Software Asset Management Tool Selection
The real key to selecting the right
software asset management (SAM) tool for your organization is that you must first have a clear understanding of your own environment and needs. Selection of a SAM tool will vary based on many factors, here are a few major ones:
- Publishers in focus
Your SAM tool needs can be very different depending on the software deployed in your environment. Certain tools are more equipped to manage certain publishers. For example, IBM requires that you use a tool that has been certified for IBM software - ILMT and FNMS are the only options. However, depending on the other publishers in your environment it may make more sense to go solely with FNMS or perhaps choose ILMT in combination with another tool.
- Organization IT infrastructure
Each organization has a unique IT infrastructure that will affect SAM tool choice. For example, some SAM tools are geared toward, or have historically been geared toward smaller organizations while others can easily handle enormous data inputs. Consider the organization’s count of servers and endpoints - how many do you have, what type are they? Additionally, some tools are geared more toward the cloud, while others may be better suited for on-premise environments.
- Existing software currently in use
Here’s a situation we see every now and again: your organization already uses ServiceNow for other functions. It may make sense to add SAM Pro to that existing implementation. Then again, it may be most beneficial to go with another tool so that the SAM team doesn’t report or require input from the team over ServiceNow.
Once you have a solid idea of your needs and whittled down your options to a few tools, you need to do the Request For Proposal (RFP). We won’t cover that process here, but here’s a
very detailed article by Executive Vice President Kris Johnson covering the RFP process.