We can inventory installed software in ConnectWise Automate and Freshservice, but I'm looking for a less manual way to track support dates for things like SQL Express and third-party components installed with a main application. What approaches are worth looking at?
How are you tracking end-of-life dates for bundled software?
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I'd start with endoflife.date as a source for lifecycle information, then check how well its product coverage matches your inventory. The tricky part is matching the installed product and version to the right lifecycle entry, especially when a vendor bundles or renames a component.
Keep a way to flag unmatched software for review. A lifecycle source won't help much if the inventory names don't line up or the product isn't covered.
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Freshservice already gives you a place to record this. Add an end-of-support date as a custom field on the software asset and use that to find products approaching the date.
That solves the recordkeeping part, not the research. Someone still has to find and enter the dates and check newly discovered software. It may be workable if the list is manageable, since published dates don't necessarily change often.
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I'd evaluate a dedicated inventory product such as Lansweeper and check its lifecycle tracking against your actual software list. Pricing may be a consideration for a larger organization, so compare that with what you can already get from your existing tools.
Wimblet:
A trial with a few bundled components would be useful. The question is whether it identifies their versions and support dates, not just the main application.
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If you need an asset management system, Snipe-IT is another option for recording software and its lifecycle dates. If you already have one, though, adding another system just for a date field may create more work than it saves.
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!borrow+the~tongs:
That's an option, but I'm hoping to reduce the work of checking installed software and entering dates as the inventory changes.