What is the difference between Software Components and Software in Use

• Software Components - Single definition of the Software, can be treated as the “parent”. 
• Software In Use - each piece of SW that is in use and assigned to a user, these can be treated as the individual applications
• Examples of Software Components:
• Microsoft Office
• Adobe
• Examples of Software in Use:
• Word, Excel
• Acrobat Reader, Adobe Illustrator

• Use cases:
• Tracking Software Licenses per user, create or modify a “Software In Use” piece of software and assign a licensing model to it. This software will now be tracked in licensing. 

If you need to track a “suite” of applications within a single instance you would create a Software Component then create Software Components (Alias) which then become part of the Software Component.