December 2024
Flexera One introduced the following new features and enhancements this month.
Flexera One ServiceNow App
Flexera released an updated version of the Flexera One app in the ServiceNow Store in December 2024.
Flexera One app version 1.4 available now in the ServiceNow Store
Flexera helps you improve the value you derive from your ServiceNow investment-from aggregation, normalization, and enrichment of hardware, software, SaaS, and cloud IT asset inventory data to IT service delivery. With Technopedia®, the most trusted source of IT product information in the world, Flexera enhances IT service management (ITSM), Configuration Management Systems, and Software Asset Management with a reliable foundation and accurate data.
Version 1.4 of the Flexera One ServiceNow App has been certified for the Xanadu release of ServiceNow.
This release includes the following new capabilities and resolved issues. For more information about the Flexera One app, see the Flexera One ServiceNow App Help Library on our Flexera Documentation Site.
Option for enhanced logging for import failures
A new feature has been introduced to record the reason for import failures after transformation. The Flexera One app shows the new information in the Rejection column of staging tables. You can enable this enhanced logging functionality by setting the Enable Logging and Record Import Failure Reasons Integration Property to Yes.
For records that fail to import, the Rejection column will indicate the causes and record the following reasons:
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Missing mandatory column values
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Missing required property values
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Missing host device (no matching host device found)
When this integration property is enabled, the Rejection column is available for the following tables:
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Hardware Technopedia Imports
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Hardware Technopedia Lifecycle
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Hardware Inventory Imports
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Hardware Model Power Imports
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Hardware Model Profile Imports
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Software Technopedia Imports
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Software Technopedia Lifecycle
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Software Inventory Imports
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Network Adapters Imports
For more information about the Enable Logging and Record Import Failure Reasons property and other Integration Properties, see Setting Integration Properties.
Additional data mapping added for Computer tables and Netgear tables
With this release, we have added more column mappings for the Computer tables and Netgear tables.
| Computer | Netgear |
|---|---|
| Most Recent Discovered | Most Recent Discovered |
| CPU Type | |
| CPU Speed | |
| Disk Space | |
| DNS Domain | |
| CPU Core Count |
As shown above, the Computer table has several new mappings: Most Recent Discovered, CPU Type, CPU Speed, Disk Space, DNS Domain, and CPU Core Count.
The Netgear tables include one new mapping: Most Recent Discovered.
Optimized logic for updating the start date and end date for hardware lifecycle
When hardware lifecycle dates have not been published by the manufacturer, the date for a particular lifecycle event is unknown. The date may be empty or populated with an exception statement. In these cases, where a date is required to import the record, Flexera applies a placeholder date in place of the unknown date. For this release, we have refined the logic for those placeholder dates. Now there are three possible values:
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1900 is a placeholder date for records in which the exact lifecycle event date is unknown but understood to be in the distant past.
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2999 is a placeholder date for unknown dates that are still subject to investigation. So 2999 represents dates that are unknown but to be determined.
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3999 is a placeholder for cases in which the date was never published by the vendor and other exceptions. So 3999 represents dates that are unknown and likely never will be known.
GA date logic update: If GA date does not exist, but the Introduction date does exist, we will use the Introduction date for GA date.
Also, this logic corrects an issue in which the Exception values were being retained after the lifecycle event date was updated to a known date. Exception values are now cleared if the date value is known.
Optimized the logic for updating Computer records
We have improved the logic to update the computer records; now we will no longer check the platform type and platform level field as a mandatory attribute to update the records. This change improves the accuracy of the computer records.
Updated the logic of primary key for the discovery model and software installation
This release includes optimizations to the logic for the discovery model primary key and for software installation:
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For discovery model, we are coalescing to include a unique identifier (Technopedia ID) to set the primary key. Formerly, the discovery model was set based on manufacturer, display name, and version, which had not been sufficiently unique in all cases.
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For software installation, optimized logic better identifies unique records (using a Flexera unique ID) to create and update.
