Asset Status controlling Inventory Status

[despain]

I know that a change to a hardware asset status that is linked to an inventory can trigger a change in the inventory status.  For example if an asset is retired, then its inventory is automatically unlinked and archived.  However, I recently tested that changing an asset from 'Installed' to 'In Storage' did not make any modification to the inventory status.  Would this inventory still be counted towards license position?  How can I tell in Flexera One?  Also, which changes in Asset status will produce automatic changes in linked Inventory statuses?

[Flex-Jeremy]

The only Asset statuses that cause the their linked Inventory device to change status to Inactive are Disposed and Retired. 

If the Inventory device has a status of Activate, even if the linked asset is In Storage, then the device can consume a license. 

[despain]

Thanks for the reply Jeremy.  I am a little confused though you said if the asset and inventory are linked and the asset is in storage it could still consume a license, but the documentation given below says the inventory would still be considered active but would not be used in license calculations and the application and licenses tabs would be empty.  I have confirmed that.  Did I misunderstand your statement? 

[ChrisG · Accepted solution]

Here is a summary of some key behaviors related to to the Disposed, In storage and Retired asset status:

• Disposed—When you select a status of Disposed, any linked inventory device record automatically has its status set to Ignored; and any applications installed on an ignored inventory device are not included in license compliance calculations.
• In storage—Applications installed on an asset in storage are not included in license compliance calculations: that is, if you have already linked this asset to an inventory device record, and you save the asset with this status, the Applications and Licenses tabs in the linked inventory device properties now show No results.
• Retired—When you select a status of Retired, any linked inventory device record automatically has its status set to Ignored; and any applications installed on an ignored inventory device are not included in license compliance calculations.

See the following documentation page for more detail about asset statuses: Asset Properties / General Tab.

[despain]

Thanks Chris that documentation was what I was looking for!

[lelfers]

Is it a good practice to Unlink and Ignore inventory records for assets In Storage or best to leave the asset linked to inventory in the event the asset status will be changed from In storage to Installed and re-used?

[ChrisG]

I would generally leave the inventory device an asset links in place. Unlinking them would require some effort, and I can't think of any material benefit from doing that.

[lelfers]

Thanks Chris - so for the purpose of the Out of Date Inventory view is it best to monitor assets that remain in Installed status but have out dated inventory records?  Currently we focus on inventory that has not reported in 30 days.  Is that recommended or best to increase that window to 60 or 90 in the event there are remote users that do not always connect to VPN?

[ChrisG]

It is ideal to be able to regularly receive inventory for an assets that are installed and active. Of course there are real world situations where that can be difficult, but it is good to strive for having current data for all such assets.

The best number of days to use as a window for reporting will depend on the nature of your environment. Maybe try using a window of 30 days, and then if you find there are too many devices that don't report inventory with that frequency for good and legitimate reasons then you can increase the window.