Glossary of essential items and terms in IBM Support Insights

Edit online

Coverage statuses

Edit online

Here is a list of the commonly found asset coverage statuses within the application:

Status Definition
Covered by enhanced warranty This coverage status applies to IBM devices with an active warranty service upgrade (WSU). Regarding Cisco devices, this coverage status covers assets with no currently active maintenance contract but with Enhanced Limited Lifetime Warranty (ELLW).
Covered by IBM This coverage status applies to equipment with an active IBM contract, regardless of warranty status (based on contract data).
Covered by third party This coverage status applies to equipment with a currently active non-IBM maintenance contract.
Covered by warranty This coverage status applies to IBM devices with an active warranty, for which we do not have contract data. Regarding Cisco devices, this coverage status covers assets with no currently active maintenance contract but with Limited Lifetime Warranty (LLW).
Device not processed This coverage status applies to equipment not processed in IBM Support Insights. The reasons for this may include, but are not limited to, not enough information having been gathered for the asset using one of the collectors, or the device being a third-party asset. Those assets are excluded from the risks calculations.
Excluded This coverage status applies to equipment owned by the client, but not included in the contract. It generally applies to assets considered too minor, such as for example IP Phones. Those assets are excluded from the risks calculations.
Expired This coverage status applies to equipment the coverage of which has already expired.
Other This coverage status found on the Coverage by group - Time page unites the following three statuses: Device not processed, Uncovered by customer decision and Unknown.
Uncovered This coverage status applies to equipment with an expired warranty, for which we do not have contract data.
Uncovered by customer decision This coverage status applies to equipment not covered due to customer decision. Those assets are still shown in the Support Coverage report with the Uncovered by Customer Decision status, but are excluded from the risks calculations.
Uncovered - end of support This coverage status applies to equipment past their last day of support. Support coverage is not available for such devices. Those assets are excluded from the risks calculations.
Unknown This coverage status applies when there is no warranty information available for the asset and no contract information available for the asset. This status also applies for assets without a valid serial number.

Contract statuses

Edit online

Here is a list of the commonly found contract statuses within the application:

Status Definition
Active The contract is currently active.
Auto-renew The contract is set up for auto-renewal.
Canceled The contract has been cancelled and thus does not provide coverage.
Expired The contract has reached its end date and is expired. It does not provide coverage.
Future The contract is not active yet. It does not provide coverage yet, but will when its start date is reached.
Stopped The contract has been stopped. It does not provide coverage.
Unknown No information is available for the contract.

Firmware recommendations

Edit online

Following is a list of the firmware-related data points and their various statuses found across the application. For firmware-based terminology, click here.

Status Definition
FW version - *specific value* When the asset's firmware version is found - via a collector or Call Home data - it is displayed as a value in this data-point.
FW version - Unknown When the asset's firmware version is not found - via a collector or Call Home data - the Unknown value is displayed.
Minimum FW level - *specific value* When the FW version of the asset is available and a minimum suggested FW version is available - its value is displayed.
Minimum FW level - No recommendation When the FW version of the asset is available, but a minimum suggested FW version is not available - the No recommendation value is displayed.
Minimum FW level - Unknown When the FW version of the asset is not available.
Recommended FW level - *specific value* When the FW version of the asset is available and a recommended FW version is available - its value is displayed.
Recommended FW level - No recommendation When the FW version of the asset is available, but a recommended FW version is not available - the No recommendation value is displayed.
Recommended FW level - Unknown When the FW version of the asset is not available.

Application terminology

Edit online

Here are the commonly used terms and abbreviations, found across the application. You can select a letter from the following list and jump straight to the list of terms beginning with the chosen letter.

| A | B | C | D | E | F | G |H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |

A

Edit online
  • Alert - A detailed warning of a vulnerability for a number of affected assets that can be proactively addressed via Risks and recommendations. Alert scores range between 0 - 100 and are organized into High, Medium, and Low categories. The ranges are as follows:

    - High: 100 - 70

    - Medium: 69 - 40

    - Low: 39 - 0

  • Asset id - The internal id of the asset, the field is a unique identifier for the asset in IBM Support Insights.
  • Asset name - The system-generated name of the asset, which is generally comprised of its machine type, model and serial number.
  • Asset type - The type of asset, for example hardware, virtual, etc.
  • Avg CVSS per alert - The average CVSS score per each alert.

B

Edit online
  • Bill to country - The country of the customer to whom the support contract fees get billed.
  • Bill to customer name - The name of the customer to whom the support contract fees get billed.
  • Bill to customer number - The customer number of the customer to whom the support contract fees get billed.

