Computer Application

Computers application

Data about your deployed hardware and software assets is shown in the Computers application. The data is gathered by a discovery tool and imported into the database.

Data that the Computers application shows varies depending on the discovery tool that collects the data. An empty field indicates that the discovery tool did not collect the data or that administrators did not map the data for import into the database.

The customer authorization settings in the Security Groups (SP) application restrict access to information in the Computers (SP) application. The customer authorization settings ensure that, in systems with multiple customers, users can only view computers belonging to the customers that they can access. For example, if Provider ABC manages IT assets for several customers, a service desk agent who works for Provider ABC can see the computers belonging to all of the customers, but an employee of one of the customers can only view the computers that that customer owns.

Data displayed in this application varies depending on the discovery tool used to collect the data. Some data fields in the Computers (SP) application might be empty. An empty field indicates that the discovery tool did not collect the data or that administrators did not map the data for import into the database. Data displayed in some fields in the Computers (SP) application is affected by parameters your administrator defines in administrative applications. Administrative applications affect how the system displays manufacturer, media adapter, operating system, processor, and software names as well as software suites and usage frequency data for software applications.

Service Providers can discover deployed assets in multiple customer networks. In IBM Tivoli Integration Composer, the customer can be set to a common value for all deployed assets discovered in one session. Setting a value for the customer can to help filter the deployed asset records during reconciliation.

There is no validation on the Customer field. If you set an invalid customer during a discovery session, you might not be able to see the discovered asset records in the deployed assets applications because security limits access to these records based on the value in the Customer field.

Information technology (IT) asset data is maintained in two modules, the Assets module and the Deployed Assets module:

Assets module

Asset records for purchased or leased IT assets are maintained in the Assets application. You create these records in the Assets application or when you receive rotated items in the Receiving application. An IT asset is an asset that has a class structure identifier that is in the hierarchy of the top-level IT classification used in your enterprise.

Deployed Assets module

The Deployed Assets applications maintain data collected directly from assets installed in your enterprise. Discovery tools, such as IBM® Tivoli® Provisioning Manager or IBM Tivoli Asset Discovery for Distributed, scan computers, network devices, and network printers that are deployed in your enterprise and record information about the hardware and software installed on those assets. An integration tool, such as Integration Composer, imports the collected data.

The following actions are performed in the Computers application:

• View data that is collected by a discovery tool about computers that are deployed in your enterprise.
• Delete computer records.
• View information about authorized assets that are linked to a computer by the reconciliation process. You can also view discrepancies that the reconciliation process found between the authorized asset and the deployed computer.