Software Asset Management (SAM)

SAM (Software Asset Management) is a business activity that involves managing and optimizing the purchase, installation and deployment, maintenance, use and disposal of software applications in a company. The task of SAM as defined by a set of detailed IT operations practices (ITIL) is to effectively manage, protect and control our software.

Who is SAM for ?

SAM is particularly important for large corporations in redistributing licenses and managing the legal risks associated with owning and updating software. SAM applications themselves track license expiration, which allows our company to operate without interruption and in compliance with software compliance regulations, this can be important in the context of regulations related to violations of license agreements.

Often SAM solutions are part of a broader package for managing IT resources ITAM. Then the ITAM module includes oversight of both the software in use and all the hardware comprising computers, monitors, document scanners, printers and IT networks. The ITAM/SAM solution should do an ongoing inventory of applications to determine the exact number of licenses in use, and compare this information with the number of licenses already purchased and how they are being used.

Strategic objectives of SAM deployments

• Reduce software usage and support costs.
• Full compliance with standards for software use.
• Increase employee access and productivity to applications.
• Implement automation processes when using software
• Establish procedures related to the purchase, documentation, implementation, use and withdrawal of software

The point of implementing SAM software, for many organizations, is focused on the proper use of licenses and balancing the number of licenses purchased with the number of licenses actually used or consumed. More often than not, the organization also wants to make sure that the use of the installed software complies with the terms of the manufacturer's license agreement. These implementations also have the additional task of minimizing software piracy and preparing reports in case of an audit by the software vendor or copyright organizations such as the BSA.

Technologies to support SAM processes

• Software inventory - the application intelligently finds software installed on computers, collects information about installed applications.
• License management - is a smart repository of our license authorizations, which can then be reconciled with the software data we have.
• Software consumption measurement - these are tools that monitor application usage, and they can also enforce real-time compliance for applications licensed based on consumption.
• Application controls - allow you to place restrictions, such as by whom software can be run on a computer, to avoid the dangers of misuse.
• Application deployment - this technology allows automatic installation and deployment of new software.
• Patch management -automationwhen downloading and installing software patches, this ensures that computers are up to date.

This group of products is based on the companies' solutions:

Matrix42