Best Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools
Software asset management (SAM) tools are used to document and manage the software licenses used by a business. Traditionally used to track local, on-premises software licenses, many SAM tools have broadened their scope to include tracking SaaS assets as well. Companies use SAM software for various reasons, including cost tracking, contract management and compliance, and license management solutions, making them prime tools for internal asset and user access managers.
SAM tools share similarities with a few solutions that also manage and track technology assets, including IT asset management software, which also covers physical assets and SaaS operations management software, which focuses particularly on as-a-service software management.
To qualify for inclusion in the Software Asset Management category, a product must:
Best Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools At A Glance
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USU is an IT Management software provider headquartered in Boston, MA, specializing in solutions designed to enhance operational efficiency and financial management for mid-market and enterprise organ
Snow Atlas is a cloud-native Software Asset Management (SAM) and Software as a Service (SaaS) management solution designed to help organizations efficiently manage and optimize their software assets.
4,724 Twitter followers
CloudEagle.ai is an AI-driven SaaS Management, Identity Governance, and Security solution that provides enterprises with a centralized command hub to detect, protect, govern, and optimize their SaaS a
CloudEagle is a software tool that provides visibility into SaaS usage, tracks renewals, and automates onboarding and offboarding processes. Reviewers like the AI-powered renewal data extraction, contract detail centralization, self-service app catalog, and the Assisted Buying service which provides benchmark data for better negotiation. Users reported issues with the initial data cleanup and integration, lack of historical data display on the dashboard, occasional lag in sync between the HRIS and the platform, and the billing being only available in USD.
149 Twitter followers
Cloud Asset Inventory A metadata inventory service that allows you to view, monitor, and analyze all your Google Cloud and Anthos assets across projects and services.
31,798,732 Twitter followers
Software is one of the major items on any IT expense budget. Industry analysts estimate software license and maintenance fees represent 20 to 35% of total enterprise IT spend. The approach for managin
4,724 Twitter followers
Zluri is a next-gen Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) platform that enables IT and security teams to discover identities and applications, streamline access management, and automate access
226 Twitter followers
Track and manage software licenses across the enterprise from a unified platform. Reduce costs, stay compliant, and align use to business need. SAM runs on the Now Platform®, a single system of action
53,720 Twitter followers
EZO AssetSonar is a comprehensive IT asset management platform designed to provide organizations with real-time visibility into their entire digital infrastructure. This solution enables users to effe
813 Twitter followers
Snow Software is changing the way organizations understand and manage their technology consumption. Our technology intelligence platform provides comprehensive visibility and contextual insight across
4,724 Twitter followers
Volume licensing programs and agreements will evolve as we improve your purchase experience, starting with the Microsoft Customer Agreement.
13,090,136 Twitter followers
Torii is security’s SaaS governance copilot, revealing every app and identity—shadow SaaS and AI included—and turning visibility into enforceable control. Security teams eliminate blind spots across t
581 Twitter followers
AWS License Manager makes it easier to manage licenses in AWS and on-premises servers from software vendors such as Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, and IBM. AWS License Manager lets administrators create cust
2,220,322 Twitter followers
SymphonyAI IT Service Management offers an enterprise-class solution that delivers measurable business outcomes leveraging automation, predictive, and generative AI. Customers have been able to automa
470 Twitter followers
Enterprise-grade ITSM that's actually easy to use — resolve issues up to 52% faster with AI, unified asset management, and native ITOps integration built in from day one. SolarWinds Service Desk is a
19,628 Twitter followers
Learn More About Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools
What are Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools?
Software asset management (SAM) tools allow businesses to manage the software licenses used across their company. These tools have traditionally supported on-premises software license management, but many tools also support SaaS assets, as well. Software asset management software helps companies monitor and manage software deployment, software licenses, license compliance, and ultimately license spend for all end users involved in the application. The primary use case of SAM is to keep the business compliant as software vendors don’t want the business using more of their software than they purchased or licensed. Vendors often conduct software compliance audits to ensure companies use the specific application correctly. If they are not compliant, a fee or penalty may incur. An excellent SAM practice prevents vendor audits and penalties.
SAM tools discover on-premises software by scanning databases, system logs, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications. This not only shows the software used, but it also prevents unsanctioned software use, known as shadow IT, since it uncovers unreported software. After the discovery, SAM tracks the software compliance with metrics like renewal dates, the maximum number of users and devices, etc. SAM software will go through a normalization process that pulls these metrics out of contracts. Normalization can be partially automated, but due to the complexity of software contracts, manual entry may still be necessary for accuracy. After all key fields are pulled and tracked, SAM tools visualize the metrics and software usage to check for compliance. This visualization informs companies if there are any overuse cases so they can act early to avoid penalties.
Additionally, companies can make the most of their tech stack by ensuring every application is being utilized correctly and not paying for unused licenses. A visualization of usage ensures companies that their money is being spent most efficiently.
What Does SAM Stand For?
SAM stands for software asset management. It is a business practice for software compliance and procurement. SAM software does most of the heavy lifting by discovering software, tracking licenses, and visualizing usage data. Some SAM software also tracks SaaS and cloud applications, but they focus more on usage optimization than compliance.
What are the Common Features of Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools?
The following are some core features within SAM tools that can help users in monitoring software compliance, tracking usage data, and preventing vendor audits:
Software discovery: A software management tool maintains a centralized software database. It should automatically discover and document software used on company devices. Manual entry at scale is impractical because it is too time-consuming and inaccurate.
Usage visualization: SAM tools should track software usage from the time of procurement to their disposal. By monitoring usage by users, central IT can make important purchasing and license allocation decisions based on who is overusing or underusing the software in real time.
