Working with Software Assets

Mouse Tracks provides a way to track your software assets (sometimes referred to as Software Media Assets).  It is one thing to know the software that is detected on your computers, but this is only one part of what is required in a software audit.  You also must know the licenses you own for each software product as well as which computers 'should' have a license.  The software asset tracking capabilities in Mouse Tracks allow you to track all the information required for a complete software audit.  You can track CD-ROM's, DVD, Open License Agreements, and Downloadable software in the software asset section.  You can also assign software assets to computers in Mouse Tracks. 

Mouse Tracks inventory capabilities give you all the tools and tracking capabilities required for a software audit.

Software Auditing Steps

Audit your PC's using Mouse Tracks Audit 32.  Auditing computers is the way to find the software that is actually installed on your PC's.

  1. Track your software assets in Mouse Tracks.   This allows you to summarize the number software licenses you own for each product.
  2. Assign your software assets to your computers.  This is your way of distributing licenses to your computers.  This gives you a list of the software that 'should' be installed on a given PC.
  3. View software audit reports and look for discrepancies between software detected, software assets owned and software assets allocated.

Upgrade Note:
Unlike Mouse Tracks 2002, Mouse Tracks 2003 and newer longer uses 'Master Software Records'.  This functionality has been replaced by the ability to allocate specific (master records were generic) licenses to specific computers.  If you used Mouse Tracks 2002 to allocate 'Master Software Records', the upgrade database process would have allocated these licenses to a new software assets tagged with a suffix of _upg.  You may want to delete these upgrade records after you have assigned 'specific' software assets to the computers.

Note:
Although manually allocating software assets to computers may be cumbersome, doing so will keep track of the software that 'should' be installed on the computers.  This is a very important step of the software audit process.

Defining Software Media Types
From the Data Menu, choose Miscellaneous Tables -- Software Media Types.

Adding Software Media Assets
In the upper portion of the Software List, click the 'Add Command'.

Duplicating Software Media Assets
You can quickly duplicate similar software asset records by clicking the duplicate record command in the upper portion of the software asset list.  When you click this command, you will be prompted for a new software asset tag number. 

Deleting Software Assets
To delete software assets from Mouse Tracks, select the records from upper list and then click the Delete command.  

Allocating Software Assets to Computers
Mouse Tracks 2003 gives you the ability to assign each software license to one or more computers.  Some software assets might be Open License Agreements with multiple licenses while others may simply be 'Off the shelf' applications that contain one license and one CD-ROM.  Therefore you could have 45 computers assigned to an Open License Agreement that has a total of 50 licenses. 

There are two ways of assigning software assets to computers within Mouse Tracks. 

Assigning through the software asset list:

  1. Highlight the software asset that you wish to assign to a computer.
  2. Click the 'Assign License to Computer(s)' command at the bottom of the list.
  3. Select the computer(s) and then click 'Assign'.

Assigning through the computer detail form:

  1. Open the computer list
  2. Edit the computer that you wish to assign software assets.
  3. Switch to the software tab and click the option for 'Software Licenses Allocated to this Computer'.
  4. Click the 'Allocate Software Licenses to this Computer' command.
  5. Select the software asset(s) and then click 'Allocate'.

Notes:
Mouse Tracks does not enforce the number of license that you can allocate for a given software asset.  Therefore, you could allocate 55 computers to an open license agreement of 50 licenses.  When allocating licenses through the software asset list, you will see the 'licenses' for the selected software asset in the top list.  Use the record count in the lower left hand corner of the form to quickly identify the number of computers to which the license has been assigned.

When you 'Dispose' a computer in Mouse Tracks, any software assets that were allocated to the computer are made available to other computers. 

Use the software report 'Software Assets Allocation to Computers (by Software Asset)' to identify license shortages and overages for each individual software asset.

Use the built-in report 'Software Asset Allocation to Computers (by Software Product)' to identify license shortages and overages without by the software assets product title.

Deleting Software Assets from Computers
In Mouse Tracks there are two ways to delete software assets that have been assigned to computers.

Delete the software asset assigned to record from the Software Asset List:

  1. Select the software asset that contains the assignment record(s) in the upper section of the Software Asset List.
  2. Select the one or more licenses from the lower list and click the delete command at the bottom of the Software Asset form.

Delete the software asset assignment from within the computer detail form:

  1. Edit the appropriate computer and then switch to the software tab.
  2. Click the radio option for 'Software Licenses Allocated to this Computer'.
  3. Select one or more software assets and then click delete.

Checking-Out Software Assets to Users
Edit the software media asset item and select the User ID in the 'Checked Out To' Field.  The 'Checked Out By' field will automatically contain the current Mouse Tracks Inventory User ID. 

Note:
Checking out software assets is not to be confused with Allocating Software Assets to PC's.  The only purpose of checking out software assets is to track the asset to a user (not the computer).  If someone in your company borrows a copy of Visio to install at home, you should check the CD-ROM out to that user until they return it.  Allocating the license of Visio is independent of who the asset is 'Checked Out To'.

Checking-In Software Assets
Edit the software media asset item and clear the 'Checked Out To' Field.

Attaching Files to Software Records
Mouse Tracks 2007 introduced the powerful ability of file attachments.  The following steps will teach you how to attach electronic manuals, warranty information, electronic license keys, or any other files associated with the software record.

  1. Switch to the Attachment tab in the Software Detail form
  2. Click the 'Add' Command
  3. Browse to the file
  4. Click Ok

The file is now stored in the database with the associated computer record.

For more information on Attachments see Working with File Attachments.

Linking Shared Documents to Software Records
In Mouse Tracks 2009 you can associate documentation records with any inventory item.  To Add a shared document link to a software asset switch to the Documents tab in the Software Detail form

  1. Click the 'Add' Command
  2. Select the item(s) you wish to link
  3. Click Link

The documentation asset is then associated with the software asset record.

For more information on Attachments see Working with Documentation.

Record History & Problem History
Any changes made to a software record are stored in the record's history field. Viewing the history field is an easy way to see the changes made to the software product.  The history tab in the software detail form also contains a problem history list.  If you are using the Help Desk feature within Mouse Tracks, tickets can be linked to computers, peripherals and/or software products.  The history tracking features in Mouse Tracks makes it very simple to track the software product from purchase through disposal.

Tip

Define one of the software media asset user definable date fields as a 'Support Contract end date'.  This would allow you to report on software that is out of warranty.