Software reclamation rules

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Software reclamation rules

    Software reclamation rules help ServiceNow customers optimize software license usage by identifying software rights that are underutilized, unused recently, or not used at all. These rules specify usage thresholds such as minimum usage hours or the latest usage date before software is flagged for reclamation. This enables organizations to reclaim and reallocate software rights efficiently, potentially reducing unnecessary software purchases and costs.

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    Key Features

    • Suite Parent and Components Management: When a reclamation rule is created for a suite parent product, usage data for both the parent and its suite components are automatically included. Adding a suite parent to a rule automatically adds all its suite components and related product processes. Changes to the suite parent (edit or delete) cascade accordingly to its components and product processes.
    • Automatic Updates from Software Asset Management Content Service: The list of software products in a reclamation rule is dynamically updated based on changes in suite components, ensuring accurate and current software relationships.
    • Filter Conditions: Filters can be applied either at the suite parent or reclamation rule level to refine which software usage records are considered. Suite parent filters apply to all its components and cannot be overridden at the component level. Filters are applicable only when the rule applies to Installed Software or Subscription Software.
    • Reclamation Rules for SaaS and SSO Applications: When integrating SaaS or SSO applications through direct integration profiles, reclamation rules are automatically created. Customers should review these rules to ensure they meet their organization’s requirements.
    • Upgrade Considerations for Yokohama Release: Existing reclamation rules from previous releases do not automatically support bulk reclamation after upgrading to Yokohama. Customers must manually update rules by removing and re-adding suite parents to trigger the inclusion of suite components and product processes for bulk reclamation.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Gain clear visibility into software usage patterns across parent and component products to optimize license allocation.
    • Reduce software costs by reclaiming underutilized or unused software rights.
    • Maintain accurate and up-to-date software relationships automatically through content service updates.
    • Apply precise filtering to tailor reclamation rules to organizational needs and software types.
    • Seamlessly manage SaaS and SSO application licenses with automatically generated reclamation rules.
    • Ensure smooth transition to the Yokohama release by manually updating existing reclamation rules to enable full functionality.

    Reclamation rules aggregate usage over time and specify a minimum number of hours or the latest date that a software unit must be used before the software is flagged for reclamation.

    Overview of software reclamation rules

    You can avoid purchasing more software rights for products by knowing which rights have already been allocated but are being used infrequently, haven't been used recently enough, or aren't being used at all. Reclamation rules reclaim those software rights so that these rights can be freed up and allocated elsewhere. Reclamation rules are configured to specify a period of time, amount of time, or most recent date that a software unit must be used before the software is flagged for reclamation.

    When a reclamation rule is created for a suite parent, the usage for the suite parent as well as that of the suite components are automatically pulled into the rule.

    When you create a reclamation rule, you can add software products associated to the reclamation rule. When you add a product, which is a suite parent, all the suite components automatically get added and appear in the Software Products related list in the Reclamation rule form. Similarly, the product processes for all the added software suite products and component products also get added and appear in the Product Processes related list.
    Note:
    The products in the Software Products related list are updated based on the content updates in the Software Asset Management Content Service. For example, if a suite component has been added or removed from a suite parent, the change is reflected in the Software Products related list.

    After a suite parent is added to a reclamation rule, you can't edit or delete any suite components, but you can edit or delete the suite parent. If you delete the suite parent, the suite components are also automatically deleted along with the product processes. If you edit a suite parent, then the changes of the edit are reflected for the suite components and the associated product processes. For example, if you change the suite parent from Microsoft Office 365 to Microsoft Word, all the suite components and product processes for Microsoft Office 365 get deleted. Microsoft Word becomes the new parent and all suite components and product processes for Microsoft Word are automatically added.

    Filter conditions

    You can add a filter condition on a suite parent record. The filter condition that you specify for a suite parent is automatically applied to all the suite components of the parent and the filter condition field on the suite component record is no longer editable. You can, however, edit the filter condition on the suite parent record. You can open a suite parent record from the Software Products related list and specify your filter condition in the record.

    You can also specify a filter condition at the reclamation rule level. The filter condition that you specify applies to all the products that belong to the reclamation rule. The filter condition can only be applied when the Applies to field in the Reclamation rule form has the value Installed Software or Subscription Software. For details, see Add a software reclamation rule.

    Reclamation rules for SaaS and SSO applications

    When you create a direct integration profile for a SaaS application or connect an SSO application, a reclamation rule is automatically created for the software product. It's important that you review the reclamation rule to verify that it meets your specifications. For more information, see Review a software reclamation rule.

    For more information about the reclamation rules for each application, see Reclamation rules.

    Upgrading to Yokohama

    If you’re upgrading to Yokohama from any past release, your existing reclamation rules do not automatically take bulk reclamation into account. You must manually set up your existing reclamation rules for bulk reclamation to take effect. For example, in an existing reclamation rule, you have Microsoft Office 365 listed in the Software Installations related list. When you upgrade to Yokohama, you must delete Microsoft Office 365 from the Software Product related list and re-add it to the same reclamation rule to trigger the automatic addition of suite components and their product processes.