Start Center portlets

Portlets are created that are viewed in the Start Center upon logging into Maximo IT. A portlet is configurable window that provides quick access to applications and actions, and an at-a-glance view into data specific to the job function of a user role. Among the portlets available are: links to favorite applications (such as the License view); a task assignment inbox (to view and route assignments routed to the user as part of workflows); links to frequently viewed reports; and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) graph and query result views. There are a variety of KPIs that can be created (with appropriate authorization), such as the percentage of licenses that are over or under licensed and the average amount of free license capacity. Details on creating KPIs can be found at Creating key performance indicators.

Software Contracts

Commercial software contracts are not just purchasing agreements; they are a ‘right to use’ agreement between the vendor(s) and using parties. As noted earlier, a license agreement is the permission from a vendor (whether bought or free) to use a quantity of a given software product; the license entitlement details that permission.

A software contract does not need to be created prior to the creation of a license, but Best Practices recommends that software contracts be created and that licenses be associated to them. Also, note that in a large scale deployment, Contracts may be handled by a separate department from Licensing; in such cases, how the License Manager would communicate and coordinate (through work flows) with Contracts would need to be discussed during the planning and implementation process.