I am doing a survey to see how long it takes you to import all the PO data into the SAM system? I am trying to determine if it is worth while to automate this process. Please let me know.
Thanks!
Lisa
Just to be picky, you should be using invoice data from the supplier, and not PO data generated by the company (client).
By using the supplier’s invoice data, you are able to capture the SKU ( Stock Keeping Unit) of the vendor of the software/hardware ( and don’t confuse that with a similar SKU of the reseller/distributor). This data may not appear in a PO.
These SKUs give you the ability to create and audit-path of a specific ‘packaging’ of the vendor’s product, and that packaging may have different usage rights.
And when it comes to ‘automation’, understand that you will have to normalise & categorise’ the records to ensure that certain noise is eliminated from your analysis. Many vendors have SKUs ( records) for associated media, documentation, support… as well as the product.
Lastly, you have to create a ‘connector’ between the INVOICE Product and the INVENTORY product; of which you can not assume will be identical ( or even similar; consider Microsoft Skype for business!)
So, the time to import is relatively short, it’s the effort of data ‘processing’ in which the devil is in the details.
If you happen to be the same Lisa Kreutz from Flexera, I would suggest you reach out to Matt Marnell (Colorado) who just re-joined Flexera a few months ago or Mark Bradley (Chicago) with the complex nuances of managing purchase data. I don’t think they are on this forum, but they have years of hands-on experience and could give you some ‘Flexera-centric’ responses as well.
Cheers
Steve from AssetLabs
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We do it weekly via dropped file from resellers. Small effort well worth it, requires some getting data structured (organized). Working with reseller should get you there. Agree on Steve’s points regarding attributes not readily available within the corporate procurement systems
We have an automated feed from our procurement system, which as noted (at least for larger contracts), lacks a lot of the details such as line-item level/unit cost/SKUs. There’s value in having that; at least we know what was purchased and can go chase down the details and build out the finer points manually.
Yes, sementic for sure. And yes, I do realize about the connector, but was only curious about the inital load of the invoice data with the SKU, not subsequent data feed from the procurement system.
Thanks Steve!
I would recommend leveraging both the PO and the Invoice information, since the PO is more likely to contain the Quote or Proposal documents containing cirital data elements such as the SKU, product name, and pricing. The Invoice in many cases is presented more as a summary than an itemization, and may not contain the critial data points required for creating and updating licenses in a SAM tool.
In the end, every piece of critical backup information is a record which may be critical in an audit situation. For this reason, it is important that the ITAM function is included in software and hardware request processing, including receiving a copy of the quote along with the PO. (If the PO contains all of the same product and pricing information as the quote, usually only one is required for asset creation.) Since the invoice comes sometmes weeks after the asset is delivered, an effective way to access this document for record-keeping purposes should also be built into the process (i.e. proof of purchase in an audit or other optimization/budgeting effort).
The executed PO and the invoice together is the birth certificate of the asset - it wouldn’t necessarily be prudent to wait to create an asset until the invoice arrives, however, thus use the PO in an automated feed (assuming it contains all the data elements required to create the asset record). Also, PO’s get cancelled on occasion, so it’s just as important to build a follow-up activity into the process to ensure each PO fed into the system resulted in a delivered/received asset(s), and then remove any cancelled PO (asset shell records/ or unreceived asset records) from the ITAM tool. This is also a good time to pull in the invoice as a backup record, especially in the case of software purchases.