C

Edit online
  • Case description - The description of the support case, as is in the IBM Support site.
  • Case ID - The IBM support case number, generated upon creation of the support case.
  • Case status - The status of the support case, generally either In progress, Closed or Canceled, as is in the IBM Support site.
  • Cases - The amount of support cases shown (both open and closed) for the specific client for the specific time-frame selected.
  • Category - The asset's category, i.e. what devices category the asset falls into.
  • Change - This column is located on the Changes page of the application and indicates the specific change that has occurred for the asset in the specified time interval.
  • City - The name of the city where the asset is located.
  • Contract end date - The contract's end date, when services included in the contract also end.
  • Contract number - The number of the contract in which the asset is included.
  • Contract period end date - If the contract is tied to a specific period, or split into different periods - this is the end date of said period and thus the end date of the contract as well. Alternatively, this could be a revise/renew/checkpoint date for the contract.
  • Contract start date - The date the contract becomes effective, which may sometimes be before the start date of the services, included in the contract.
  • Contract status - The status of the contract in which the asset is included.
  • Country - The name of the country where the asset is located.
  • Coverage expires - The date on which the asset's coverage expires. This includes warranty information, contract information and end-of-support (EOS) information.
  • Coverage risk - A risk score calculated using several sources of coverage information, including warranty and contract coverage. An absolute value in the application's Inventory management section, but a relative value in the application's Risks and recommendations section.
  • Coverage status - The column contains details about the coverage status of the device.
  • CSPC - Cisco Common Services Platform Collector.
  • CVSS - Common Vulnerability Scoring System - a method of measuring severity.

D

Edit online
  • Data source - The source of the inventory data, for example contract, data collector, etc.
  • Device ID - Unique identifier of an asset contained in a specific customer inventory which reflects the parent - child relationship between the main component (chassis) and the field replaceable unit (FRU) components (cards).

    A chassis will have the same Device ID and Parent Device ID, while any FRU component will have a Parent Device ID equal to the Device ID of the owning chassis.

E

Edit online
  • Expiration - The date of the asset's coverage expiration.

F

Edit online
  • Firmware (FW) risk - A risk score associated with an asset’s firmware version, including lifecycle events such as end-of-support. A component of OS/Firmware risk. An absolute value in the application's Inventory management section, but a relative value in the application's Risks and recommendations section.
  • Firmware (FW) version - Indicates the version of the firmware running on the asset.
  • FW EOS date - Provides information about when the firmware will reach, or has reached, end-of-support (EOS). The values this column may contain are time-based buckets until, or after, EOS. This data point may also contain a "Not announced" value if the EOS is not yet declared.

G

Edit online
  • Geo - The geographical region where the asset is located.

H

Edit online
  • Hardware EOS announcement URL (HW EOS announcement URL) - The URL to the official announcement for the particular hardware's end-of-support (EOS) date.
  • Hardware EOS date (HW EOS date) - The date when the hardware will reach, or has reached, its end-of-support (EOS).
  • Hardware EOS status (HW EOS status) - Provides information about when the hardware will reach, or has reached, end-of-support (EOS). The values this column may contain are time-based buckets until, or after, EOS.
  • Hardware risk - A risk score calculated using several sources of hardware information, including lifecycle events and OEM defects. An absolute value in the application's Inventory management section, but a relative value in the application's Risks and recommendations section.
  • Hostname - The unique identifier that serves as name of the device over a network. Can be as long as 255 characters and consists of numbers and letters.
  • HWMA - Hardware maintenance agreement.

I

Edit online
  • IBM serial number - The serial number of IBM assets.
  • INS device ID - The Cisco id of the asset, the field is a unique identifier for the asset in IBM Support Insights.
  • Installed at address - The street address of the assets' location, as retrieved from IBM's contract system.
  • Installed at city - The city of the assets' install location, as retrieved from IBM's contract system.
  • Installed at country - The country of the assets' install location, as retrieved from IBM's contract system.
  • Installed at customer - The customer name of the client which currently possesses the device. Note, one client may purchase an asset under one name and install it a different site under a different name.
  • Installed at customer number - The customer number used to identify the client that currently is in possession of the asset, in other words - clients would use this number to get support for the device. One client may have several customer numbers, but one asset is listed under only one customer number.
  • Installed at geo - The geography of the asset's install location, as retrieved from IBM's contract system.
  • Installed at postal code - The zip code of the assets' install location, as retrieved from IBM's contract system.
  • Installed at state - The state of the assets' install location, as retrieved from IBM's contract system.
  • IP address - Internet Protocol address. The IP address identifies a network or a device on the network.

L

Edit online
  • Last updated - This indicates the date of the specific asset's last update.
  • Location - A user-defined field aimed at containing the asset's location, which may be filled in using the Edit dialogue.

M

Edit online
  • Machine type - The asset's machine type - generally consisting of 4 symbols.
  • Model - The asset's model - generally consisting of 3 symbols.

O

Edit online
  • OEM serial number - The serial number of non-IBM assets.
  • On recommended OS - Indicates whether the device is running on the vendor recommended OS version. If the recommended version is Not Available (N/A), this means the vendor currently doesn't provide such information for that product ID. The different recommended releases are of different throttles/minor versions and represent different feature sets. The vendor recommendation is based on 3 main factors:
    • Quality and stability - based on metrics, customer feedback and testing
    • Longevity - long-lived releases are preferred
    • Adoption rate - more widely used releases are preferred
  • OS EOS date - Provides information about when the operating system will reach, or has reached, EOS. The values this column may contain are time-based buckets until, or after, EOS.
  • OS name - Indicates the type of operating system installed on the device.
  • OS version - Indicates the operating system version of the device.
  • OS/Firmware risk - A risk score calculated using several sources of operating system and firmware details, including lifecycle events such as end-of-support (EOS) and diversity of versions deployed which increase complexity of managing the IT environment.
  • Overall risk - The summary value of risk for the asset, comprised of the weighted average of Security, OS/Firmware, Hardware, and Coverage risks. An absolute value in the application's Inventory management section, but a relative value in the application's Risks and recommendations section.

