GigaOm Key Criteria for Evaluating Software Asset Management (SAM) Solutionsv1.0

1. Executive Summary

Software asset management (SAM) provides a means for fiscally managing software assets and implementing controls to ensure compliance with software license entitlements. SAM is important because it represents one of the largest spending areas for IT by enterprises and an opportunity for vast savings as a result. SAM solutions offer visibility and actionable insight that can reduce the cost of IT software spending quickly and into future years. The technology applies across all vertical segments. It is crucial to helping IT operations remain compliant and minimizing asset costs.

Functionally, SAM provides inventory management for all software assets and data collection, oversight and compliance, financial management, risk control, and vendor management through contract functionality for all types of software assets: on-premises, cloud, SaaS, and hybrid deployment models. SAM is linked with FinOps because it offers finance and risk capabilities while also aligning with IT service management (ITSM), especially for organizations that have adopted Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) 4 certification and training.

Business Imperative
SAM matters to a wide-ranging audience, including IT technical staff and management responsible for tracking assets, C-suite executives, and legal professionals focused on corporate compliance. From a risk management perspective, SAM monitors asset deployment and usage for contractual compliance and, increasingly, any security vulnerabilities that software may represent. Assets can be reallocated as needed to remain compliant and avoid additional spending. C-suite executives will appreciate avoiding the risk of potential fines because SAM provides insight and analytics for software and often can reallocate software licenses automatically. Finally, distribution, discovery, and control functionality support “feet on the ground” technical staff in understanding and addressing software asset issues.

While SAM solutions have been available for decades, the expansion of their feature set to address cost and risk management in recent inflationary times has once again raised the visibility of the need for and interest in SAM solutions. Economic pressures, along with increasing labor costs, are driving corporations to focus on reducing costs and improving efficiency. SAM helps to automate processes and identify unused or limited usage resources that can be reclaimed to avoid the ever-expanding acquisition creep.

Sector Adoption Score
To help executives and decision-makers assess the potential impact and value of deploying a SAM solution, this GigaOm Key Criteria report provides a structured assessment of the sector across five factors: benefit, maturity, urgency, impact, and effort. By scoring each factor based on how strongly it compels or deters adoption of a SAM solution, we provide an overall Sector Adoption Score (Figure 1) of 4.2 out of 5, with 5 indicating the strongest possible recommendation to adopt. This indicates that a SAM solution is a credible candidate for deployment and worthy of thoughtful consideration.

The factors contributing to the Sector Adoption Score for SAM are explained in more detail in the Sector Brief section that follows.

Figure 1. Sector Adoption Score for SAM

This is the first year that GigaOm has reported on the SAM space in the context of our Key Criteria and Radar reports.

This GigaOm Key Criteria report highlights the capabilities (table stakes, key features, and emerging features) and nonfunctional requirements (business criteria) for selecting an effective SAM solution. The companion GigaOm Radar report identifies vendors and products that excel in those decision criteria. Together, these reports provide an overview of the market, identify leading SAM offerings, and help decision-makers evaluate these solutions so they can make a more informed investment decision.