What comes to mind for most folks when they think of Software Asset Management? Many would probably say audit response, renewals, and counting licenses. We know that saying SAM is “counting licenses” is a gross over-simplification of both SAM and determining compliance. Determining a current compliance position can be immensely difficult and is riddled with nuance. The breadth of SAM is larger even still than just the piece of determining compliance. True SAM isn’t just about managing some licenses, it is about shaping our entire software estate “from before the cradle to after the grave.”

Many basic SAM programs may find themselves having a disproportionate focus on the short-term. It could be firefighting audits, bouncing around the entire company, surveying, analyzing, and just trying to get by. Maybe we are just barely stringing together our true-up reports or just trying to get reports done for renewals. It may feel like the moment we finish determining a position for one contract, we are on to the next, followed quickly by needing to do it all over again for the first contract. This moment to moment existence may qualify only as surviving, and certainly not thriving. There certainly is value in the day to day, the continual reporting on how it is now. That is not where the real goal posts are however. It is merely the price we pay to even play the game. If we can’t find a way to squeeze in the strategy, and full lifecycle of our software, we will be doomed to keep doing what we have always done, survive.

SAM isn’t just the compliance police or compliance calculators. SAM can be an immensely powerful piece of business and IT strategy. Instead of just reporting where we stand, we can consider our usage trends, adoption rates, lifecycle data, superior license types, and ultimately, true business enablement. For our companies to be successful, we simply must have assets that support the overall company and IT roadmaps. That means more than just looking at lowering purchase prices or staying in compliance. It means aligning our entire portfolio of software assets to the needs of the business, and perhaps by extension, our customers.

An antidote to moment-to-moment SAM is to consider the entire lifecycle of a piece of software. Before we even make the purchase, we can ask if we really need the software, and if we do, how long will we need it? This minor thought exercise creates a foundation of thinking that transcends the “now.” Let’s consider the software carefully before we get to the stage where we are determining compliance. We know all software will reach the end of its useful life, so let’s use that to our advantage in our planning. What will the story of this piece of software be? If we are comprehensive in our assessment, it will be more likely that what we bring in will be the hero instead of the villain.

We can also look at our portfolio of software as we make decisions. Which of our pieces of software have been the best for the company? The best software may be the best because of high utilization, low costs, ease of use, or direct value generation. Which of our pieces of software have been the worst for the company? It may be over-priced, difficult to use, redundant, difficult to manage, or difficult to remain compliant with. By looking at the effectiveness of software we use, or have used, we gain insights into how we can improve decisions going forward. If you have been burned by “Named User” licenses in the past, we can incorporate that knowledge going forward as we decide to either avoid or more intentionally manage this license type.

If we do not have any strategic projects being executed, that can be indicative that we will not be improving. If we are not improving, then however it is now, is how it will always be. That is if we are lucky! The reality is, things are changing all the time, and if we aren’t shifting some, we are probably falling behind. If a SAM team is tired of having the same problems over and over again, then the solution is the carve out time for improvements, no matter what. We can exist alright doing nothing but firefighting for a season, but if it becomes the weather all the time, there will be no time to prevent the fires in the first place. Have a good mix of short-term wins and strategic game-changing projects. An example of a game-changer could be to create policies aimed at ensuring compliance with our end-users. Make sure to have executive support. If we don’t update our policies, people will keep doing whatever they did to cause compliance issues in the first place, plummeting us back into the depths of yet more fire-fighting compliance reports.

Lifecycle mindset, holistic portfolio management, and demanding that we do strategic projects are just a few possible solutions to upgrade our SAM beyond survival. Even more foundational than these specifics is the simple process of “Ouch, that hurt, what can we do to not get hurt again?” Take a team of competent individuals, and simply walk through this exercise, and solutions will become evident. It is unfortunate that the truth is so boring and plain. When stuff goes poorly, we can do things to make it better. It is not an exciting truth at first, but it can be liberating. No matter how bad it may feel or be now, if we see each failure as a chance to learn and change, we will always be getting better. That is when we can rest easily at night, knowing that no matter what happens, we will prioritize making the whole system better, instead of surviving. This is important to not just us, but all the folks in our orbit, and the business at large. Let’s be the SAM leaders that make it happen!