What does SAM (Software Asset Management) mean?
Recurring errors made by companies during the process of acquiring and using software licenses resulted in the need for SAM as a way to wisely manage these assets.
The most common mistake that companies make in the process of purchasing and using a software license is to use it without reading and fully understanding the license agreement.
The first thing that needs to be understood is the very notion of a software license, and its’s “acquisition”/”purchase”, as per the license agreement, the customer does not own the software product itself, he is only granted the contingent right to make use of the software, under certain conditions.
In this regard, we exemplify with an extract from the “Microsoft License Terms”:
“The software is licensed, not sold. Under this agreement, we grant you the right to install (…) and run one instance on your device (…), for use by one person at a time, but only if you comply with all the terms of this agreement”.
Therefore, the purchase contract does not imply full ownership of the product but only grants a right (license) to use the software, limited to a number of users and certain terms of use.
Furthermore, this right to use the software product has additional responsibilities and restrictions attached, which are oftentimes misunderstood due to their high complexity.
Consequently, the process of purchasing a software license and subsequently setting up a proper management for it needs to rely on both legal and technical skills. Making use of these skills and knowledge at the time of the purchase and during the period of use limits (or avoids entirely) the financial risks to which the company may be exposed in the long run as a consequence of misinterpreting the licensing terms and/or legal the vocabulary of the usage conditions.
Purchasing is just the first part of the journey that a software license follows in a company. The flow is completed by the software license installation, usage and maintenance.
Monitoring the entire life cycle of a software license involves a series of processes and activities that define the Software Asset Management business practice.
We will discuss together more details on this subject as well as the mechanism of managing the software licenses on February 11th, starting with 6 PM, when we open, in a narrow circle, the first chapter of “SAM – The untold story of the software licenses”.
Participation in the events will be possible by invitation only.
Please express your interest in participating in these events in the future and we will be happy to send you an invitation.