State of software asset management (SAM) executive survey

Why are savings from software asset management investment too large to ignore?

Together, new technologies and their accompanying risks create a disruptive threat—particularly if CIOs and IT leaders don't fortify their SAM initiatives and get a better handle on all their enterprise endpoints. Without an effective SAM strategy, an organization's legal, financial, technology, and operational exposure, along with its underused software assets, can equate to millions of dollars lost.

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Why prioritize software asset management?

SAM has evolved into a discipline that supports strategic business development, requiring IT leaders to actively engage C-level commitment to evolve and transform it. But according to CIO magazine¹, 72 percent of CIOs and IT leaders surveyed said they don't have a SAM strategy in place. Neither do they have a return on investment justification, with 74 percent stating they haven't created a formal SAM function.

By not optimizing the entire software asset life cycle journey, the impact to the business could be devastating—from misunderstood licensing terms and unpatched vulnerability to out of-compliance applications. So why are they dumping more money into bad investments when they could save millions of dollars in cost savings from a sound SAM strategy (upwards of 22 percent of their annual spend) that can be reinvested in funding technology innovations?

The pace of change is happening at a dizzying speed—technology advancements, digitization, Internet of Things, etc. All the more reason why CIOs and IT leaders must prioritize software asset management to drive innovation, optimize the software asset life cycle, build an operationally sound business, and execute on their mandates in 2018.

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Footnotes

¹ https://resources.cio.com/ccd/show/200053087/01536780189588CIOI57X7R9OPZ/