Here’s what keeps executives up at night: customers demanding sustainable practices, investors scrutinizing every expense, and regulators tightening compliance requirements. Meanwhile, your organization is likely managing thousands of software licenses—and if you’re like most companies, some of those licenses are gathering digital dust while you’re still paying for them.
Enter software asset management best practices. Think of it as your financial watchdog for software spending. When done right, software asset management best practices don’t just prevent overspending; they also transform how your organization manages technology. You’ll gain control over software license management, cut unnecessary costs, and yes, even contribute to your sustainability goals.
First Things First: What’s SAM?
Imagine having a clear view of every software license in your organization—who’s using what, which tools sit idle, and where you’re paying for duplicate subscriptions. That’s SAM best practices in action.
But effective software inventory management goes deeper than counting licenses. It’s about strategic IT asset management that aligns your software portfolio with business goals. Are you paying for enterprise licenses when standard versions would work? Do teams unknowingly use competing tools for the same tasks? SAM answers these questions while ensuring software license compliance across your organization.
The goal? Make every software dollar count.
SAM Best Practices: Streamlining Operations, Boosting Productivity
Success with SAM isn’t about buying the fanciest tool and calling it done. Here’s what actually works:
Start with an honest assessment. Where does your organization stand today? Many companies discover they’re operating in the dark—no clear inventory, no usage tracking, and definitely no optimization strategy. That’s your baseline.
Nail down your core processes. You can’t fix everything at once, so prioritize. If audit risks keep you up at night, focus on building a robust software license management process first. Bleeding money on unused subscriptions? Start there instead.
Get leadership on board early. Nothing kills a SAM initiative faster than treating it as an IT-only project. When you can show executives concrete numbers—”We’re spending $500K annually on software nobody uses”—suddenly you have their attention and their support.
Build the right team. You’ve got options:
- In-house teams understand your culture and systems, but come with higher costs
- External consultants bring specialized expertise but may lack company context
- Hybrid approaches often hit the sweet spot, blending institutional knowledge with expert guidance
Choose tools that fit your reality. That shiny new platform with AI-powered everything? It might be overkill. Focus on solutions that match your organization’s size, complexity, and actual needs—not what’s trending on LinkedIn.
Shine a light on shadow IT. You know those SaaS subscriptions employees put on corporate cards without telling anyone? Hunt them down. Catalog everything: legacy applications, cloud services, and yes, that project management tool three different teams purchased independently.
Track usage patterns. Raw data means nothing without analysis. Who actually uses each application? How often? Which departments? This intelligence drives smart decisions about renewals, reallocations, and negotiations.
Reclaim value from unused licenses. Got licenses sitting idle in one department while another wants to purchase the same software? Reallocate them. Use usage data to negotiate better terms when renewal time comes around.
Create clear procurement guidelines. Prevent future chaos with straightforward policies for software purchases, vendor management, and SaaS renewals. Your future self will thank you.
Software Asset Management Best Practices: Realizing the Benefits
So what changes when you get SAM right? Here’s what organizations actually experience:
Faster deployments and updates. When you know exactly what software you have and where it lives, rolling out updates or deploying new tools takes hours instead of weeks.
Employees get what they need, when they need it. No more “sorry, we’re out of licenses” or “wait three weeks for procurement approval.” The right tools reach the right people quickly.
Real cost savings. We’re not talking about marginal improvements. Companies routinely slash software spending once they identify unused licenses and consolidate redundant tools.
Strategic control of your tech landscape. Stop throwing money at software problems. Active management means you’re making informed decisions about every piece of technology in your stack.
Smarter purchasing and stronger negotiations. Armed with usage data, you’ll negotiate from a position of strength. Vendors can’t oversell you when you have the numbers to back up your needs.
Lower risk exposure. Running unauthorized software? Using expired licenses? Both create security vulnerabilities and compliance nightmares. SAM eliminates these blind spots.
Meeting compliance requirements—and beyond. Sure, you’ll pass audits. But the real win is building an efficient, well-governed software environment that supports long-term business objectives.
Unlocking SAM Sustainability: The Untapped Green Potential
Here’s a benefit many organizations miss: effective SAM directly supports your environmental goals.
Less software waste means less electronic waste. When you’re not constantly purchasing, deploying, and discarding unused software, you significantly reduce your digital footprint.
Energy efficiency matters too. Bloated, inefficient software consumes more power than optimized alternatives. By identifying and replacing resource-intensive applications, you can lower energy consumption across your infrastructure.
It all adds up to meaningful environmental impact. Better resource utilization through SAM contributes to broader sustainability initiatives—something stakeholders increasingly demand.
The Future of SAM
The SAM landscape is shifting quickly. Here’s what’s coming:
- Cloud-based SAM platforms are becoming the standard, offering real-time visibility and scalability that on-premises solutions can’t match.
- AI and machine learning are moving from buzzwords to practical tools. Expect predictive analytics that forecast software needs before departments even request them, automatic license optimization, and smarter compliance monitoring.
- Subscription models are replacing traditional licensing across the board. This shift offers flexibility but requires new management approaches—another reason strong SAM practices matter more than ever.
- Integration with IT Service Management (ITSM) systems is tightening, creating unified platforms for asset tracking, incident management, and governance.
Hexaware: Your Partner in Tapping the Power of SAM
At Hexaware, we’ve seen organizations waste millions on software they don’t use. We’ve also watched companies transform their technology spending through strategic SAM implementation.
Our approach? We don’t just help you achieve compliance; we build SAM strategies aligned with your operational efficiency and sustainability goals. That means identifying underutilized software, optimizing licensing costs, and reducing environmental impact simultaneously.
The result: you stop paying for software you don’t need, maximize ROI on the technology you do use, and minimize e-waste through smarter management practices.
Real-World Successes that Prove the Power of SAM
Results speak louder than promises. Consider this example:
A global information services company came to us, drowning in software complexity. Their procurement processes took forever, costs kept climbing, and nobody had a clear picture of the licenses they actually owned.
We implemented our SAM platform and transformed their operation. They gained visibility into every asset, centralized their license and contract data, and changed how the organization thought about software management.
The outcomes? Significant ROI through cost savings, reduced security risks, streamlined procurement, and simplified budgeting through a consolidated dashboard. Most importantly, they gained control over their software landscape. Read the full case study here.
The Time to Act is Now
The numbers don’t lie: organizations with strong SAM practices spend less, operate more efficiently, and achieve sustainability goals faster than those flying blind. If you’re still managing software through spreadsheets and tribal knowledge, you’re leaving money on the table—probably lots of it.
Ready to change that? Let’s talk about how Hexaware can help you unlock the hidden value in your software portfolio.
