Role within organizations

Role within organizations
SAM can serve many different functions within organizations, depending on their software portfolios, IT infrastructures, resource availability, and business goals.
For many organizations, the goal of implementing a SAM program is very tactical in nature, focused specifically on balancing the number of software licenses purchased with the number of actual copies installed. In doing so, organizations can minimize liabilities associated with software piracy in the event of an audit by a software vendor or a third party such as the Business Software Alliance (BSA). SAM, according to this interpretation, involves conducting detailed software inventories on a periodic basis to determine the exact number of software installations, comparing this information with the number of licenses purchased, and establishing controls to ensure that proper licensing practices are maintained on an ongoing basis. This can be accomplished through a combination of IT processes, purchasing policies and procedures, and technology solutions such as software inventory tools.[3]
More broadly defined, the strategic goals of SAM often include (but are not limited to) the following:
Reduce software and support costs by negotiating volume contract agreements and eliminating or reallocating underutilized software licenses[2]
Enforce compliance with corporate security policies and desktop standards[4]
Improve worker productivity by deploying the right kinds of technology more quickly and reliably[2]
Limit overhead associated with managing and supporting software by streamlining and/or automating IT processes (such as inventory tracking, software deployment, issue tracking, and patch (computing) management)[5]
Establish ongoing policies and procedures surrounding the acquisition, documentation, deployment, usage and retirement of software in an effort to recognize long-term benefits of SAM