available monthly.
Large or particularly complex requests will be assessed separately. For any request that we're unable to deliver in a reasonable time-frame, Flexera Services may be available.
Why has my request not been added? Please keep in mind that some applications, SKUs, and PURLs can't be added to our published libraries, such as:
Application evidence that has been modified due to customer repackaging or don't include valid publisher, product or version information.
The provided SKU details are incomplete, ambiguous, or otherwise unverifiable.
Product Use Rights that are only available to a single customer through a unique contractual term.
What information do I need to provide for the request to be fulfilled?
ARL Unassigned Evidence Customers may generate Evidence submissions and submit these to Flexera Support, which will be attached to a Support ticket and redirected to the Content Team. This can be done in one of two ways, depending upon the version of FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises installed.
All versions allow export of evidence into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, or some versions of FlexNet Manager Suite include a Share button on the Applications views that will generate a submission file. This submission can be emailed directly from the Share button wizard when enabled or can be saved locally and attached or uploaded separately.
Note: Detailed instructions for exporting uninstalled evidence can be found in the attachments section.
Classifications If you believe that an application has the wrong classification e.g. that it's currently listed as commercial, but it should be freeware, this can be submitted to the Content Team as well. If possible, please also provide the web link from the vendor which proves the correct classification.
New Applications All new application submissions need to follow the recommendations in 'Guidelines for Submitting Evidence in FNMP 2014+.pdf' which is attached to this KB article. If no evidence is known to be associated with the applications, please attach a spreadsheet with the following column headers completed for each application: Publisher, Product, Version, and Edition.
SKU Library SKUs can come in many different formats, including price lists, purchase orders or simply just SKU values. Customers are encouraged to submit SKUs for processing to Flexera Support. This can be done in one of two ways:
1. Provide the original SKU data source (e.g., price list or purchase order); or 2. Use the attached template to provide SKU details.
While we are happy to accept all submissions, even if you only have the SKU number. Please note that the more information you can provide, the quicker we can add it to the library. The following information for SKUs and PURLs are very helpful in speeding up adding to the content libraries:
SKU value
Publisher and Description
License Type e.g. Upgrade, maintenance, full license
A template is attached to this article that can be used to provide information on missing SKUs. If you can't provide this information, please send us the SKU anyway but please be aware that these typically take a lot longer to process as extensive research must be carried out and in some cases, we may not find enough information to process some SKUs. Sending as much information as you have on SKUs is preferable.
PURL We welcome PURL requests or updates for how we can improve the PURL. A 'PURL Request' template is attached to this article, which can be used to submit PURL use rights questions or adjustments. The following information will be required for a review to occur:
Publisher
Product
Use Rights Question or Adjustment Requested
Reference Documentation
Once we receive the completed template, we will review the documentation and provide feedback.
How is the accuracy of the content libraries maintained?
We have a large team of experts in software licensing and application recognition dedicated to maintaining and enhancing our content libraries. We publish updates weekly for the ARL and Monthly updates for the SKU and PURL, averaging tens of thousands of updates each month across the ARL, SKU, and PURL.
Additional Information The attachment 'Submission Template and Guidelines.zip' includes:
1. SKU / PURL submission templates 2. Guidelines for Submitting ARL data 3. How to engage with our Technical support team to request the content library changes
This is a very comprehensive KB article which explains how to raise data submission of FNMS ARL/SKU/PURL library. It explains what type of data format file will be accept , which won't (screenshot, incorrect excel which converting the version value etc). The article also explains the ETA of such data submission enhancements
@Flex-Jeremy, "Guidelines for Submitting Evidence in FNMP 2014+.pdf" says "If you are a cloud customer, your Unassigned Evidence is already being anonymized and collected for processing by the Application Recognition Library (ARL) Team." Per our earlier conversation (case 01958571), that is not actually how it works. Could we get an update to the guide to help prevent confusion?
@jp_finan that is interesting, as I've always been told this is how this should work for cloud customers. However if you need to prioritise evidences then to send them through. So that will be good to be crystal clear how this should be working. As due to the speed of ARL updates, I typically send them through.
@Flex-Jeremy Also with this, I note that this document states ARL updates are typically updated after 1>2 weeks?
Should this be the case - as in my experience it's normally 3>4 months.
I'm Natalie Lias, the product manager for all Flexera content.
We are currently aligning our content processes so we can get the most important updates out to our customers as quickly as possible by bringing together our Technopedia content library with the ARL. That said, I don't want to wait for all that to be nailed down before we update this KB - it's important that we communicate accurately what we're doing today.
Look for a formal update to this KB in the next two weeks (I am traveling this week).
Thanks so much for your feedback here in Community - we want to make sure we provide as much transparency as we can around content since we know how important it is to making things go.
