A comprehensive
guide to software
asset management

SAM maximizes the return on your software investments while lowering risks and costs. Using SAM helps you:

• Remove the hassle of license expiration: In order to prevent users from losing access to crucial software, a well-implemented SAM system detects license expiration issues early. This helps reduce support tickets related to license expiry.
• Accelerate troubleshooting and resolution: You can diagnose and resolve software related tickets quickly when you have information about the specific version, license status, and user history.
• Ease onboarding and offboarding process: You can remove access for departing employees and grant new users access to the relevant software with ease. This lowers security risks and boosts license usage effectiveness.
• Reduce software conflicts and incompatibilities: You can detect potential conflicts and incompatibilities and avoid downtime by being aware of the installed software.
• Enable self-service: You can enable users to request software based on their eligibility if you possess accurate details about their software entitlements.
• Boost budgeting: Justifying software budgets and new purchases is supported by data and is more convincing when you can demonstrate real software usage and spot waste.

Starting with acquisition and ending with disposal, the SAM lifecycle encompasses various stages of software management. Every phase is essential for process organization, audit readiness, and software investment optimization. The SAM lifecycle's key phases are as follows: Discovery and inventory; planning and procurement; deployment and installation; usage and optimization; support and maintenance; and retirement and disposal.

Discovery and inventory

In this initial stage, every software asset in the organization is identified, located, and recorded. This involves:

• Detecting installed software by automatically scanning the IT environment.
• Recording information such as the installation path, software name, version, edition, and frequency of use.
• Keeping a central inventory of all software assets for visibility and control.

Planning and procurement

This stage guarantees that the appropriate software is obtained through the authorized channels as soon as the need for new software materializes. This involves:

• Determining the software needs and seeing whether the licenses that are already in place can be used again.
• Deciding on a budget and assessing licensing models.
• Purchasing software from approved suppliers while abiding by license terms.
• Keeping track of the license's SKU, quantity, edition, vendor, purchase, and renewal dates.

Deployment and installation

The software is installed and made accessible to end users following purchase. This involves:

• Verifying license compliance prior to installation.
• Installing the software only on approved devices.
• Ensuring installations are properly documented, safe, and compliant with policy.
• Associating each installation with a current license.

Usage and optimization

The goal of this stage is to maximize the value that can be obtained from software. This involves:

• Comparing the licenses allotted to the actual software usage.
• Cut expenses by finding licenses that are underutilized or unused.
• Looking for substitutes for expensive or rarely used tools.
• Reallocating or decommissioning software, depending on usage patterns.
• Collecting feedback from end users to improve software services and support.

Support and maintenance

Ongoing health of the software is ensured through regular updates, renewals, and support. This stage includes:

• Applying patches, upgrades, and updates to ensure performance and security.
• Monitoring the expiration dates of contracts and licenses in order to minimize compliance risk.
• Renewing software contracts as needed.

Retirement and disposal

At the end of the software lifecycle, unused or obsolete software must be retired. The following must be achieved in
this final stage:

• Identifying software that is no longer needed or supported.
• Recovering and reassigning any unused licenses, as applicable.
• Uninstalling the software in a manner that prevents a leak or breach.
• Updating records to reflect license termination or disposal.

Proactive SAM is not only a best practice; it is also a cybersecurity necessity and a wise financial move. Think about the following best practices to increase the effectiveness of your SAM program.

1. Establish explicit rules right away

Outline who is responsible for what, using the ITSM and ITAM frameworks, from deployment and purchase to compliance and retirement. Things go much more smoothly when everyone is aware of their responsibilities.

2. Automate and centralize as much as you can

Organize all of your software asset data in one location. Automate tasks like license tracking, inventory management, reporting, and discovery with reliable SAM tools. This reduces errors, increases visibility, and saves time.

3. Plan frequent reviews and audits

Avoid waiting for an external audit to verify your compliance. Develop the habit of conducting internal audits. They assist you in identifying illegal software, making sure your records are correct, and managing your licenses.

4. Make the most of your licensing approach

Use a limited number of reliable vendors and stick to a standard set of authorized software tools. Make better purchasing decisions based on actual needs rather than conjecture by using usage data to renegotiate contracts.

