CAL Usage Inventory Report

IT Asset Management (Cloud)
The CAL Usage Inventory report lists users and devices that are using applications which require a Client Access License (CAL) or a SaaS license. Software asset managers may wish to generate this report for the following reasons:
  • To determine the number of CALs that need to be purchased prior to negotiating the Microsoft enterprise agreement (EA).
  • To tracks CAL usage in order to determine usage and reclaim any unused CALs.
  • To determine CAL usage for each corporate division and internal divisions/departments so chargeback amounts can be accurately accounted for based on CAL costs. To do so, they would choose to filter results by Corporate unit.
  • To accurately evaluate CAL compliance as part of the company's Microsoft license position and overall compliance. This information is required when responding to any Microsoft audits.

Generating the report

  1. Go to the CAL Usage Inventory page.
  2. In the top center is a selection field labeled Access evidence (application). Click the search icon and select one or more types of access evidence.
  3. Click Run report to view application access evidence collected in the last 90 days.

Limiting the report results

Located from left to right below the report title, the following filters and search fields are available:

  • Using the standard filter labeled Access evidence collected in the last, select a reporting period from the adjacent drop-down list. You can choose the last 7, 14, 30, 60, 90, 180, or 365 days, all measured from today.
  • Using the standard filter labeled View by, choose a different type of evidence by selecting one of the following options from the adjacent drop-down list:
    • Select User to view access evidence for one or more users. This displays the search field labeled Account name (accessing). Click the search icon and select one or more users.
    • Select Inventory device to view access evidence for one or more inventory devices. This displays the search field labeled Inventory device (accessing). Click the search icon and select one or more inventory devices.
    • Select Server to view access evidence for one or more servers. This displays the search field labeled Server. Click the search icon and select one or more servers.
For help with the search, see To Use a Fly-Down.

Reading the report

The following columns (listed alphabetically within each group) are available. By default, some are available in the column chooser.

Access evidence properties
Column name Description
Name

The name of the access evidence collected from the server that has been accessed.

Not editable.

Application properties
Name

The name of the accessed server application.

You can edit this on the General tab of the application properties when Local is displayed in the Source column (which means the application was added manually by an operator).

CAL usage properties
Account name

The login name of the accessing user.

Editable in the General tab of the user properties (if mapped to an existing user).

Data source

The source from where IT Asset Management collected the access evidence for the application access. The value Manual indicates that the evidence has been uploaded through the Data Inputs page.

Not editable.

Domain name (user)

The domain of the user accessing the application\evidence.

Editable in the General tab of the user properties (if mapped to an existing user).

IP address

The IP address of the client device accessing a server application for which the CAL is required.

Editable in the General tab of the inventory device properties (if mapped to an existing user).

Last seen date

The date when inventory collection was last performed on the inventory device where this accessed application is located.

Not editable.

Last server inventory date

The date when the last inventory information was collected by the Last inventory source for the accessed server.

Not editable.

Last used count

The number of times the accessed application was used on the Last used date.

Not editable.

Last used date

The date when the accessed server application (that requires a CAL) was last used.

Not editable.

Licensed application

Indicates whether the application is Licensed or Not licensed.

Max used count

The maximum number of times this application was accessed in a day.

Not editable.

Server

The name of the accessed device.

Editable in the Name field in the General tab of the inventory device properties (if mapped to an inventory device). The compliance calculation updates this field with the machine name returned in inventory (matched by serial number).

Usage date source

Indicates whether the Last used date or the Last seen date is the date source used for licensing purposes of the application. The Last seen date is used if the Last used date is empty.

Not editable.

Inventory device (accessing) properties
Assigned user

The user assigned to the accessing device.

Editable in the Assigned field in Ownership tab of the inventory device properties.

Calculated user
The name of most frequent user of this accessing device, over the previous 10 inventory collections. This value is calculated as follows:
  • If there is only one primary user linked to the accessing device, this user is recorded
  • If there are multiple primary users linked with the accessing device, the most frequently logged in user is recorded
  • If there is no primary user associated with the accessing device, the last user to logon is recorded.

The value of this field is automatically generated by IT Asset Management.

