Need an Extra Pair of SAM Hands?

Why you may want to hire a SAM managed service provider, even if you’re the SAM manager.

Brian Watson’s clients range from companies just discovering their need for software asset management to global enterprises with mature SAM processes, but the goal is the same: establish efficient methods to manage and optimize software use throughout its lifecycle and maximize its return on investment and mitigate risk.

That’s every software asset managers’ ultimate goal, but for the growing number of SAM managed service providers, like Brian’s company, Green Hasson Janks, asset management means taking on a wide array of roles and tasks that may not be an efficient use of resources at most enterprises. For example, entering contracts and deployments into a new SAM tool.

At other times, enterprises may not have the expertise in a particular area, such as complex licensing knowledge across vendors. This is also where it’s smart to bring in experts.

Brian’s 2019 SAM Summit session, “What You Need to Know Evaluating and Selecting SAM Managed Service Providers,” dives deep into what today’s managed service providers can offer, which is a lot more than you think.

At the Summit, Brian will help you identify the chinks in your SAM armor, the occasions when bringing in help makes the most sense, and especially how to position managed service providers to your business owners as the smart solution.

“Some SAM managers think if they bring in someone to help them, it shows their boss that they’re not able to perform their job,” says Brian. “But the reality is that the best SAM managers realize when they have too much on their plate to take on a new project and bringing in a managed service provider is actually the more cost effective and efficient solution than trying to stretch the limited resources they may have.”

In fact, Brian says most companies today use SAM managed service providers to target single scope areas. They aren’t looking to implement a whole SAM strategy right away. “Companies break down their software asset management into pieces by evaluating what resources they have and where the shortfalls are,” he says. “Maybe they don’t have the expertise around IBM’s complex licensing rules and requirements, which could be their biggest vendor and highest risk of wasted cost and non-compliance, so they decide to hire someone with specific expertise to manage their IBM licensing.”

Often, clients just don’t have the staff resources at the moment a big SAM project comes up. “A new client of ours brought us on to implement their new SAM tool,” says Brian. “They have four of five IT managers, but they don’t have the capacity to set up the tool to maximize its value. After we’re done, they’ll have a single dashboard to provide visibility into their software assets and vendor contracts allowing them to mitigate non-compliance and proactively manage any upcoming contract activity.”

We are not here to replace you.

Brian says—in his experience at Green Hasson Janks and before that at KPMG—he’s never seen a company replace a SAM manager with a SAM managed service provider. “What’s more typical is that a company new to SAM will hire someone or assign someone from IT to work alongside us, and assume some SAM roles,” he says.

“The one thing I hope the SAM Summit audience walks away with from my session is that the SAM managed service provider is not here to take your job. It’s a partnership model where the service provider and the company work toward achieving success together.”

Learn more about SAM managed service providers at the 2019 SAM Summit, Oct. 21-22 in Chicago, featuring more than 40 sessions covering all aspect of software and IT asset management. Register today at SAMsummit.com.