Skip to content
Big Picture

Vendor Software Visibility

An enterprise purchases software from multiple vendors. IT needs to understand what versions are deployed, which licenses are active, and how software is being used across the organization. This information is scattered across vendor portals, internal systems, and manual records.

Without visibility, IT struggles to answer basic questions: What versions are deployed? Are we using all the licenses we purchased? Which users have access to which software? When did we last update this application?

Big Picture provides a vendor-controlled view that integrates with existing IT management tools. Vendors publish software through Big Picture, and enterprises can see deployment status, license usage, and update availability through a unified interface. This complements existing IT tools rather than replacing them.

The Problem

Section titled “The Problem”

Enterprises need visibility into vendor software for:

  • Understanding what versions are deployed across the organization
  • Tracking license usage and compliance
  • Identifying outdated software that needs updates
  • Planning software deployments and updates
  • Supporting security audits and compliance reporting

Traditional approaches create problems:

  • Information is scattered across vendor portals and internal systems
  • Different vendors provide different interfaces and data formats
  • Manual tracking becomes unsustainable as the number of vendors grows
  • IT tools don’t have visibility into vendor-controlled update processes
  • There’s no single view of software status across vendors

When This Use Case Applies

Section titled “When This Use Case Applies”

This use case applies when:

  • You purchase software from multiple vendors
  • You need visibility into software deployments and license usage
  • Vendors use Big Picture to manage their releases
  • You want to integrate vendor software visibility with existing IT tools
  • You need to support security audits and compliance reporting
  • You want to identify outdated software that needs updates

How Big Picture Addresses This

Section titled “How Big Picture Addresses This”

When vendors publish software through Big Picture, they create a structured view of releases, policies, and licensing. Enterprises that purchase from these vendors can access this information through Big Picture’s tenant interface.

The system provides visibility into:

  • Available releases and channels for each product
  • Current deployment status across the organization
  • License usage and availability
  • Policy settings that control update behavior
  • Historical deployment and license usage data

This visibility integrates with existing IT management tools. When Big Picture policy is set to MANAGED_BY_IT mode, IT tools can query Big Picture for available releases and deployment metadata. This enables IT to manage vendor software through familiar tools while maintaining visibility into vendor-controlled release processes.

Big Picture also provides reporting capabilities that support security audits and compliance. Organizations can generate reports showing software versions, license usage, and update status across all vendors that use Big Picture. This creates a unified view that complements vendor-specific information.

High-Level Flow

Section titled “High-Level Flow”
  1. Vendors publish software releases through Big Picture
  2. Enterprise customers configure tenant access to vendor products
  3. Big Picture provides visibility into releases, policies, and licensing
  4. IT teams view deployment status and license usage through Big Picture interface
  5. IT tools integrate with Big Picture to query release information when needed
  6. Organizations generate reports for security audits and compliance
  7. Visibility supports planning and optimization of software deployments

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”

To implement this use case: