SAM tools strategy

What is Software Asset Management?

Software Asset Management, or SAM in short, refers to all infrastructure and processes necessary for effective purchase, usage, management, control and disposal of all software assets in any organization. The main advantage of this strategy is that you will be in control of your budget. On top of this, you will also realize major cost savings. Having a SAM strategy in place means you can:

• Find out which software and which applications are currently installed
• Find out if these are all up-to-date
• Find out if you are compliant to all software license regulations

It must never be forgotten how important it is to not only manage software licenses once, but to continuously keep doing so. Not all software products are the same, which means that they could ask for a different kind of installation of be different in their way to use. For this reason it is vital to abide by the rules in the license agreement.

As a software vendor, it is logical that you do not want your users to use more than they signed up for. That’s why they do regular checks through software compliance audits.     

Deciding on your SAM tools

Taking the time to select your SAM tools will really benefit you in many ways. The better way to look at it, is that the companies not having an active SAM program are actually at (financial) risk. The first step in deciding on SAM tools is to look at your software needs as a company. The second step is to match these with your current environment, your companies size, your companies complexity and future growth plans.

How to be competitive with SAM

You will benefit from a strong SAM tool strategy in the following ways:

• Having an overview will give you cost transparency and cost savings
• Automating certain tasks will also give you time savings
• You will be able to make smart decisions based on long-term strategy
• Software audit around the corner? No stress. Everything is in order.

Is there such a thing as being over licensed?

Definitely. This actually happens quite a lot. Companies don’t want to take any risks and decide that they would rather be safe than sorry by being ‘over compliant’. The idea is to outsmart any audit risks by overpaying in the beginning. This looks like a small risk right? The opposite is true. If you are overpaying again and again, in the end it can end up being even more costly than failing an audit.