The Software Inventory Report provides a comprehensive view of installed software across an organization, helping IT and procurement teams track applications, ensure compliance, and optimize costs. This report categorizes software into recognized, unrecognized, and excluded software, while also offering insights into licensing types, vendor distribution, and usage trends.
Proper software categorization is essential for identifying products that serve similar purposes. By consolidating redundant software titles, organizations can reduce contract complexity, lower training and support requirements, improve collaboration, streamline vendor contracts, and enhance buying power.
Report Sections and Use Cases
Graphical Overview
These visualizations help you quickly identify trends in software licensing, vendor distribution, and software categories.
Use Cases
- Understand your software environment – Gain a clear picture of installed software across devices.
- Make strategic decisions – Identify compliance risks and cost-saving opportunities at a glance.
- Improve software standardization – Use categorization to consolidate software titles and reduce redundant applications.
Charts include:
- Free vs. Paid Software Distribution – Shows the ratio of free vs. paid applications.
- License Type Distribution – Categorizes software as proprietary, open-source, subscription-based, or perpetual.
- Top Vendors by Number of Products – Lists the most common software vendors in your environment.
- Products by Category – Groups software by functionality (e.g., IT Infrastructure, Security Software, Office Software).
Recognized Software
This section lists software that has been successfully identified and categorized.
Key Data Fields
| Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Vendor Name | Software provider (e.g., Microsoft, Adobe). |
| Product Name | The specific application installed. |
| Product Version | The version of the installed software. |
| Category | High-level classification based on function (e.g., IT Infrastructure, Security Software) - Aligned to G2 Taxonomy |
| Subcategory | More specific classification within a category (e.g., Database Software, Endpoint Protection)- Aligned to G2 Taxonomy |
| License Type | Whether software is proprietary, open-source, subscription-based, or perpetual. |
| Free or Paid | Identifies whether the software requires a license fee. |
| Estimate Cost | Approximate cost per license (if applicable). |
| Number of Installs | Count of detected installations. |
Use Cases
- Prioritize compliance and risk management – Identify software installations that could pose compliance risks.
- Maximize cost efficiency – Optimize software usage by identifying unnecessary paid licenses.
- Consolidate software titles – Reduce licensing and management costs by identifying duplicate, overlapping or redundant applications.
By filtering software by category and subcategory, users can see which applications serve similar functions and determine opportunities for software consolidation and vendor negotiation.
Excluded Software
Certain software is excluded from recognition because it does not require active tracking. This includes:
- Development Frameworks (e.g., .NET, Java Runtimes)
- System Components (e.g., BIOS, Drivers, Redistributable Packages)
- Configuration & Utility Tools
Each entry includes an Exclusion Reason explaining why it has been omitted.
Use Cases
- Focus on relevant software – Filter out non-licensable system components.
- Improve software asset management – Avoid clutter from unnecessary software entries.
Unrecognized Software
This section lists software that has not yet been matched to a known vendor or product in the database.
Within 72 hours, the dynamic AI recognition engine automatically processes and updates unrecognized software, moving it into the Recognized Software category. If software remains unrecognized beyond this timeframe, it can be manually reviewed.
Use Cases
- Enable SAM from your discovery data – Ensure that even unidentified software gets categorized over time.
- Reduce compliance risks – Identify and track unknown software that may impact audits or security.
- Standardize software usage – Improve software consistency by categorizing all applications effectively.