SAM tools: Find out when it’s worth investing in them

I am often asked from what size of company a SAM tool makes sense.

The question is appropriate if you are thinking about operating software asset management in a structured way.

Two points are important in answering this question.

1. To what extent is software used in the company?
2. What goals are to be achieved with the SAM tool?

Point 1:

The question cannot be answered well with the number of employees or computers alone. Commercial companies that employ many people but do not work on computers often do not need a SAM tool.

It depends on how many different software products are used. A whole range of software programs are used at a “normal” office workstation:

-An operating system

-A variant of the MS Office programs (Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint)

-A virus scanner

-Something to read or convert PDFs

-Possibly a database program

-Access to a time recording system

-Project planning

-Tools for online collaboration

-A translation program

Client software for accessing company software and much more.

Now, not all programs in a company are used in the same version and are not concluded via the same contract with the same term. Some software products can be used via a subscription, for some licenses have been purchased. Maintenance must be paid annually for some usage, for other products, measurement results and self-disclosures have to be sent to the manufacturer. Can this information also be collected in Excel and updated there regularly?

Probably, but it becomes confusing and is prone to errors.

The structure of the software products used provides information about the type of SAM tool required. If only installed software products are used, a SAM tool without determining SaaS usage is sufficient (for the time being).

In addition to the pure number of workstations and employees, the diversity of software usage is also important. You can manage 500 homogeneously used workstations sensibly without a SAM tool but fail with 200 workstations if every employee has admin rights and the option to book software from the cloud.

The situation is similar in the server environment. Which products are used?

Are the servers operated externally? If so, who is responsible for licensing in this case? Where has access been managed to date?

The introduction of a SAM tool requires effort and time must also be planned for ongoing maintenance. To better assess whether this effort is worthwhile, it can be useful to carry out a SAM maturity assessment. With the help of this assessment, you can find out how well you are positioned so far – even without a tool. If you then decide in favor of a tool, the next question is: Which tool is the right one for your company? More on this in point 2.

Point 2:

What should be achieved with a SAM tool?

I know companies that have a SAM tool in place but hardly use it. One reason for this is that there is no focus on the development of software costs.

Compliance problems can also be solved with money, or it is hoped that they will be solved with money. In this case, the use of a SAM tool would make sense, but it is not seen that way.

Some companies have found that the introduction and operation of a SAM tool has cost much more money than it could deliver in terms of added value. As with many helpful software tools, the same applies to a SAM tool: The tool is only as good as it is maintained.

You should therefore ask yourself what you expect from the tool before introducing it. The most important reasons are certainly:

-Establish compliance security

-Save costs

-Close security gaps