Corporate unit

The corporate unit responsible for the inventory device.

Editable in the Ownership tab of the inventory device properties.

Cost center

The cost center responsible for all costs incurred for the accessing device.

Editable in the Ownership tab of the inventory device properties.

Domain name
The name of the domain to which the computing device belongs.
Tip: Records fabricated for special purposes display special values:
  • A dummy device record created for imports through your connector to Flexera One SaaS Management displays flexera.com
  • A record representing an Oracle Database running in Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) shows the full DNS alias (excluding the actual machine name), such as
    clv8xj7busyg.eu-west-1.rds.amazonaws.com

Editable in the General tab of the inventory device properties for manually created records. The value is overwritten (permanently) by incoming inventory, and thereafter is read-only.

Inventory device

The name of the client device accessing the server that requires a CAL. If this name matches any existing inventory device name, it displays as a link. You can click this link to view the inventory device properties.

Editable in the Name field in the General tab of the inventory device properties (if mapped to an inventory device). The compliance calculation updates this field with the machine name returned in inventory (matched by serial number).

Inventory device type
Specifies the type of the inventory device, which may be any of the following values:
  • Cluster — A cluster of several computers, typically managed by Kubernetes and with consumption reported by the IBM License Service (which does not allow for further breakdown, for example to individual hosts or VMs within the cluster)
  • Computer — A computing device like a desktop, laptop, workstation, or a non-virtualized server.
  • Mobile device — A mobile device like a tablet or smart phone.
  • Product — Not a device type, but a pseudo-value used only in IBM VPC licenses to identify rows showing the licensed IBM product. This value may appear only if the Bundle consumption rules (in the license properties Use Rights & Rules tab, under License consumption rules) have the option Consume for each product on a device selected.
  • Remote Device — The device is a remote device (not appearing in inventory) known to have accessed virtualized applications. This value is created automatically.
  • VDI Template — The VDI template used to create the virtual desktop instance that was accessed from an inventory device (see Virtual Desktop Templates). This value is created automatically.
  • Virtual Machine — A virtual machine running on a physical host machine. A physical host can run multiple virtual machines using virtualization technologies from VMWare, Oracle, Microsoft, and so on. Note that this value is also used for a record fabricated to represent an Oracle Database running on Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS).
  • VM Host — A physical virtual host running one or more virtual machines using any virtualization technology, such as VMWare.

Editable in the Inventory device type field in the General tab of the inventory device properties (if mapped to an inventory device).

Last logged on user

The name of the user that was discovered to be the last logged on user on the accessing device.

Click the linked full name to open the General tab of the user properties pages, and for details see General Tab.

Linked asset

The name of the asset, if any, that is linked to the accessing device.

The link between an inventory device and an asset is editable in the General tab of the inventory device properties.

Location

The location within your enterprise that is responsible for the accessing device.

Editable in the Ownership tab of the inventory device properties.

MAC address

The Media Access Control (MAC) address of the accessing device. If the accessing device has multiple network interface cards, this field displays a comma-separated list of MAC addresses.

Editable in the General tab of the discovered device properties (but more reliable information is available in the properties of an inventory device).

OS

The operating system running on the accessing device.

Editable in the General tab of the discovered device properties (but more reliable information is available in the properties of an inventory device).

User (accessing) properties
Corporate unit

The name of the related enterprise group of the accessing user.

Editable in the Details tab of the user properties. (if mapped to an existing user).

Cost center

The cost center associated with the user of the installation or allocation.

Editable in the Details tab of the user properties (if mapped to an existing user).

Employment status

The type of employment of the accessing user (such as Employee, Casual, and so on).

Editable in the General tab of the user properties (if mapped to an existing user).

Location

The location (enterprise group) associated with the user of the installation or allocation.

Editable in the Details tab of the user properties (if mapped to an existing user).

Status

The operational status of the accessing user within the enterprise.

Editable in the General tab of the user properties (if mapped to an existing user).

User

The first, middle, and last names of the user. If the user name matches an existing user of IT Asset Management, it is displayed as a link. You can click this link to view the user properties.

Editable in the Full name field on the General tab of the user properties.

IT Asset Management (Cloud)

Current