P

Edit online
  • Parent device ID - Unique identifier of an asset contained in a specific customer inventory which reflects the parent-child relationship between the main component (chassis) and the field replaceable unit (FRU) components (cards).

    A chassis will have the same Device ID and Parent Device ID, while any FRU component will have a Parent Device ID equal to the Device ID of the owning chassis.

  • Previous firmware version - The previous firmware version of the asset. Used to compare asset changes.
  • Previous hostname - The previous hostname of the asset. Used to compare asset changes.
  • Previous IP address - The previous IP address of the asset. Used to compare asset changes.
  • Previous OS name - The previous OS name of the asset. Used to compare asset changes.
  • Previous SNMP location - The previous SNMP location of the asset. Used to compare asset changes.
  • Priority - The asset's assigned priority.
  • Product family - The asset's product family, i.e. what type of product the asset is.
  • Product id - The asset's product id, i.e. the asset's name/description.

R

Edit online
  • Rec. OS installed (%) - The percentage of devices that have the recommended OS installed.
  • Recommendation - A proposal as to the best course of action to address a vulnerability for a number of affected assets. In IBM Support Insights, Recommendations include specific guidance and options for how to remediate the issue.
  • Risk Score - Represents the amount of risk (ranging between 0-100). The calculation of this score is based on the data collected for or populated from inventory assets. Such data includes: vendor, model, machine type, contract and warranty information, software levels (OS/firmware version), end-of-support events, and security vulnerabilities. The lower the score, the lower the risk.
  • RPO - Recovery point objective - how far back does a back-up go.
  • RTO - Recovery time objective - how long restoring a back-up takes.

S

Edit online
  • Security alerts - The number of security alerts, associated with the specific asset.
  • Security risk - A risk score calculated using several sources of security vulnerabilities, including Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs), High Impact and/or Pervasive alerts (HIPERs), etc. An absolute value in the application's Inventory management section, but a relative value in the application's Risks and recommendations section.
  • Serial long - Identical to the OEM serial number column in the main assets table.
  • Service end date - The date when the contracted service is no longer provided.
  • Service item - The number of the service line item - the field contains numerical values.
  • Service level - The column contains information about the service level agreement details of the asset's coverage/warranty.
  • Service name - The column contains information about the specific name of the asset's coverage/warranty agreement.
  • Service period end date - If the service is tied to a specific period - this is the end date of said period and thus the end date of the service as well. Alternatively, this could be a revise/renew/checkpoint date for the service.
  • Service start date - The date when the contracted service begins.
  • Service type - The column contains information about the type of warranty the asset is under.
  • Severity - The severity of the support case, ranging between 1 (highest) to 4 (lowest), as is in the IBM Support site.
  • SNMP location - The SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) location obtained from the asset.
  • Software risk - A risk score associated with the operating system and version, including lifecycle events such as end-of-support and diversity of versions deployed which increase complexity of managing the IT environment. A component of OS/Firmware risk. An absolute value in the application's Inventory management section, but a relative value in the application's Risks and recommendations section.
  • Sold to country - The country of the customer to whom the asset has been sold.
  • Sold to customer name - The name of the customer to whom the asset has been sold.
  • Sold to customer number - The customer number of the customer to whom the asset has been sold.
  • Street address - A user-defined field aimed at containing the asset's address, which may be filled in using the Edit dialogue.
  • SWMA - Software maintenance agreement.

T

Edit online
  • Tags - The column contains user-defined tags/labels.
  • TAM (report) - technical account manager (report).
  • Total exposure per asset - The sum of CVSS scores for a certain asset.
  • Total exposure - The sum of CVSS scores.
  • TSA - Technical Support Appliance.

V

Edit online
  • Vendor - The name of the asset's vendor.
  • Vendor notice risk - This risk category includes alerts specific to each vendor, such as Field notice alerts for Cisco devices, etc.
  • Vendor notices - The number of vendor notices associated with the specific asset.
  • Vendor recommended OS versions - This column shows the available OS upgrades recommended by the vendor - values are delimited with a comma.
  • Vendor recommended OS 1/2/3 - These three separate columns each display an OS upgrade recommended by the vendor - if only one upgrade recommendation exists, columns 2 and 3 will not have values.

W

Edit online
  • Warranty end date - The end date of the warranty the asset is under.
  • Warranty start date - The start date of the warranty the asset is under.
  • Warranty status - The column contains information about the status of the asset's warranty. The possible values in the field, whenever warranty information is available, are Valid and Expired.