Inventory management is accomplished by creating a configuration item record. Inventory management includes ISM Discovery, auditing, and HEAT DSM (Desktop and Server Management) components.

There are a number of roles that can access this workspace and a number of ways that you can manage inventory within Ivanti Service Manager. Configuration Managers, ISM Discovery Managers, and ISM Discovery Analysts can also use the ISM Discovery dashboard to view, manage, and track the assets.

After you create a record (configuration item), you can gather and store useful data about the asset. Search for an asset or sort the list by record type (configuration item type), its location (configuration item location, organizational unit), and so on. Creating a record that is a managed asset also allows you to track whether a computer is connected to the network the type of software installed on the computer, track and manage outages and network traffic.

Records can be created in or imported into the Ivanti Service Manager database in the following ways:

Method	Description
Manual Entry	Open a new configuration item record and enter the data.
Importing existing data	Use .csv or other file types using the business object uploader. See Setting Up a Data Import Connection.
Importing Data using Discovery 9.x connector	Use the import mechanism available in ISM Discovery Classic Release 9.3.x or later databases to import into ISM Discovery. For more information, refer to the documentation available in your installation of ISM Discovery Release 9.3.x or later.
Importing data using SCCM	Importing data using SCCM. For more information, see About Importing Data from SCCM into ISM.
Using an Active Directory scan (ADscan)	From a gateway. For more information, see Running an Active Directory Scan.
Using NetScan from a Gateway	Perform a ping discovery of the network to discover machines. NetScan on Data Center Edition gateways also discovers switches, routers, and printers, using IP ranges or by configuring SNMP V1, V2C and V3 protocols. See Using Netscan
By installing a client agent and using LanProbe	Use the agent installed manually or by using the gateway settings, to run LanProbe. LanProbe listens for network traffic and queries devices. See Service Manager powered by HEAT and Working with LanProbe.

After you discover an asset, the system audits it to collect additional data such as information about the hardware or software installed on the device or the computer. It is also possible to create a CI map in order to see how the machines connect to the network and to asses the impact of an outage.

The following workspaces are integral to managing the assets and inventory. In most instances you can sort or group by the columns listed in the workspace.

Workspace	Description
Configuration Item (CI)	Contains a list of configuration items or records about the assets tracked by your organization.
Software Inventory	Lists software installed on the computers or devices that have a configuration item record. Software information can be discovered only by auditing.
Agent Task	Displays tasks that were scheduled from the Gateway or Inventory Settings workspaces, or any tasks selected from a configuration item toolbar such as Deploy Agent, Audit Inventory and so on. For configuration items, the tasks are also listed on the Agent Tasks tab.
CI Location	Create locations to which a configuration item can be assigned. Allows you to see where the asset is physically located.
Inventory Settings	Create new settings that allow you to audit and collect information. Use this workspace to set audit and polling frequency, enable or disable LanProbe, set SNMP queries and so on.
Org Unit	Lists organizational units within your organization. Only administrators can create additional organizational units.
Org Unit Management	Displays a directory or tree structure of the organizational units and the configuration items contained in each unit. Select and drag a configuration item to another organizational unit to change its location.
Gateway	Lists the gateways. If only one record is found, the system displays it automatically.
CI Service	List the types of services configured for your organization. Examples are Service Desk, printing, mobile, and email.
Managed Software	Lists software managed through HEAT DSM.
Manufacturer	Lists manufacturers of hardware or software found through discovery or as created by manual entry or by importing data.
Component or CI Component	Lists the type of components identified for your installation, and the number of each type of component.

Configuration Managers, ISM Discovery Managers, ISM Discovery Analysts, and administrators can manage inventory and have access to the inventory management workspaces.

About the Inventory Management Components

The following diagram illustrates how the different components involved in Inventory Management communicate with each other:

Inventory Management Components

About the Inventory Lifecycle

The inventory management lifecycle is generally automatic once configured.

Inventory Management Lifecycle

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