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This documentation supports the 23.3 version of BMC Helix ITSM Asset Management.To view an earlier version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Normalization of data with the Product Catalog

Normalization improves data quality through consistent and accurate naming of assets.

When data is transferred to BMC Helix CMDB, data consistency problems like inconsistent product categorization attributes,  and naming conventions can occur. To ensure that the product titles coming into BMC Helix CMDB are consistent and aligned, the data goes through the Normalization Engine. 

Normalization is performed by checking the Product Catalog, based on matching attributes. If a match is found the normalization engine fetches the product name from the product catalog. If there is no match, the Normalization Engine updates Product Catalog with any product titles and versions that are not already in the catalog.

Related topics

Managing software licenses in your organization using normalization

Managing consistency of CMDB data by using normalization

Learning about the product catalog


Information
Example

Multiple names can be used to represent the Microsoft Office Word products such as MS Word, Word 2003, and Word. If you create appropriate aliases, the Normalization Engine can determine that these differences represent the same product. If the approved product name that you have specified in your Product Catalog is Microsoft Word, the Normalization Engine can change these different names to Microsoft Word. If different titles for a product are discovered (for example, Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft 2007.0.01, Microsoft 2007.1), specific normalization rules can be defined to handle them as one product because normalization rules for the market version might not be the same as they are for the manufacturer.

In the Normalization Engine, you can choose which CIs to normalize based on their datasets, or classes. When all rules are in place, and all CIs are in sync with the Product Catalog, the normalization process makes sure that product names and categorization are consistent across different datasets and from different data providers.

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BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management 23.3