Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about Asset Vision IT Usage Metering.

1. What is software usage metering and how does Asset Vision use it?
   Software usage metering measures exactly how, when, and how often software is used across your IT estate. Asset Vision applies forensic-level usage analysis to traditional applications, virtual applications, VDI-hosted applications, and web applications — giving IT teams precise, real-world data rather than estimates, so every licensing decision is backed by evidence.
2. How does Asset Vision identify wasted software spend?
   Asset Vision gathers highly granular usage data to surface software that is underutilized or entirely unused. This clear visibility into actual consumption lets IT teams see exactly which licenses are being paid for but not used, creating an immediate and measurable opportunity to reduce expenditure.
3. What is the remove/recycle workflow and how does it cut costs?
   Once underutilized or unused software is identified through usage metering, Asset Vision drives remove/recycle workflows that act on those findings. Hardware and software assets can be reconfigured, recycled, or retired — quickly and measurably cutting the costs of software licensing and ongoing maintenance without disrupting the users who genuinely need the tools.
4. How does Asset Vision help optimize software license allocation?
   Asset Vision combines usage metering with entitlement tracking and license rules, enabling IT to compare license assignments against licenses owned. This gives an accurate picture of compliance risk and reveals exactly where licenses can be consolidated, reallocated, or removed — right-sizing every license without relying on estimates or vendor audits.
5. Can Asset Vision meter SaaS and virtual desktop applications as well as traditional software?
   Yes. Asset Vision delivers forensic-level usage analysis across traditional installed applications, virtual applications, applications running on virtual desktops (VDI), and web-based SaaS applications — giving organizations a single, consistent view of software consumption regardless of how or where it is deployed.
6. How does software asset management (SAM) in Asset Vision reduce compliance risk?
   Asset Vision enables IT teams to prepare an accurate, thorough, and detailed picture of license compliance without needing outside vendor involvement. By combining inventory, entitlements, and license rules in one platform, it dramatically reduces the complexity and manual effort required to stay compliant — eliminating the cost and risk that comes with unmanaged over- or under-licensing.
7. What is normalization and why does it matter for IT cost management?
   Normalization is the process of cleaning and standardizing raw asset data so it can be correctly identified, categorized, and acted upon. Asset Vision's cloud-based recognition engine holds over 1,500,000 entries and enriches each asset record with release dates, end-of-life dates, license metrics, and more. Without normalization, IT teams are making cost decisions on unreliable data — with it, every software and hardware decision is grounded in accurate, actionable intelligence.
8. How does agentless discovery help reduce IT infrastructure costs?
   Asset Vision discovers, inventories, and normalizes your entire server estate without deploying a single agent, eliminating the overhead, licensing cost, and maintenance burden that agent-based approaches typically incur. Accurate, always-current inventory means compliance, support, and security teams always have a reliable foundation — without the ongoing cost of managing additional software across thousands of servers.
9. How does dependency mapping support server rationalization?
   Dependency Mapping overlays dependency data directly onto your asset inventory, revealing which servers are under- or over-used and identifying the software driving those dependencies. This gives IT teams the confidence to rationalize servers — consolidating, decommissioning, or repurposing infrastructure based on evidence rather than guesswork, and delivering meaningful reductions in hosting and licensing expenditure.
10. Can Asset Vision integrate with our existing IT systems like SCCM or a service desk?
    Yes. Asset Vision is designed to be the single source of truth for IT usage metering and integrates data from sources including SCCM, purchasing systems, service desks, and more. It correlates inventory with procurement data such as purchase orders, warranties, and invoices. An intuitive integration wizard makes it straightforward to build, test, and schedule integration models — no specialist development resource required.
11. What business intelligence and reporting does Asset Vision provide?
    Asset Vision includes pre-configured dashboards, reports, and data views as standard, covering the most common IT asset intelligence needs out of the box. For more complex or organization-specific questions, IT professionals can build custom views and pivot dashboards using the platform's flexible reporting tools. All reports and views survive platform updates and can be shared across the team, ensuring cost and compliance data is always accessible to the people who need it.
12. Is Asset Vision suitable for large or complex IT environments?
    Yes. Asset Vision is a SaaS-based solution designed to scale with organizations of any size, from growing businesses to large global enterprises with complex, multi-site IT estates. Its customization capabilities — including custom field creation and object extensions — ensure the platform can be tailored to capture asset information unique to your organization, no matter how complex.
13. How can I see Asset Vision in action before committing?
    You can book a live demo or schedule a call with our team through this website. We'll walk you through Asset Vision's usage metering, cost optimization, and reporting capabilities in the context of your own environment and requirements.
14. What support options are available for Asset Vision customers?
    Vector Networks offers dedicated customer support for Asset Vision, including onboarding assistance, technical support, and regular product updates. Our in-house team members are on hand to help — whether you have a how-to question or need technical assistance - reach us directly at support@vector-networks.com.