Part numbers

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Various types of IBM offerings, such as software products, are identified by the so-called part numbers that represent the offerings and license metrics that they use. Part numbers that represent software products can be used to increase the accuracy of automated bundling by narrowing down the number of possible products to which a discovered component can be assigned.

Types of part numbers

There are three types of part numbers:
  • Catalog part numbers - these are part numbers that are provided by IBM together with the software catalog. Each part number represents a software product and a license metric that this product uses.
  • 9.2.7 Custom part numbers - these are user-defined part numbers that are not included in the software catalog by default. They might be assigned to software products with custom deals, or any additional software you wish to add to the software catalog.
  • Imported part numbers - these are part numbers of products that you purchased. You can download the imported part numbers list from the Passport Advantage website or create it manually, and import the file on the Products & Metrics report. Part numbers that represents products that you purchased and their license metrics are matched against the part numbers that are provided with the software catalog to improve the results of automated bundling.
License Metric Tool takes into consideration part numbers that start with the following letters:
  • D - part numbers that represent License Entitlements
  • E - part numbers that represent Support and Subscription

9.2.20 Relation between part numbers and software entitlements

Software entitlements are products that you own and thus are entitled to install and use. You can declare your software entitlements manually on the Products & Metrics report or by importing part numbers. You can mark a product as a software entitlement even if you do not have a part number for that product. Changes that you make to part numbers influence software entitlements in the following way.
  • When you upload part numbers, corresponding products are automatically marked as software entitlements.
  • When you remove part numbers, corresponding products are no longer marked as software entitlements.
  • When you overwrite the imported part numbers, entitlements that you set manually are cleared.
  • When you manually clear software entitlements, part numbers that were uploaded for the particular products are removed.
For more information about software entitlements, see: Defining software entitlements.

Example

Automated bundling assigns a database component to one of the products that were discovered in your infrastructure. However, the database component can also be potentially assigned to another product.
A graphic that shows the potential assignment of a database component.

Before you confirm the assignment of the database component or change it manually, you can import the part numbers file to License Metric Tool. Based on the file, and the component-product relations that are defined in the software catalog, the initial assignment of the database component is more accurate.

A graphic that shows the assignment of the database component that is based on the imported part numbers list.

9.2.32 Part numbers for Cloud Paks and FlexPoint bundles

Starting from application update 9.2.32, part numbers that represent Cloud Paks and FlexPoint bundles are taken into account during automatic bundling. In earlier application updates, they were ignored.

When a component can be assigned to a stand-alone product or a product that is under a Cloud Pak, and part numbers were imported for both of them, the stand-alone product takes precedence.
Component that is assigned to a stand-alone product
If a component can be assigned to two products, each of which is under a Cloud Pak, and part numbers were imported for both of them, the following option takes precedence:
  • The component is in the first place assigned to the product under the Cloud Pak that uses the VPC metric. Then, it is assigned to the one that uses the PVU metric, than any other metric.
  • The component is assigned to the product that has the highest conversion ratio.
Component that is assigned to a product under one of two possible Cloud Paks

Limitations

The extent to which part numbers can improve automated bundling is limited by the following factors.
  • Part numbers influence the assignment of only those components whose assignment is not confirmed.
  • The following types of part numbers are not contained in the software catalog and thus do not influence automated bundling.
    • Part numbers that were purchased before 2010.
    • Part numbers that represent products that have limited availability.
    • Part numbers that represent products that are available only outside of the United States.
    Note: 9.2.7 Starting from application update 9.2.7, you can add a custom part number to the software catalog for any existing product-license metric pair. This solution allows you to customize the software catalog, and ensure that products that were purchased before 2010, or are specific to your business and geographical location are additionally considered during automated bundling. For more information, see: Adding custom part numbers.