Software Entitlements can be a bit time consuming if you try to do it manually. As you work more with Software Asset Management in ServiceNow, you will likely configure Workflow to create entitlements automatically as part of the software request and fulfillment process, but how do you handle all the existing entitlements in your environment that need to be entered into the system?

The quick answer is Import Sets. I've seen some posts by some in the community who have struggled with this a little, so I've put together a quick video (about 12 minutes long) that covers how to do this. I recommend clicking the YouTube link in the corner to view this video in a larger, more reasonable size:

Some highlights from the video so you do not need to jump around in the video for answers after:

• You import entitlement information into one of two tables:
  
  • User entitlements go into User Entitlement [alm_entitlement_user]
    
  • Device entitlements go into Asset Entitlement [alm_entitlement_asset] - note: this is misnamed, as you actually select Configuration Items
• The spreadsheet you import should have two columns:
  
  • Assigned to (for user entitlements) or Allocated to (for device entitlements)
    
  • Licensed by to indicate the Software License record for the entitlement
• In the Transform Map:
  
  • Set Coalesce for both fields to true to prevent duplicate entitlements
    
  • Set Choice action for both fields to reject to cause bad user/device names or Software License names to not import (you may need to expose this field to work with it)
• View the Transform History to identify any errors. Note that if rows are rejected because they do not match an existing value, the transform itself does not display an error. Possible errors include:
  
  • The User does not exist: Reference field value for alm_entitlement.assigned_to rejected: User Name
    
  • The Software License record does not exist: Reference field value for alm_entitlement.licensed_by rejected: SWASSETTAG - Software Name
    
  • You tried to entitle more rights than the Software License indicates that you own: Operation against file 'alm_entitlement_user' was aborted by Business Rule 'Ensure Entitlements do not exceed rights99b2c8e8141471007f441cc3e1cc4006'. Business Rule Stack:Ensure Entitlements do not exceed rights

This information should get you what you need to add your existing entitlements quickly to ServiceNow to more effectively leverage Software Asset Management.