Updated reclassify hardware logic to cover Virtualization Servers
In this release, we have improved the reclassification hardware logic for virtualization servers— VMware ESX Server, Hypervisor, Nutanix, Citrix, and RHV —for the platform level data.
Simplified Flexera One ServiceNow app navigation and added a new Get Support page
In version 1.4, we have optimized the Flexera One application module for easier navigation and added a Get Support page with direct links to selected sections of the Flexera One ServiceNow app documentation as well as links to Flexera pages for technical support, customer community, and learning resources.
Flexera One app navigation changes streamlined navigation. As a result, you may notice that certain pages have been renamed, grouped under a different category, or otherwise moved. For example, Connection Setup has been renamed to Connection and moved into the Import Configuration group. Documentation for this release has been updating accordingly.
Resolved issues in version 1.4
The following issues were resolved in this release:
- Resolved an issue with serial number updates in Software Inventory RTE—This change prevents Software Inventory RTE from modifying the Computer serial number. The mapping of Computer serial number has been deleted.
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IT Visibility
IT Visibility released the following enhancements in December 2024.
Enhanced report organization by type in IT Visibility with Technology Intelligence Platform
This enhancement is available with IT Visibility and Technology Intelligence Platform.
Previously, users were not able to easily identify the types of reports available, making it challenging to find which reports are most relevant.
Now, users can view and sort reports based on their types: Software, Hardware, or Vulnerability. Additionally, reports can be grouped by type.
This enhancement applies to both out-of-the-box and custom reports. It improves report visibility and enables users to quickly find and use reports that best meet their needs.
For more information about how to work with out-of-the-box and custom reports, see IT Visibility With Technology Intelligence Platform Reports in the Flexera One Help.
New Sustainability Baseline report added to out-of-the-box Technology Intelligence Platform reports for IT Visibility
This enhancement is available with IT Visibility and Technology Intelligence Platform.
This month, a new out-of-the-box report on sustainability has been added for customers using IT Visibility with Technology Intelligence Platform. This report builds upon the former, high-level sustainability baseline to add more robust insights and interactivity.
The new Sustainability Baseline Report empowers decision makers to
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Identify high-impact areas contributing to the organization's carbon footprint across categories, hardware, and locations.
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Strategically plan for emissions reduction through hardware lifecycle optimization, location-specific initiatives, and cloud migration.
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Align sustainability efforts with corporate goals and compliance requirements to drive long-term environmental and operational benefits.
For more information about the Sustainability Baseline Report, see Out-of-the-Box Report Descriptions and Sustainability Baseline Report in the Flexera One help library.
Detailed time information for custom reports in IT Visibility with Technology Intelligence Platform
This enhancement is available with IT Visibility and Technology Intelligence Platform.
Previously, users were not able to track the freshness of their custom reports, causing uncertainty about the data's currency and reliability.
Now, users can see the following time information for their custom reports.
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Created At —The date when the report was created. This information is displayed on the All Reports page.
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Updated At —The date when the report was last updated. This information is displayed on the All Reports page.
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Report Last Updated —The date and time when new features were added or modifications were made to the report and it was last published. To view this timestamp, click the Information icon next to the report name when you are viewing a report.
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Data Last Updated —The date and time when the data in the report was last refreshed. To view this timestamp, click the Information icon next to the report name when you are viewing a report.
This enhancement provides increased confidence in the recency of the data presented, which can help with better decision-making.
For more information about how to work with custom reports, see Working With Custom Reports in the Flexera One Help.
Support for operating system evidence from OpenText Universal Discovery (previously HPE Universal Discovery) data source in IT Visibility with Technology Intelligence Platform
This enhancement is available with IT Visibility and Technology Intelligence Platform.
IT Visibility now supports operating system (OS) evidence for customers using OpenText Universal Discovery (previously HPE Universal Discovery).
The OS evidence data collected by OpenText Universal Discovery, including attributes such as as name and caption, can now be ingested into IT Visibility and mapped to Technopedia.
This enhancement enables customers using the OpenText Universal Discovery data source to achieve improved accuracy for the OS data.
For the full list of the attributes that IT Visibility collects from various data sources, see Inventory Data Sources Supported for IT Visibility in the Flexera One Help.
New Host and VM Relationship out-of-the-box report now available in IT Visibility with Technology Intelligence Platform
This feature is available with IT Visibility and Technology Intelligence Platform.
The new Host and VM Relationship out-of-the-box report (Dashboards > All Reports or IT Visibility > Reports) provides a comprehensive overview of the relationship between the physical host systems and Virtual Machines (VMs) running on them. This report offers a detailed summary of the hardware and software assets associated with each host, providing visibility into the foundation of your virtual environments.
The following components in the report provide a comprehensive view of your virtual environment:
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Hosts —Physical servers that run the ESXi hypervisor.
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Virtual Machines —Virtualized instances that run various guest operating systems.
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Operating Systems —Softwares running on VMs.
With this report, you gain timely access to the information on software and hardware assets approaching end of life, end of sale, and obsolescence, enabling you to proactively minimize risks associated with these assets. For more information, see Out-of-the-Box Report Descriptions in the Flexera One Help.
Enhancements to the Software Portfolio Overview and Hardware Portfolio Overview out-of-the-box reports
This feature is available with IT Visibility and Technology Intelligence Platform.
The Software Portfolio Overview and Hardware Portfolio Overview out-of-the-box reports (Dashboards > All Reports or IT Visibility > Reports) have now been enhanced to provide more comprehensive tracking. The following enhancements have been made to the reports.
| Report | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| Software Portfolio Overview | New tab added— Software Trends This report now enables you to track trends over the last 7 days, as well as weekly and monthly patterns for obsolete and end of life devices. For more information, see Software Portfolio Overview in the Flexera One Help. |
| Hardware Portfolio Overview | New tab added— Hardware Trends This report now enables you to track trends over the last 7 days, as well as weekly and monthly patterns for obsolete and end of sale devices. With this report, you can monitor changes in your organization's hardware inventory, including additions and updates, over the last 7 days, weekly, and monthly. For more information, see Hardware Portfolio Overview in the Flexera One Help. |
These reports enable you to proactively manage the lifecycle of assets, optimize resource allocation, and mitigate risks associated with outdated technology. With these reports, you gain timely access to the information on software and hardware assets approaching end of sale, end of life, and obsolescence so that you can proactively plan and budget for replacements.
Enhancements to the out-of-the-box reports
This enhancement is available with IT Visibility and Technology Intelligence Platform.
The out-of-the-box reports (Dashboards > All Reports or IT Visibility > Reports) have been enhanced to provide more comprehensive tracking. The following table lists the updated report names along with their previous names for reference.
| New Report Name | Previous Report Name |
|---|---|
| Comprehensive Hardware Inventory | Comprehensive Insights for Deployed Hardware Inventory |
| Comprehensive Software Inventory | Comprehensive Insights for Deployed Software Inventory |
| Device Search | Organization Wide Device Search |
| Hardware Sprawl | Hardware Tech Landscape Analyzer |
| Operating System Insights | Operating System Lifecycle and Risk Management Overview |
| Software Sprawl | Software Tech Landscape Analyzer |
| Strategic HW Insights | Strategic HW Management Lifecycle Insights |
| Strategic SW Insights | Strategic SW Management Lifecycle Insights |
For more information, see Out-of-the-Box Report Descriptions in the Flexera One Help.
SaaS Management
SaaS Management released the following new feature in December 2024.
Beta Microsoft 365 custom client credentials integration
This feature is available with SaaS Management in beta release.
Flexera One’s SaaS Management now offers a beta custom client credentials integration with Microsoft 365. This custom integration can pull data for Microsoft 365 tenants located on different cloud environments. For more information, see the Flexera One Help topic Beta Microsoft 365 Custom Client Credentials.