Why your “Unknown Software” keeps coming back in ServiceNow SAM Pro, and how to fix it

The familiar frustration

If you manage ServiceNow SAM Pro, you’ve seen it: you run reconciliation, open your dashboards… and there it is again: a long list of “Unknown Software”. You cleaned it up last month. You standardised names. You taught your team the right conventions.

And still, it returns.

Sound familiar?

You’re not alone. “Unknown Software” is one of the most persistent (and quietly expensive) problems in SAM Pro.

Why “Unknown Software” keeps reappearing

When ServiceNow SAM Pro marks something as unknown, it simply means your discovery data doesn’t match anything in the SAM Content Library ( the engine that powers software recognition).

Here’s why that happens so often:

1. New versions hit your estate before the library updates: Discovery picks up new executables before ServiceNow adds them to the content library.
2. Custom or industry-specific applications: Internal tools and niche software rarely have signatures in the global content database.
3. Inconsistent discovery naming: File paths and metadata differ between desktops, servers, VDI, and cloud workloads.
4. Outdated content service: If your twice-weekly content updates aren’t running, your library falls behind.
5. Manual overrides that break later: Local model edits often fall out of sync after content updates, pushing items back into “unknown” status.

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Why this is more than just an annoyance

“Unknown Software” isn’t just a cosmetic issue, they create a real risk.

• Compliance gaps: SAM Pro can’t calculate usage or entitlements.
• Audit uncertainty: You can’t justify installs without recognized models.
• Bad reporting: Dashboards undercount usage and inflate gaps.
• Hidden spend: Duplicate or misclassified titles hide savings opportunities.
• Too much manual work: Analysts waste hours mapping what the tool should normalize automatically.

A healthy SAM environment should stay at 95%+ known products. Many sit at 75-80%. That missing 15-20% is where the risk - and the money - lives.

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The solution: the improved ServiceNow Content Service

Recent Yokohama and Zurich releases added significant upgrades that many teams haven’t fully tapped into. Here’s what’s changed - and how to take advantage:

1. Twice-weekly content updates: Fresh recognition rules land every Tuesday and Friday.
   Action: Verify that your “Content Service schedule” job is active and completing without errors.
2. Smarter recognition for suites: Smarter pattern-matching and improved handling of multi-component products (e.g., Microsoft 365, Adobe CC).
3. Improved publisher taxonomies: More accurate structures for complex vendors like Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft.
4. Content lookup portal: Quickly check signatures and request missing content directly.

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How to stop unknowns from coming back

To stop the “unknowns” from returning, treat content updates as an operational process, not a one-time clean-up task. Here’s the approach we use with clients:

1. Automate content updates

• Schedule twice-weekly updates
• Monitor logs
• Set alerts for failures

2. Track key normalization metrics

• % of known products
• Normalization rate by publisher
• Threshold alerts (e.g., <90%)

3. Review unknowns monthly

• Assign a data steward
• Use the Content Lookup Portal
• Request missing entries proactively

4. Clean up custom models safely

• Avoid renaming global models
• Keep a simple audit trail
• Validate after each content update

5. Close the loop

• Re-run updates after submitting content requests
• Recheck previous “unknowns” after library changes

The bottom line

ServiceNow’s SAM Content Service is the quiet powerhouse behind SAM Pro. When it runs smoothly, you eliminate unknowns, improve compliance accuracy, and boost stakeholder trust. When it doesn’t, you’ll keep chasing the same issues quarter after quarter.

If you’re ready to stabilise normalisation and get your environment truly audit-ready, we’re here to help. We’ll raise your normalisation rate above 95 %, stabilise your SAM operations, and help you use the real power of ServiceNow SAM Pro.