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October 2022

Flexera One introduced the following new features and enhancements this month.

SaaS Management​

SaaS Management added the following new features and enhancement in October 2022.

Managing and optimizing Google Workspace license information​

note

This feature is available with SaaS Management.

Flexera SaaS Management’s Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite) integration now helps Software Asset Managers (SAMs) differentiate between different Google Workspace plans used by an organization’s users. You can optimize Google Workspace license spend and license usage through several new features: Auto-Populated Google Workspace License Information, Managing available Google Workspace licenses, Analyzing Google Workspace users activity data, and Reclaiming Google Workspace licenses. Several API endpoints have been added to the Google Workspace integration instructions. The Application Task Tracking chart lists the available SaaS Management integration features for Google Workspace.

Prerequisites before integrating Google Workspace with SaaS Management​

Ensure the following prerequisites are enabled before integrating with SaaS Management.

Super Administrator role​

For new and existing Google integrations with SaaS Management, the Super Administrator role is required to grant the API permissions for calling the Admin APIs. For details, refer to the Google Workspace Admin Help documentation Pre-Built Administrator Roles.

Google Workspace API permissions​

The table below describes the required Google Workspace API permissions for each SaaS Management integration task.

PermissionDescriptionIntegration Task Name
admin.directory.user.readonlyTo retrieve the User list and their details from the Google Workspace account. For details, refer to the Google Workspace Admin SDK documentation Directory API: Authorize Requests.Application Roster
admin.reports.usage.readonlyTo retrieve reports of total license count and Gmail user activity.Application Access

License Information
apps.licensingTo retrieve user license details from the Google Workspace account and to reclaim user licenses.Application Access

License Information

Reclamation
Google Cloud project and enabling Google Workspace APIs​

Before integrating Google Workspace with SaaS Management, create a Google Cloud project and enable the Google Workspace APIs in your Google Cloud project via the Google Console. For details, refer to the Google Workspace integration instructions.

Auto-Populated Google Workspace License Information​

The SaaS Management integration with Google Workspace offers a License Information integration task that automatically retrieves every 24 hours the name of the Google Workspace license type and total allowed number for specific licenses. For a list of Google Workspace licenses supported by SaaS Management, refer to the License Types section of the Google Workspace integration instructions.

The value for the SaaS Management # of Items Allowed field (Total License Count) in the Licenses Tab is retrieved via the SaaS Management License Information API for the following Google Workspace Licenses. All other Google Workspace licenses require manual entry of the # of Items Allowed value in SaaS Management.

  • Enterprise Essentials
  • Enterprise Starter
  • Enterprise Standard
  • Enterprise Plus
info

Every 24 hours, the SaaS Management License Information integration task retrieves license information from the Google Workspace admin console and updates the SaaS Management database with data from 4 days prior (Example: When the License Information API retrieves data on 13 September 2022, the data retrieved is from 9 September 2022). Due to the limitation of the License Information API, the latest data cannot be extracted. Therefore, the License Total Count value in the Google Workspace admin console may not match the # of Items Allowed value in the Licenses Tab of SaaS Management.

Managing available Google Workspace licenses​

Once the License Information integration task for Auto-Populated Google Workspace License Information is enabled, you can add or remove the Google Workspace product licenses you wish to manage within SaaS Management. For more details, refer to the Google Workspace integration instructions.

Analyzing Google Workspace users activity data​

User activity data such as user activity type, time of occurrence, and user last login are tracked in SaaS Management for the Google Workspace applications listed in the table below. For further details of the tracked activities, refer to the Google Workspace Admin SDK documentation section Method: activities.list.

note

Note the following:

  • Due to the limitation of the License Information API, the latest Gmail user activity cannot be extracted. Gmail user activity data displayed in SaaS Management is from 4 days prior.

  • During the first run of the Application Access task, Flexera One pulls data for only the last 10 days.

CalendarGCPGoogle Meet
ChatGmailJamboard
Currents (Google+)Google DriveKeep

Reclaiming Google Workspace licenses​

SaaS Management’s SaaS license reclamation workflow offers SAMs the ability to optimize their organization’s Google Workspace licenses. Once the reclamation task is executed for the selected users, the user licenses are reclaimed. Users are no longer tracked in the Activity tab within SaaS Management. To reclaim a Google Workspace user’s license, refer to Reclaiming SaaS Licenses.

API endpoints​

For a list of API endpoints for each SaaS Management integration task, refer to the Google Workspace integration instructions.

Application Task Tracking chart​

The Application Task Tracking chart includes the following integration features for Google Workspace:

  • Application Access
  • Application Roster
  • License Differentiation
  • License Information
  • Reclamation

New ServiceNow subscription licensing integrations that support license differentiation​

note

This feature is available with SaaS Management.

