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Data consolidation

In Snow SaaS Management in SaaS, the discovered data is consolidated and presented in a normalized and structured way, to facilitate visibility and optimization. The update frequency of new data in SaaS depends on the discovery source.

Data discovery and mapping​

SaaS visibility is achieved through gathering of data from various discovery sources. For more information, see SaaS discovery. To analyze this often large amount of discovered data, it must be mapped, tied, and consolidated into meaningful data sets and information. This consolidation also facilitates optimization.

The data on applications, subscriptions, users, and user activity, gathered through the discovery sources, is mapped to vendor data on applications and subscription types in Flexera's database. The data is also connected to the billing information added to subscriptions. In this way, the data is consolidated into structured information and data sets, that is presented in the SaaS pages.

Consolidation of data records​

Applications and users are consolidated from multiple discovery sources to show one consolidated record per item. Subscriptions show one record per discovery source, to create visibility of duplicate subscriptions for the same services, giving an overview of optimization opportunities.

User activity is consolidated from multiple sources and data for the latest activity in respective applications is presented in the SaaS pages. For more information, see User activity.

Update frequency​

Data imported from discovery sources is consolidated and updated in indicators, insights, charts, and tables in the SaaS pages when the system runs an hourly check. However, data is imported to the system at different times, and hence the pages may not show any new information every hour. Import times for discovery sources vary:

  • SaaS connectors import data at the time scheduled in respective settings, or when manual imports are run. Therefore, the data from connectors may be updated on a daily basis or up to an hour after a data import.

    User activity from connectors is collected once per day, with data from vendor APIs for the previous day. Therefore, activity data from connectors is from the previous day or earlier.

    For more information, see SaaS connectors and User activity.

  • The browser extension for SaaS sends data regularly to Snow Atlas, but at least every 12 hours. Therefore, browser extension usage data may be updated on an hourly basis, but at latest on a 13 hour basis.

    For more information, see Browser extension.

  • Agent-based browser extension data is collected when it happens and sent by the Snow Inventory Agents for macOS and Windows daily at 9 AM by default, unless a custom schedule it set. How the data is then processed depends on your environment:

    • If you have SAM Core and SaaS on Snow Atlas, the data is sent immediately from Snow Inventory Agents by Snow Extenders to SaaS on Snow Atlas, unless you have it differently configured. Therefore, the latest browser extension usage data is for the previous day.

      For more information, see Agent-based browser extensions and Configure agent-based browser extensions.

    • If you have an on-premises environment plus SaaS on Snow Atlas, the collected data is sent by Snow Inventory Agents to Snow Inventory Server. Then the Data Update Job runs at 9 PM on your premises, unless you have scheduled it differently, and takes a couple of hours, during which time the data is copied to Snow Extenders, which sends it immediately to SaaS on Snow Atlas, unless you have it differently configured. Therefore, the latest browser extension usage data is for the previous day or earlier.

      For more information, see Agent-based browser extensions, Configure agent-based browser extensions for on-premises plus SaaS , and Data Update Job.

  • Device application usage information is collected from devices by Snow Inventory Agents and sent by Snow Extenders to Snow Atlas at 9 AM by default, unless a custom schedule is set. The Data Update Job then runs at 9 PM in SAM Core by default and takes a couple of hours. The data is imported from the SAM Core API to SaaS on the next day at the following times for each cluster:

    ClusterImport time (UTC)
    AustraliaSouthEast16:00:00
    EastUS211:00:00
    UKSouth03:00:00
    WestEurope02:00:00

    Due to this schedule, the device application usage data shown in the SaaS pages represents the day before yesterday. Setting custom schedules will further delay the import of device application usage data. For more information, see Device application usage and Data Update Job.

  • Manually entered information in applications, subscriptions, and users is updated immediately. But the effects on the relationship between users, applications and subscriptions, such as adding users to subscriptions, is updated in an hourly check by the system to show in indicators, insights, charts, and tables. To view the effect of manual updates directly, select Update data at the bottom of a page. You cannot select the button more than once every 15 minutes, so it is recommended that you complete all of your manual updates before selecting Update data or that you wait for the hourly automatic update.

    To select Update data, you require the Snow Atlas Administrator role.