I'm starting this post on the premiss that no one cares for 95% of the discovered software. That being said, it doesn't mean that all discovered software shouldn't be tracked by LANSWEEPER. In my case, we have over 1500 pieces of discovered software and this number will continue to grow. The idea is to remove the clutter and be able to generate reports that are concise with valuable information.
Please look at the included JPG while reading this post. It will help you understand what I'm trying to say.
With this new tab in the configuration utility, an administrator would be expected to regularly review this tab for newly discovered software so they can act on how this new software should be categorized. The frequency for reviewing this tab would be dictated by the number of days the administrator sets for highlighting new software in green.
By flagging a software program as "not approved" means that it wasn't paid for or that you don't want it installed on a computer. If the software is flagged as "Approved", it is either free or it is licensed.
The top portion of the attached JPG deals with default values for newly discovered software on the network. The bottom portion of the JPG shows the current value(s) for each piece of software and provides an administrator the ability to change the value(s).
Furthermore, discovered software should not only include entries in the Add/Remove program listing. You should also list built-in Windows applications (Windows features) such as IE, IIS (if installed) and so on.
Based on these new values, I would rename the current report "All installed software" to say "All discovered software". A new report called "All installed software" would only include the software flagged as "displayed". Other reports can be created to reflect various combinations of these flags.