Alerting: Once there is an overused case or expiring license, the system should alert the IT manager. Without this functionality, IT managers cannot discontinue or adjust software license agreements on time. Therefore, SAM plays a critical role in the IT service management (ITSM) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes.
Compliance documentation: A software license agreement can be extremely complex. To document these compliance requirements, SAM tools should document the specific metrics and conditions in its database from the agreements. SAM experts would need to input this information into a centralized SAM database for any SAM tools to work.
What are the Benefits of Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools?
Cost saving: SAM gives companies a usage view of their software estate. This allows companies to cut underused licenses in vendor negotiations, saving them an average of 10-20% on software spending.
Improves vendor relationship: Vendors are less likely to perform an audit if they are informed of their client’s license entitlements. Suspicious software licensing changes are the top reason why vendors conduct audits. Constant auditing and frequent penalties waste time and deteriorate client relationships. Companies lower software audit risk by informing vendors on license changes, headcount changes, usage data, etc.
Prevents shadow IT: Shadow IT is when employees secretly procure their desired hardware or software. There are security risks associated with unknown software, but there is also the threat of non-compliance. Unapproved software, which is therefore not covered by an organization’s license terms, could trigger a software vendor audit. SAM tools should tackle red tape, long delays, and missed requests from employees so they are less likely to procure unauthorized software.
Who Uses Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools?
IT managers: The primary users of this software are IT managers. They are responsible for setting up the SAM tool and tracking all the software. SAM tools also enable them to negotiate better terms with vendors by identifying their real software requirements.
Finance teams: Finance teams can determine how many software licenses they can cut based on usage. This also provides them with a clear understanding of software costs in budget planning.
Software Related to Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools
IT asset management software: IT asset management (ITAM) software helps users document their IT hardware and software inventory. SAM is a part of the ITAM process since it only manages software inventory.
SaaS operations management software: SaaS operations management, or SaaSOps, is a process of managing, governing, and securing SaaS products within a business. This is similar to SAM but it mostly covers cloud applications. Some vendors today offer comprehensive tools that manage both SAM and SaaSOps practices.
Challenges with Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools
Data normalization: Data normalization is part of the SAM automation process that identifies and formats key data from application codes. Normalization turns unstructured data into readable metrics to show compliance status and usage information. SAM tools automate this process with the correct configuration. The challenge is that it is time-consuming to set up the correct metrics (what is the limit for per device, per user, etc.) with complex software contracts. To correctly identify all the metrics, the legal, finance, and IT teams should work together for an extended period. Companies with new SAM processes should aim for a few critical software licenses to start.
Data integration: Not all applications can be integrated with every SAM tool. Some SAM vendors offer specific SAM tools for leading vendors such as Microsoft, while some SAM vendors claim to offer all-in-one solutions for all applications. Companies should review their requirements and ask vendors to demonstrate whether or not their tools can integrate specific applications.
Which Companies Should Buy Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools?
Enterprise: Companies with 500 or more employees should consider buying SAM tools. Manual software license tracking is difficult with this many employees, typically enterprise businesses will hire license management solution companies to facilitate this task. Vendors also actively target enterprises for vendor audits, making them more likely to receive penalties.
How to Buy Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools
Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools
Whether a company is looking for its first SAM software or trying to replace an existing one, g2.com can help find the best tool.
The company’s needs when searching for SAM software often relate to specifically desired data and metrics. For example, the user may be most interested in monitoring their software usage. Buyers should make a ranked list of the SAM features that most directly address the problems they’re trying to solve, then reference G2 reviews to find the right fit.
Prioritizing the desired feature set can help narrow down the potential pool of SAM solutions, allowing teams to then apply further considerations for budget, ease of integration with other systems, security requirements, and more. This holistic approach empowers buyers to move forward with a focused checklist, which can be used in conjunction with G2 scoring to select the best SAM product for the business.
Compare Software Asset Management (SAM) Products
Create a long list
When searching for SAM software, companies need to identify compatibility with existing ERP, HR, and other business management software. Buyers should make a list of important existing software that needs to be integrated, then filter out the SAM tools that can’t be integrated with existing software.
Create a short list
It helps to cross-reference the results of initial vendor evaluations with G2 reviews from other buyers, the combination of which will help to narrow in on a short three to five-product list. From there, buyers can compare pricing and features to determine the best fit. Some vendors don’t charge implementation costs while some do.
Conduct demos
As a rule of thumb, companies should make sure to demo all of the products that end up on their short list. During demos, buyers should ask specific questions related to the functionalities they care most about; for example, one might ask to be walked through a typical performance issue from alerting to license reconciliation within the SAM tool.
Selection of Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools
Choose a selection team
Regardless of a company’s size, it’s important to involve the most relevant personas when beginning the SAM software selection process. Larger companies may include SAM specialists, procurement teams, IT managers, and developers who will be working with the software most closely. Smaller companies with fewer employees might just need IT managers to fill the role.
Negotiation
Many vendors offer full software license platforms that go beyond SAM (on-premises) to include SaaS license management and spending platforms. While some companies will not budge on the configurations of their packages, buyers looking to trim costs should try to negotiate down to the specific functions that matter to them to get the best price. For example, a vendor’s pricing page where SAM functionality is only included with a robust all-in-one monitoring package, whereas a sales conversation may prove otherwise.
Final decision
After this stage, it is important to perform a trial run if possible with a small selection of IT professionals or developers. This will help to ensure that the SAM software of choice integrates well with an IT administrator’s systems setup or a developer’s day-to-day work. If the SAM tool is well-liked and well-utilized, the buyer can take that as a sign that their selection is the right one. If not, looking back at the other options may be necessary.
