Software Asset Management publisher pack for SAP

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 7 minutes to read
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    Summary of Software Asset Management publisher pack for SAP

    The Software Asset Management (SAM) publisher pack for SAP enables ServiceNow customers to manage and optimize SAP license compliance effectively. It provides comprehensive visibility into SAP license usage, compliance, and potential cost savings by integrating SAP system data into the ServiceNow platform. The pack supports SAP NetWeaver 7.4, SAPBASIS 740, and later versions, and requires activation of the Software Asset Management Professional for SAP plugin (com.snsampsap).

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    Supported License Types

    • Named Users: Manages SAP named user licenses for SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) and SAP S/4 HANA applications, supporting various license types depending on the application (e.g., Professional, Developer Access, Technical Use).
    • Engines: Supports license management for SAP optional applications ("engines") with license usage calculated via automated measurement, combined metrics, or manual self-declaration.
    • Digital Access: Covers indirect SAP system usage through third-party applications by licensing predefined document types created externally, reducing unnecessary named user license consumption.

    SAP Integration and Data Management

    Integration with SAP systems is established by deploying an ABAP program and creating a connection profile in ServiceNow. The publisher pack uses a centralized design to fetch and store SAP data, scheduling weekly imports for SAP data and monthly imports for user and engine activity. Data is initially stored in staging tables before transfer to final SAP tables. Activity transform maps are disabled by default due to potential performance impact but can be enabled manually.

    License Usage and Compliance Monitoring

    Users can monitor SAP license costs, usage, and compliance via the Software Publisher Analytics dashboard (classic application) or the publisher overview in Software Asset Workspace. Weekly or on-demand reconciliations compare purchased licenses with actual usage, highlighting unlicensed users, engine usage, digital access consumption, and providing remediation and optimization recommendations. Compliance reports are available within the Software Asset Workspace.

    Key Configuration and Optimization Features

    • Creation and import of SAP software entitlements, software models, named user types, and price lists to align license tracking with organizational contracts and usage.
    • Mapping SAP roles to named user types to enable license optimization by identifying users eligible for lower-cost license types during reconciliation.
    • Support for SAP User License Measurement (USMM) rules and user transaction activity analysis to refine license allocation.
    • Manual self-declaration of SAP engine license usage for engines not covered by automated measurements to enhance compliance visibility.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    This publisher pack empowers ServiceNow customers to gain accurate, centralized insight into their SAP license consumption, enabling proactive compliance management, cost optimization through license reallocation, and effective handling of complex SAP licensing models including digital access. By leveraging integrated dashboards, reconciliation processes, and customizable configurations, customers can reduce risks of non-compliance, uncover potential savings, and streamline SAP license management within the ServiceNow environment.

    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, engines, and third-party access to SAP systems.

    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.

    Digital Access
    The Digital Access license applies to indirect usage of SAP systems by people or third-party applications without logging into the system directly. A few examples for indirect usage of SAP systems are as follows:
    • Using a third-party application to perform actions in the SAP system
    • Entering data into the SAP system from a third-party application
    • Viewing data in the SAP system from a third-party application

    When you have many third-party product integrations with SAP systems, you can avoid unnecessary consumption of your named user license by purchasing Digital Access licenses. In this licensing model, the usage of SAP applications is licensed by the count of the predefined documents created by the third-party application. The details of the predefined document types are stored in the SAP Document Type [samp_sap_document] table that's installed with the Software Asset Management Professional for SAP (com.sn_samp_sap) plugin.

    Table 1. SAP Document types
    Document name Document multiplier
    Sales document 1
    Purchase document 1
    Invoice document 1
    Manufacturing document 1
    Material document 0.2
    Quality Management document 1
    Service and Maintenance document 1
    Financial document 0.2
    Time Management document 1
    The SAP system stores the digital access data of the supported document types for different users and client systems. Make sure you have any of the following tools to pull the digital access data from the SAP system to your ServiceNow instance:
    • SAP Passport tool
    • SAP Estimation tool
    Note:
    When you purchase an SAP Digital Access license, these tools are available for installation without any additional cost. For details on the SAP tools, see SAP Help Portal.

    When any of the predefined document types are created in the SAP system through a third-party application, the Digital Access licensing cost is applicable. However, there are no additional charges associated with reading, updating, or deleting these documents.

    For the SAP Digital Access software model, digital access usage is calculated as follows:
    1. The total count of documents of a particular document type created on each SAP system by all your users is calculated.

      Consider a scenario where User A created 5 Material documents, and User B created 5 Material and 10 Sales documents on an SAP system. The total count of Material documents is 10 and Sales documents is 10.

    2. The license consumption is calculated by multiplying the total count of a particular document type by the Document multiplier.

      Based on the scenario mentioned in the preceding step, licenses consumed by Material documents is 2 (10*0.2) and by Sales documents is 10 (10*1). So, the total Digital Access license consumed is 12.

    Note:
    The SAP Digital Access software model is installed with the Software Asset Management Professional for SAP (com.sn_samp_sap) plugin.

    Reconciliation for the SAP Digital Access software model is done by comparing the Purchased rights with the licenses that you consumed.

    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. You can view the license optimization details in the Software asset analytics view. For more details, see Publisher optimizations for SAP.

    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, digital access licenses available and required, and 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.