What is Software Asset Management?

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What is Software Asset Management?

Software Asset Management (SAM) is a subset of IT Asset Management (ITAM). It focuses on the management of software throughout its lifecycle.

SAM is all about ensuring your organisation gets the most out of its software investments while staying compliant with its license agreements. An effective SAM practice helps businesses track, manage, and optimise their software usage. It also ensures the business remains compliant, without any unnecessary costs.

How does SAM work?

SAM ensures a clear overview of your software assets, which helps to reduce waste and optimise usage. The process generally requires:

• Inventory Management: Monitoring all software assets, their usage, installations, and associated license purchases.
• Compliance checking: Ensuring your business has sufficient licenses for the software in your environment, whilst adhering to the terms of any software agreements.
• Optimisation: Maximising the value of your licenses/agreements through rightsizing based on usage, and capitalising on any rights you may have (such as virtualisation rights).
• Tracking Subscription Usage: Monitoring active/inactive users to optimise SaaS spend, whilst aligning to any contractual requirements or commitments.
• Managing Hybrid Environments: Managing software across on-premises, cloud and hybrid set ups.
• Vendor Management: Negotiating contracts and assessing whether vendors are providing you with value.

Software Asset Management vs Hardware Asset Management

While SAM and Hardware Asset Management (HAM) are two distinctly different disciplines. However, they are heavily reliant on each other, and both form part of the larger ITAM.

Frequently, software license requirements can vary depending on the hardware being used, meaning the hardware information is often needed for effective software asset management. If you manage a hardware or software environment, for either to be effectively managed, a holistic view of the entire environment is needed.

Summary

The benefits of Software Asset Management can include vast cost savings, operational efficiency, and an overall reduction of risk. When combined with visibility of your hardware, cloud, and SaaS assets, you can also achieve effective IT Asset Management (ITAM). The role of SAM is ever expanding. This makes it more vital than ever to ensure you have an effective SAM practice within your organisation.

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