Managing software asset data at scale is a persistent challenge for enterprises. Software records vary widely across systems, and data often comes in multiple formats from numerous sources. This complexity can make tasks like vulnerability assessments or audits time-consuming and error-prone. Without a unified view of data across an enterprise’s technology landscape, it can be difficult to manage software asset data.
To address this gap, organizations need a solution that standardizes and aggregates disparate data. By utilizing Discover's Research & Design innovation methodology, the Discover R&D team has established a consistent data structure to allow for one unified view of its software assets in the form of the Discover Operational Data Store Framework.
Recognizing the framework's versatility, Discover has taken ODS open source so it can support diverse use cases and drive innovation across many domains. The ODS open source project includes the ODS Framework and ODS Sample repositories, allowing users to quickly spin up their own ODS and establish a single source of truth.
ODS Framework establishes a unified view
This framework consumes and aggregates data from a variety of sources, from major enterprise software asset management products to community-driven datasets.
There are two core directories that make up the ODS Framework, ods-common and ods-framework.
- ods-common is a required dependency for ods-framework that contains interfaces for ODS data models and document states, as well as utility classes that assist with using and rendering ODS content.
- ods-framework contains the framework module for implementing an ODS server and ODS applications. It defines an architecture that utilizes data clients to extract data from various sources and aggregate them together.
See ODS in Action with ODS Sample
Within the ODS umbrella, the R&D team has also built ODS Sample, a simplified demonstration of ODS in action. ODS Sample is an introductory example of an ODS application that a user can replicate and use as a starting point. ODS Sample takes two approaches to do this: ODS App and ODS Client.
- ODS App provides a playground where a simple ODS app can be easily explored. It provides a foundation upon which one can build a more enhanced ODS application.
- ODS Client is a true web-based client application that exercises ODS APIs to display the data available in a running ODS. This provides a foundation upon which to build a user experience tailored to a user’s needs.
Open Sourcing the Framework for Wider Use Cases
Through the ODS Framework and ODS Sample repositories under the ODS umbrella, the R&D team has built a replicable framework for aggregating diverse data systems. This solution is generalized and applicable for far more use cases than just Discover’s software data.
There are countless enterprises that struggle with aggregating data across different sources, not just for software data but all kinds of data. Because of this broad applicability across many different use cases, the R&D team has decided to make the ODS Framework and ODS Sample repositories open source.
With ODS Framework and ODS Sample, anyone can access and implement their own centralized operational data store to gain a single source of truth. Whether that single source of truth be for software data, or something else entirely. Feel free to check out the links below pointing to the open source repositories, and start making your own ODS system.
