What MDM needs from your inventory
The minimum data points Microsoft Deployment Manager needs for a Microsoft analysis.
What to collect
Section titled “What to collect”Collect at least the fields below before you trust a Microsoft license requirement.
Setup for each source is under Data sources.
Data requirements differ depending on whether a device is a client endpoint or a server. Virtual relationship data is an additional requirement for servers and is often sourced separately from general discovery. SQL Server may be present on either device type and has its own considerations.
Client endpoints
Section titled “Client endpoints”Required data points
Section titled “Required data points”| Field | Description |
|---|---|
device_name | Device name or FQDN |
software_publisher | Software developer / publisher |
software_name | Installed software name, including edition |
software_version | Installed software version |
os | Operating system name and version |
Optional but recommended
Section titled “Optional but recommended”| Field | Description |
|---|---|
device_type | Physical or Virtual |
number_of_cores | Total core count in the system |
number_of_processors | Total number of installed processors |
Hardware data for client devices improves analysis completeness but is not required for basic Microsoft client licensing calculations.
Discovery tooling examples
Section titled “Discovery tooling examples”| Tool | Notes |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Intune | Agent-based, natively deployed across managed Windows/macOS devices |
| Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Security-focused agent with software inventory capability |
| Lansweeper | Agentless network scanning with software and hardware inventory |
| ManageEngine | Agent and agentless discovery suited to mid-market environments |
| NinjaOne | RMM-based discovery common in MSP-managed environments |
| ServiceNow | Enterprise CMDB-integrated discovery |
| Tanium | Real-time endpoint data collection at scale |
| CrowdStrike / SentinelOne / Sophos | Security agents that also expose installed software inventory |
| Qualys | Security scanning with software inventory output |
| PDQ Inventory | Lightweight Windows-focused software discovery |
| Spiceworks | Free inventory tool suited to smaller environments |
| HaloITSM / Jira Service Management | ITSM platforms with integrated discovery modules |
If your tool isn’t listed, any export containing the required fields can be used.
Servers (physical and virtual)
Section titled “Servers (physical and virtual)”Servers require the full set of data points above plus hardware details and virtual relationship data. This is essential for accurate calculation of server-based licensing requirements for products such as Windows Server and SQL Server, where licensing is tied to physical host topology, core counts, and virtualization boundaries.
Required data points
Section titled “Required data points”| Field | Description |
|---|---|
device_name | Device name or FQDN |
software_publisher | Software developer / publisher |
software_name | Installed software name, including edition |
software_version | Installed software version |
os | Operating system name and version |
number_of_cores | Total core count in the system |
number_of_processors | Total number of installed processors |
device_type | Physical or Virtual |
virtualization_type | Virtualization technology in use (e.g. VMware, Hyper-V) |
host_name | For virtual machines: the name of the host. Not applicable where the workload runs on shared IaaS infrastructure (e.g. Azure, AWS) with no dedicated host. |
cluster_name | For clustered hosts: the name of the cluster. Not applicable where no dedicated host or cluster exists. |
Discovery tooling examples
Section titled “Discovery tooling examples”The same tools used for client discovery will generally cover server hardware and OS data. However, virtual relationship data (host/guest mappings, cluster membership) is often not captured by standard discovery tools and requires a dedicated virtualization data source. See the section below.
Virtual relationship data
Section titled “Virtual relationship data”Why it matters
Section titled “Why it matters”For any virtual device in scope, the platform needs to understand which physical host it runs on, which other VMs share that host, and whether hosts are part of a cluster. Without this, it is not possible to correctly calculate licensing requirements under Microsoft’s virtualization rules.
This data often comes from a separate source
Section titled “This data often comes from a separate source”General discovery tools frequently do not capture virtual topology in sufficient detail. In many environments, this data needs to be collected specifically from the virtualization platform. Common sources include:
| Tool | Notes |
|---|---|
| VMware PowerCLI | Exports host, cluster, and VM relationship data directly from vSphere |
| RVTools | Widely used free utility that exports VMware infrastructure topology to Excel |
| Hyper-V Manager / PowerShell | Native exports of host/guest relationships from Microsoft Hyper-V |
| Lansweeper | Captures virtualization relationships for VMware and Hyper-V environments |
| Device42 | Discovers and maps virtual infrastructure across multiple hypervisor platforms |
| ServiceNow Discovery | Captures virtual topology as part of broader CMDB infrastructure discovery |
Where your primary discovery tool does not provide this data, it can be exported from the above sources and provided as a separate file for processing alongside the main inventory data. Refer to: Virtualization and hardware and How to use the IFMP Template
SQL Server edition and version
Section titled “SQL Server edition and version”SQL Server may be installed on a client or a server, and it has to be counted wherever it is found. A client install is not exempt because the machine is not a server.
A common gap in discovery data
Section titled “A common gap in discovery data”Many discovery tools capture that SQL Server is installed but do not reliably collect the edition (e.g. Standard, Enterprise, Developer) or the precise version. This is critical for licensing analysis as the edition directly determines licensing requirements and cost.
How to fill the gap
Section titled “How to fill the gap”If your discovery tool does not collect SQL edition data, it can be obtained directly from the SQL Server instances using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). A Central Management Server can be used to query multiple instances simultaneously using SELECT @@version, with results exported to CSV or Excel for processing.
Refer to: Obtain SQL Edition via SQL Server Management Studio
Excluding devices from analysis
Section titled “Excluding devices from analysis”Certain devices may be eligible for exclusion from licensing calculations where coverage already exists through other means. Common scenarios include:
- Disaster Recovery / failover environments: passive DR devices covered by a licensed production environment
- Dev/Test environments: devices covered under the license of the primary production device
- MSDN / Visual Studio subscribers: dev and test usage entitled through user-based subscription licensing
Exclusions can be applied in bulk once the initial data has been processed. Each device requires a documented reason for exclusion to maintain a clear audit trail.
To exclude devices, one at a time or in bulk, see Device Exclusions in Hardware assets.
Summary checklist
Section titled “Summary checklist”| Data Category | Client Endpoints | Servers |
|---|---|---|
| Device name | Required | Required |
| Software name, edition, version | Required | Required |
| Operating system | Required | Required |
| Core / processor count | Optional | Required |
| Device type (Physical/Virtual) | Optional | Required |
| Virtual host / cluster mapping | Not needed | Required* |
| SQL Server edition (if applicable) | Required | Required |
- Host and cluster mapping is not applicable where workloads run on shared IaaS infrastructure with no dedicated host.