Understanding Inventory

2 min read

Isora GRC uses three different kinds of inventory objects in its database- assets (formerly known as hosts), applications (formerly known as apps), and third-party vendor products. These inventory objects may be used when performing different types of assessments. It’s possible to use Isora GRC to perform unit assessments without having any inventory data at all. However, most institutions do use Isora GRC to track at least some inventory related to assessments.

Types of Inventory and How They Are Used

Inventory TypeDescriptionUsageLinkages / Relationships
AssetAny network asset (servers, laptops, routers, phones, tablets, etc)Asset Enrichment part of Organizational AssessmentResides on a
ApplicationApplication or system- often refers to locally-developed applicationsApplication Enrichment part Application AssessmentHas a single owning unit. Can link to a related third-party vendor product. May be deployed
Third-party vendor productThird-party vendor products (operating systems, applications, hosted solutions, SaaS offerings, etc)Vendor AssessmentMay have deployments

Isora GRC is a relational database-drive application. Understanding the types of objects in its database and how they relate to each other can help you to use the product more effectively.

2 There are two different types of “deployments” recognized by Isora GRC. Third-party vendor product deployments are an actual database object representing a specific use-case by a specific unit for a third-party vendor product. Application deployment simply refers to an app being installed on a specific asset (usually the asset is a server or host).

What if I have other types of inventory?

You may want to track objects that don’t necessarily neatly fit into these categories. Both the asset and application inventory types are flexible enough that you could use them to represent any kind of object you want to keep track of.

See also: FAQ: Which assessment methodology should I use?

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