Overview

  • Article

SMS 2003 software metering monitors and collects software usage data on SMS clients. Data collection is based on software metering rules that are configured by the SMS administrator in the SMS Administrator console. The Software Metering Client Agent runs on the SMS client. The agent accepts software metering rules from the SMS site server and records program usage as specified in the software metering rules. Program usage data from individual SMS clients is forwarded to the client's assigned SMS site and processed by the site. The site then summarizes the data on a monthly basis and propagates the summary data to its parent site. Summarized data continues to flow up the SMS hierarchy to the central site. The central site contains program usage data from all SMS clients within the SMS hierarchy that are assigned to sites that have software metering enabled.

After you collect data from SMS clients, you can use different features to view the data, including collections, queries, and reporting. This data, combined with data from software inventory, can assist your organization in determining:

  • How many copies of a particular software program have been deployed to the computers in your organization. Among those computers, you can determine how many users actually run the program.

  • How many licenses of a particular software program you need to purchase when you renew your license agreement with the software vendor.

  • Whether any users are still running a particular software program. If the program is not being used, you might consider retiring the program.

  • Which times of the day a software program is most frequently used.

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