I'm guessing your app policies are simply scoped to all computers?
If this is the case then the easiest fix would be to scope each of these automated installs in such a way that if the application is present on the system it isn't in the scope of the policy. A smart group along the lines of Application Title is not Application Name.app would do basic filtering, if you care about the version of apps the smart group would need to be more sophisticated.
Yes - I agree with dsavageED here.
Example: Smart Group: "Missing MS-Word Vn 16.9"
Application Title does NOT have "Microsoft Word.app"
or Application Title has "Microsoft Word.app"
and Application Version not like 16.9
Is a basic 'detector' for that version of the product missing
you then may want to compound that with some other class criteria.
So that the 'detector' group can be reused for related groups.…
e.g Smart Group: Missing MS-Word Vn 16.9 for LABS
criteria: Computer Group member of "Missing MS-Word Vn 16.9'
and Computer Group member of "General LABS"
e.g Smart Group: Missing MS-Word Vn 16.9 for STAFF
criteria: Computer Group member of "Missing MS-Word Vn 16.9'
and Computer Group member of "ALL STAFF"
@dsavageED @PeterClarke
Exactly what I was looking for, thanks guys.