Software Asset Management plan has become very important aspect for the performance of most organizations. It is a matter of software compliance as well as comprehensive strategy of the organization. SAM plan is a big challenge and enables to take control over all applications, updates, licenses and costs.

 It seems to be impossible to control thousands of products and hundreds of thousands of their version without accurate SAM plan. That is why it is something which should be developed by each organization interested in the software compliance. No matter it is small company or large corporation, it is to be implemented and obeyed.

SAM plan influences whole organization including corporate culture as well as employees who have to know their role in the plan. It introduces many polices and valid procedures which help to establish compliance and make sure that the software used in your company is totally legal.   

There is no doubt about importance of SAM plan for each organization. Enormous numbers of applications used in each organization forced SAM professionals to do something about it. ISO/IEC 19770-1 standard has been developed to keep software compliance in the organization and gain mystery over software inventory. This standard could be part of our SAM plan or we can totally base on it

Whether we use ISO standard or not each SAM plan should start with performing software inventory. It could be done manually or automatically. Manual inventory seems to be inconvenient and boiled down to check the hard disc of each computer. Automatic inventory is much more convenient and is performed using software inventory tools.  Once we know the amount of installed software in our company, we have to find out the license documentation and check if the number is equal.  The same as previous, it can be done manually or automatically. The process prevents organization from over-licensing or under-licensing.

It looks like each SAM task can be done automatically. There are many vendors offering such tools. However it is half true that automatisation is all we need. Human factor is very important issue and it can overrule about the success of the plan. Without people engagement we are not able to gain mastery over it. It is the people to obey polices and procedures.  It is very important all employees to know objectives of the plan and have a knowledge where the plan is tending.

Moreover well prepared SAM plan should prepare organization for many additional tasks. It is to standardize software titles and dispose obsolete applications. It should also take care about centralized software purchasing system to keep track of all new applications in the organization.  What is more, accurate plan enables to clarify what applications are valid and which are not. It reduces number of applications IT staff have to support. Software safe is also what well prepared plan should focus on. It is important that only limited amount of employees have access to the software. It prevents company from misuse and theft.