Software Asset Management (SAM) & Application Portfolio Management (APM), Better Together
SAM and APM are highly complementary and integrated disciplines that, when combined, deliver comprehensive application cost savings. Watch our webinar to learn about shared SAM & APM data, processes & technologies, as well as how to structure a tangible SAM & APM project to obtain savings results for your organization.
- Reduce costs comprehensively leveraging SAM & APM techniques
- Integrate SAM & APM processes within your Application Lifecycle
- How ServiceNow can provide a common platform
- And more
What is Application Portfolio Management?
Our Partners at
Beniva define Application Portfolio Management as the following:
Application Portfolio Management (APM) is a capability (process, information, and systems), that enables organizations to actively manage their application landscape and spend, much like an organization would manage its physical assets through a lifecycle. An effective APM practice sets you free from the guesswork involved with trying to understand your application inventory, costs, and savings opportunities.
What is Software Asset Management?
Software Asset Management (SAM) is a business practice that involves all of the people, processes, and technology needed to effectively manage an organization’s software assets, throughout all stages of their lifecycle.
Application Portfolio Management & Software Asset Management Together
Organizations that only implement Application Portfolio Management are likely still paying too much for remaining applications and are also still at risk of being audited. Likewise, organizations that only implement Software Asset Management could potentially just be reducing license spend on software that they may not need to begin with.
Software Asset Management and Application Portfolio Management are highly complementary and integrated disciplines.
Together, SAM and APM deliver comprehensive application cost savings outcomes to organizations.
Both SAM and APM share much of the same people, processes, and systems – which is why we encourage a comprehensive view of SAM and APM.
Application Portfolio Management & Software Asset Management Common Challenges for Organizations:
While these challenges may sound simple, they come with BIG implications and should not be left unresolved.
Lack of Visibility to Software and License Counts & Types
Many Applications with Redundant Functionality
This just means that there are plenty of opportunities to remove software titles and consolidate onto common platforms.
Many Sources of “Truth” for Software Data
Many organizations just use multiple spreadsheets, and/or their CMDB is in an unreconciled state to the applications being tracked. This is not only an issue on the IT side, but business-paid applications are often very difficult to fully identify. Because of this, identifying the number of applications in their organizations is a major struggle for many CIOs.
These three challenges together, create lofty hurdles for IT departments and often result in significant spend inefficiency and compliance risk. This is why it’s so important to have a comprehensive program to tackle these issues together.
Common Savings Opportunities
There are many significant savings opportunities for organizations that implement an APM & SAM program.
Cost Leadership / Cost Pressure Response
Anyone who has worked in IT, is very aware of the cost pressures that are constantly being applied by organization leadership.
Mergers & Acquisitions
A good example that we often see is a company will already have multiple project management applications and could consolidate down to one or two, but then acquires another organization and the number of these applications doubles or triples. A firm SAM & APM project plan will help identify these applications with redundant functionality and consolidate – bringing overall costs down.
Cloud Migrations & Economics
Before migrating to the cloud, applications should be cleaned up and optimized. This way, you don’t have to pay for more workloads than you truly need. Both AWS and Azure have stated that Application Portfolio Management is critical to a successful cloud program.
Technology Strategy Initiatives – Centralizations or De-Centralization
Some enterprises have de-centralized operating standards – where different groups within the organization can buy their own software. When software purchasing is brought under one umbrella and has a centrally managed system, organizations have greater visibility into their environments and can more easily reduce costs.
Decades of Non-Governed Software Acquisition / Technical Debt
Your organization may relate to one or multiple of the above IT cost drivers. These are where Application Portfolio Management and Software Asset Management together can provide the greatest opportunities for cost savings and risk mitigation.
Foundations of Application Portfolio Management & Software Asset Management