5. Monitor usage and inform others

Keep tabs on the organization's software usage. At the same time, teach your staff about SAM policies and the importance of compliance. People are more inclined to follow the "how" when they comprehend the "why."

6. Align with industry standards

Integrate SAM into your ITSM processes to reap its full benefits. A strong framework is provided by industry standards such as ISO/IEC 19770 to direct your work and make sure nothing is overlooked.

In SAM, the right action means turning data into decisions. The KPIs listed below are intended to achieve those goals by offering clear indicators to reduce expenses, demonstrate worth, and secure backing for ongoing enhancements.

Here are a few salient aspects to consider when choosing a SAM tool.

1. License tracking and management

• Centralized tracking of software licenses.
• Monitoring of license use to ensure compliance.
• Alerts for license termination or renewal.
• Tracking of each software asset, from purchase to retirement.

2. Software inventory management

• Automatic discovery of software assets in the organization.
• Real-time updates for accurate inventory tracking.
• Classification of software by type, seller, or business unit.

3. SaaS-centric management

• Capabilities to discover, manage, and optimize SaaS applications with real-time usage data.
• Insights to eliminate shadow IT and control spiraling SaaS spend.
• Automated renewal tracking for SaaS subscriptions.

4. Compliance and audit readiness

• Tools to identify and address software license non-compliance.
• Generation of audit reports within the application.

5. Cost optimization

• Insights into unused and underutilized software licenses.
• Suggestions for license reallocation or cancellation.
• Analytics to buy software and cut costs.

6. Integration capabilities

• Easy integration with ITSM platforms, ERP systems, SaaS offerings, and procurement software.
• Support to import and export data between the systems.

7. Reporting and analytics

• Custom dashboards for real-time insights.
• Detailed reports on software use, compliance, and costs.
• Predictive analytics to forecast software needs.

8. Contract and vendor management

• Centralized repository for managing vendor contracts and agreements.
• Alerts for contract renewals.

9. End-of-life (EoL) management

• Tools for identifying outdated or unsupported software.
• Secure decommissioning processes for retiring software.
• Ensuring appropriate data sanitation during the software disposal phase.

10. Security and risk management

• Alerts for software vulnerabilities and patch updates.

• SAM and FinOps convergence: SAM is likely to converge with cloud financial ops (FinOps) onto a single integrated platform that provides total visibility of costs that enable better technology investment decisions.
• AI + automation: AI-enhanced predictive analytics will help identify complex software usage patterns and help IT teams be proactive by automating provisioning, optimizing license purchases, and speeding up software license compliance.
• Cybersecurity integration (SAM plus SecOps): SAM will assist as the organization employs many more security controls around vulnerability and end-of-life detection, providing SecOps a reduced total attack surface area and a faster route to navigate an intrusion.
• OSS management: SAM will evolve to manage open-source software (OSS) license compliance and vulnerability awareness and knowledge with to use of software composition analysis (SCA) tools.

ServiceDesk Plus comes with native SAM capabilities to transform software chaos into a strategic, managed portfolio. Gain total control and visibility over your cloud and on-premises software to maximize ROI and ensure compliance.

ServiceDesk Plus' flexible agent-based and agentless discovery enables audit-ready governance by establishing a single software inventory throughout the lifecycle, from deployment and procurement to usage monitoring and safe retirement.

Utilize software metering to recover unused licenses, define and manage all license types, and automatically reconcile entitlements. The compliance dashboards and reports highlight over-licensed and under-licensed software, providing the data needed to optimize software spend.

In addition, ServiceDesk Plus improves visibility, by mapping software to users, hardware devices, and critical business services within the CMDB to better understand dependencies and assess impact. Seamless integration with ITAM and service management modules simplifies the work of service desk technicians and IT asset managers, delivering a unified, ITIL-aligned SAM experience within a single platform.

Don't wait for an impending audit. Take control now

SAM is the definitive answer to the question, "Are you getting value from your technology investments?" With the right strategy and the right platform, you can turn a chaotic expense into a managed, optimized asset portfolio.

Ready to see what a strategic SAM program can do for your bottom line? Sign up for a free 30-day trial of ServiceDesk Plus and see how you can start saving today. Get a quick tour of how IT asset management works in ServiceDesk Plus Cloud.