Assigning components to products and product bundles

Available from 9.2.7. After a new component is discovered, it is assigned to a product based on bundling rules. Compare the automatically created assignment with information in your license agreement. If the assignment is correct, you can confirm it to easily see how many software items still require your review. If the assignment is incorrect, change it. If a component was purchased under a product that is a part of a Cloud Pak, FlexPoint or other product bundle, assign it accordingly. Correct assignment of software components reduces the cost of software ownership and ensures audit readiness.

Before you begin

You must have the Manage Software Classification permission to view the Software Classification panel and classify software. To view some additional columns related to computers on which the components are installed, you also need the View Endpoints permission.

About this task

Important: Software classification actions are not applied from the moment when they are performed. They affect the entire licensing history. For example, if a component is detected in January, and then it is reassigned to a different product or the product metric is changed in May, the change affects the component from January. The change is visible after you click Recalculate on the All Metrics report or after the next import of data completes.

During the assignment, you can perform the following actions:

• Assign a single component to a single product.
• Assign multiple components to a single product. To properly use this option, set filters that limit the number of displayed components. Then, select the components and assign them to the product.
• Share a component between multiple products.
• Indicate that the component or components belong to a product that was purchased under a Cloud Pak, FlexPoint, or other product bundle. For more information, see: Licensing of non-containerized Cloud Pak programs.

You can automate software classification by creating custom rules that automatically classify newly discovered components. For more information, see: Creating and managing custom rules for software.

To properly classify the installed software, start by assigning the discovered components to products in accordance with your license agreement. In this example, the discovered components are assigned as follows.

• Component 1 and Component 2 that are installed on Computer 1 are assigned to Product 1.
• Component 3 that is installed on Computer 2 is assigned to the first instance of Product 2.
• Component 3 that is installed on Computer 3 is assigned to the second instance of Product 2.

Then, assign proper product instances to Cloud Paks, FlexPoints, or other product bundles if you have any. In this example, Product 1 and the first instance of Product 2 are a part of Cloud Pak 1. The second instance of Product 2 is licensed separately and thus is not assigned to any Cloud Pak.

If a component is assigned to a product that is a part of a Cloud Pak, and you reassign such a component, the component instance is no longer assigned to any Cloud Pak. In this example, Component 3 that is installed on Computer 2 is reassigned from the first instance of Product 2 to Product 3. As a result, the reassigned component is no longer a part of any Cloud Pak. The same applies to a situation in which you suppress a component that is assigned to a product that is a part of a Cloud Pak.