Software Asset Management publisher pack for SAP

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated February 1, 2024
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Software Asset Management publisher pack for SAP IT Asset Management

    The Software Asset Management publisher pack for SAP enables organizations to manage and optimize SAP licenses effectively, providing visibility into license compliance and opportunities for cost savings. To utilize this pack, activate the Software Asset Management Professional for SAP plugin.

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    Key Features

    • License Management: Supports various SAP named user licenses for both SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) and SAP S/4 HANA applications, including different types for each.
    • Engine Licenses: Manages licenses for SAP engines with unique metrics for calculating usage through automated or manual processes.
    • SAP Connection: Establishes connections between SAP systems and ServiceNow, enabling data importation through a centralized design.
    • Data Management: Automatically pulls SAP data into ServiceNow, scheduled weekly for most data types.
    • License Usage and Compliance Reporting: Offers dashboards and views for tracking license costs, usage, compliance, and optimization opportunities.

    Key Outcomes

    Utilizing the SAP publisher pack allows customers to:

    • Enhance visibility and compliance regarding SAP licenses.
    • Optimize license consumption and potentially reduce costs through role reassignment and other strategies.
    • Execute weekly reconciliations to compare purchased rights with actual usage, helping to identify unlicensed users and engines.
    • Self-declare engine license usage for engines not measured automatically, providing a comprehensive view of compliance.

    Use the Software Asset Management publisher pack for SAP to manage and optimize your SAP licenses. Get comprehensive visibility into your SAP license compliance and uncover potential savings.

    Note:
    You can use the SAP publisher pack to manage and optimize licensing for SAP NetWeaver 7.4, SAP_BASIS 740 and later versions.
    Note:
    To use the publisher pack, activate the Software Asset Management Professional for SAP plugin (com.sn_samp_sap).

    Supported license types

    The SAP publisher pack supports licensing for named users and engines.

    Named Users

    SAP named users are the members in your organization who use SAP applications. You can purchase different types of named user licenses and then assign each license to a named user.

    The SAP publisher pack supports named user licenses for both SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) applications and SAP S/4 HANA applications. Different named user license types are supported based on the application type. SAP ECC applications support various named user license types, including Professional, Limited Professional, and Employee Self Service. SAP S/4 HANA applications support only the Developer Access, Enterprise Management for Professional Use, Enterprise Management for Functional Use, Enterprise Management for Productivity Use, Technical SAP Engine User, and Technical Use named user license types. The ServiceNow AI Platform supports all named user types for both SAP ECC applications and SAP S/4 HANA applications.

    Engines (automated, calculated, and self-declared)

    SAP engines, also known as packages, are optional applications that require additional licenses. Every engine has a unique license metric that is used to calculate the license usage for the engine. Examples of license metrics include the number of employees or number of contracts.

    License usage is calculated through either an automated SAP engine measurement, calculation based on multiple engine measurements plus an indicator, or a manual self-declaration process.
    • If an engine is supported by the SAP engine measurement process, Software Asset Management automatically calculates the license usage for that engine.
    • If an engine is identified to be composed of multiple engine measurements, Software Asset Management calculates this value if the indicator license metric is also available.
    • If an engine isn’t supported by the SAP engine measurement process, you must manually enter the license usage information for that engine using the self-declaration process. For information on how to self-declare your SAP engine license usage, see Self-declaring SAP engine license usage.
    To view the complete list of engines that are supported by each process, see Engine & Self-Declaration Product Measurement in the SAP Support Portal.
    Important:
    You must have an SAP Support Portal account to access the SAP Support Portal.

    The SAP publisher pack supports engine licenses for both SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) applications and SAP S/4 HANA applications.

    SAP connection with the ServiceNow AI Platform

    To start connecting your SAP systems and your ServiceNow instance, deploy the ABAP program for SAP. Then, follow the steps to establish an SAP connection.

    The Software Asset Management publisher pack for SAP uses a centralized design. When you import transport files into an SAP client that is considered a central system, the client uses the custom program-selected Remote Function Call (RFC) connection list to connect all other clients through RFC from the central system. It then fetches data to store in central system custom tables. To import the transport files, use either the SAP Solution Manager or another SAP client that has RFC connections activated to fetch data into a central system.

    After the connection is established, data is pulled into your ServiceNow instance from your SAP system. For a list of all data that is pulled, see Tables installed with the SAP publisher pack.

    SAP data is scheduled to be pulled weekly. User activity data, web activity data, and engine usage data are pulled monthly. All user and web activity is deleted after 90 days. Engine usage measurement records in the SAP License Metric Measurement table [samp_sap_license_metric_measurement] are deleted after one year.

    When SAP data enters the ServiceNow AI Platform, it’s initially stored in staging tables before it’s transferred to the final SAP tables. To edit the tables where data transfer takes place or to view the transfer logic, see transform maps.

    Note:
    The user activity and web activity transform maps aren't enabled by default because they may cause performance issues due to the large amount of data. However, you can manually enable these transform maps. To enable the activity transform maps, navigate to All > Software Asset > SAP Compliance and Optimization > SAP Connections and select the connection. In the Configuration section, set the Fetch activity field to True and then select Update.

    View SAP license usage and compliance

    View your SAP license costs, usage, and compliance using the Software Publisher Analytics dashboard (Software Asset Management classic application) or publisher overview (Software Asset Workspace). The dashboard and overview also show how you can optimize license consumption by reassigning user roles in your SAP system.

    Reconciliation runs weekly or on demand to determine your license compliance position for all of your SAP products. Reconciliation compares your purchased rights recorded in software entitlements with actual usage data pulled from your SAP systems. You can view reconciliation results for SAP in the License usage view of the Software Asset Workspace. The License usage view shows unlicensed users and engines, remediation options to make your license position compliant, potential savings, and more. For more information on the License usage view, see License usage view.

    To view Software license compliance position reports for SAP, navigate to License usage > Reports > Software license compliance position in the Software Asset Workspace.