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How to Classify Unrecognised Software Titles

xAssets IT Asset Management User Guide
How To

How to Classify Unrecognised Software Titles

When network discovery finds software on your machines, the recognition engine attempts to classify each title. Titles that cannot be matched are listed as "unrecognised" and do not appear in licensing reports. This means they could represent a compliance gap. This guide explains how to review and address unrecognised software.

Why This Matters

Unrecognised software titles are invisible to the licensing position report. If any of them are commercially licensed software, you could be under-licensed without knowing it. Vendor audits may discover these gaps and impose penalties.

Step 1: Review the Unrecognised Software List

  1. Navigate to the Software Dashboard.

  2. Select the Unrecognised Software query. Click the blue links to see the full list of unrecognised titles.

  3. Review each title and determine which category it falls into:

    Category Examples Action Needed
    Commercial software with an unusual name A known product listed under a non-standard name Needs recognition -- proceed to Step 2 or Step 3
    Internal or custom application Tools built by your own development team No licence action needed. Optionally create a recognition record classifying it as "Free"
    System component or driver Hardware drivers, OS components, runtime libraries No action needed -- typically classified as "Secondary" or "Free" when recognised
    Suspicious or unknown software Titles you do not recognise at all Investigate -- check which machines have it installed and consult your security team

  4. Focus on titles with high installation counts first -- these are more likely to be commercial software requiring licences.

Step 2: Submit Titles to xAssets for Recognition

You can send your unrecognised titles to xAssets for inclusion in future recognition database updates:

  1. Navigate to Admin > Transformations > IT Transformations > Software Asset Management.

  2. Select Send Unrecognised Software to xAssets.

  3. Click Queue to submit the data.

  4. xAssets will review the submitted titles and add those that should be recognised (e.g., commercial software) into the centralised recognition database. The next time you receive a recognition update, these titles will be correctly classified.

Step 3: Create a Manual Recognition Record (Immediate)

If you need a title recognised immediately rather than waiting for a database update:

  1. Navigate to the software management area and create a software title record manually.

  2. Associate the title string (as discovered) with the new software title record.

  3. Classify the title as appropriate (e.g., "Defining" for software that needs licence tracking, "Free" for freeware, "Secondary" for components).

  4. See Creating Software Titles Manually for detailed instructions.

Step 4: Monitor Regularly

  • Review the unrecognised software list periodically (e.g., monthly after a fresh discovery).
  • After submitting titles, recognition updates are applied the next time discovered data is loaded.
  • Do not ignore unrecognised software indefinitely.

Tips

  • After classifying new titles, recalculate the licensing position to see the updated compliance picture. See How to Check Licence Compliance.
  • You can view all software (including unrecognised titles) from Software > Computers by Software Title > Computers by Software Title -- All.
  • The recognition engine improves over time as more customers submit their unrecognised titles.