Flexera’s SaaS Management offers a license differentiation feature that allows you to narrow your SaaS license usage and spend to a specific license type and user. You can view, filter, and export the managed SaaS application’s license types in the SaaS Management Activity Tab and the Users Tab. The exported license type information can be used to negotiate or customize contracts to be rightsized for your organization.

New ServiceNow integrations with SaaS Management​

SaaS Management offers two new integrations to help manage your organization’s ServiceNow subscription licenses by subscription plan and user activity. These integrations are in addition to SaaS Management’s existing integrations with the ServiceNow fulfiller licensing model: ServiceNow and ServiceNow OAuth2.

The following sections describe the ServiceNow Subscription Licensing integrations in further detail.

Required ServiceNow permissions for integrating with SaaS Management​

The following table details the required ServiceNow user role for integrating with SaaS Management.

ServiceNow RoleDescriptionSaaS Management Integration Tasks
admin, usage_adminThis role is required to:
Retrieve the ServiceNow users and their activities Manage user licenses for the License Information task.
Register the Client Application (only for OAuth2 authentication).
Generate the Client ID and Client Secret in ServiceNow (only for OAuth2 authentication).
For details, refer to the Base System Roles section of the ServiceNow documentation.		Application Roster
License Information
ServiceNow subscription types displayed in SaaS Management​

The following table lists the ServiceNow subscription types displayed in SaaS Management. The subscription types appear:

  • In the Licenses column of the Users tab

  • In the License Type column of the Activity tab.

    ServiceNow Subscription Types Displayed in SaaS ManagementDescription
    Per UserYour organization purchases a subscription for the number of fulfiller users for subscription applications and capabilities. Your instance can monitor and report usage by both subscribed users and users who are not subscribed.
    Unrestricted UserPreviously referred to as a Max User . Your organization purchases an anticipated maximum number of unrestricted-user licenses. Unrestricted user licenses have no restrictions on role assignment. Your ServiceNow instance auto-allocates active users from the sys_user table to the unrestricted-user licenses.
    CapacityYour ServiceNow instance auto-allocates resources such as users, devices, software, or nodes to Capacity subscriptions. For example, resources such as each CI that Discovery finds, or each password reset request.
    Unlimited UserYour organization purchases a subscription for the number of fulfiller users for subscription applications and capabilities. Your instance can monitor and report usage by both subscribed users and users who are not subscribed.
    PA-IndicatorYour organization purchases a subscription for an application family that uses Performance Analytics (PA) capabilities (for example, PA for ITSM or PA for Service Management). The PA admin creates indicators on tables that are used by the applications.
    Note: Since there is no documentation found on PA-Indicator, Display, and Other subscriptions, Flexera pulls all the ServiceNow subscription types. For further subscription information, refer to the ServiceNow documentation section Types of subscriptions.
Auto-populated ServiceNow subscription licensing license information​

The SaaS Management integrations with ServiceNow Subscription Licensing and ServiceNow OAuth2 Subscription Licensing offer a License Information integration task that automatically retrieves every 24 hours the name of the ServiceNow Subscription Licensing plan, subscription type, and total allowed number of licenses. This auto-populated ServiceNow Subscription Licensing license information provides a more complete view of your ServiceNow SaaS entitlements and component usage by displaying the assigned entitlements and user’s license activity (based on the user’s last login).

For more details, refer to the ServiceNow Subscription Licensing and ServiceNow OAuth2 Subscription Licensing integration instructions.

Managing available ServiceNow subscription licensing licenses​

Once the License Information integration task for Auto-populated ServiceNow subscription licensing license information is enabled, you can add or remove the ServiceNow Subscription Licensing licenses you wish to manage within SaaS Management. For more details, refer to the ServiceNow Subscription Licensing and ServiceNow OAuth2 Subscription Licensing integration instructions.

API endpoints​

Application Roster

https://<<instance>>.service-now.com/api/now/stats/license_subscribed_users

https://<<instance>>.service-now.com/api/now/table/license_subscribed_users

License Information

https://<<instance>>.service-now.com/api/now/table/license_details

Application Task Tracking chart​

The Application Task Tracking chart includes the following integration features for ServiceNow Subscription Licensing and ServiceNow OAuth2 Subscription Licensing:

  • Application Roster
  • License Differentiation
  • License Information

Tracking free Smartsheet users​

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This enhancement is available with SaaS Management.

Flexera’s SaaS Management now offers the flexibility to track or to filter out Smartsheet free users that are Free Collaborators and Unlicensed Users. For existing SaaS Management integrations with Smartsheet, you need to reauthorize your Smartsheet integration if you wish to track free users. To track free Smartsheet users in your organization, enter Yes in the new Include Free Users field. By default, free users are not tracked in SaaS Management’s integration with Smartsheet. For further details, refer to the Smartsheet integration instructions.