Using the Technopedia Connector

FlexNet Manager Suite 2020 R2 (On-Premises)

Technopedia is the world's largest repository of software and hardware products, and receives more 2,000 updates daily. Similarly, the Application Recognition Library within FlexNet Manager Suite collects license-relevant data, including installation evidence, on many thousands of software products.

These two data sources collect information from different sources, and for overlapping but distinct purposes. These differences, together with the separate histories of the two products (before they were brought together by Flexera), mean that there can be a little effort involved in relating the data from the two sources. This is particularly so because the two approaches focus on slightly different elements:

• Technopedia takes the product as its basic element, adding release data as required to distinguish the publication efforts of the manufacturer
  Tip: "Manufacturer" is the blanket terms used within Technopedia because it covers both software and hardware; whereas, with its focus purely on software licensing, FlexNet Manager Suite calls the company making software the "publisher".
• FlexNet Manager Suite focuses on the application as its basic element – this has finer granularity that the overall product, because it already takes into account the release number and (where relevant) the edition of the particular piece of installed software.

For all these reasons, it's sometimes helpful to quickly and simply match a record in FlexNet Manager Suite with the equivalent record(s) within Technopedia, if this product provides the basis of "data normalization" within your enterprise. And that matching is the purpose of two components discussed in this part:

• The Technopedia connector that allows FlexNet Manager Suite to directly import relevant records from Technopedia into your software license management space
• The crosswalk report(s), either the standard one enabled once the Technopedia connector is functioning, or additional crosswalk report(s) that you tailor to the specific needs of your enterprise from time to time.

Within this section, you have:

• The prerequisites for using the Technopedia connector (Prerequisites for Imports from Technopedia)
• How to obtain and install an on-premises (only) inventory reader for importing uploaded data into your compliance database(Download and Install the Reader Code)
• Configuring the connector for regular use (Schedule Imports from Technopedia and Configure the Technopedia Connector)
• Reporting the crosswalk between the Technopedia library and the Application Recognition Library for software in use within your computing estate, either with the standard report provided or with a custom report (Reporting on Applications Linked to Technopedia)
• Reference material on the data fields imported (Imported Data Mapping).

In addition, there is separate documentation on all aspects of the standard crosswalk report available in the online help, under FlexNet Manager Suite Help > Reports > Inbuilt Reports > Installed Applications Linked to Technopedia.