Why SAM Makes Sense

Organizations use a whole host of software for their business operations.
But very rarely do Indian companies track the ones they already have. Software
asset management is gaining importance now as businesses go global and online,
putting the onus on the software that fires this growth

With Indian companies going global and an increasing number of multinational
companies (MNCs) making a beeline for India, it is surprising how not many
companies are tracking the state of the software that they are using.
Internationally, software asset management or SAM is considered a critical part
of a business because the moment any software crashes, the company ends up
losing not only time and data but also money. And in some cases this loss can be
extended to the business generated.

In this age of 24x7 accessibility, where there is no chance of a downtime,
any company that faces a massive hitch in its working is going to end up making
huge losses. So in that scenario,

the management of software deployed becomes a critical thing, which is where SAM
enters the picture.

Started in early 90s in the US, SAM is an ISO recognized process that helps
you recognize what you've got, where it's running, where it can best be
utilized, what overlap you may have and what's needed in terms of licensing
documentation, and how can this specifically benefit your business. SAM has
already been implemented across the US and Europe and dramatic ground has been
gained. It basically makes a company realize the value that is attached to IPR,
and as India does more global business, good governance will become critical,
making SAM essential.

The importance of SAM

In organizations, software costs sometimes account for 25 percent of their
entire information technology budget. So it makes good fiscal sense to keep a
close eye on what you spend to acquire software, to support and train your staff
to use it, and to obtain the hardware you need to make it work. SAM helps
organizations in making the most effective and efficient use of their present
software. The varied benefits include:

• Smoother operations: It lets you focus on running your business and takes
  your mind off things like unsupported programs, viruses and security problems
  stemming from a lack of patches or updates.
• Better price points: SAM helps improve relations with software resellers
  as better knowledge of software needs can enable bulk buying and thus enables
  resellers to get price benefits also.
• Better market position: Up-to-date licensing and an extensive,
  comprehensive media library can result in faster and easier mergers and
  acquisitions. SAM also helps companies in faster time-to-market with
  streamlined software functionality.
• Financial security: From unexpected licensing costs as well as providing
  tax benefits associated with software depreciation.
• Eliminates waste and redundancy: Thorough software reconciliation, one
  important step in any good SAM plan, the software's that are not being used in
  one section can be taken out and deployed in sections that they are essential
  for thereby saving more costs to the company for buying additional licenses or
  softwares.
• Volume discounts: SAM gives you a better understanding of how many and
  what types of licenses are needed. Should you buy on a per-person, per-PC
  basis, or look into volume license acquisition? The SAM plan will tell you
  exactly what you need and save you money when it comes to purchasing your
  licenses.
• Every employee benefits: Software that functions as it should and is
  trouble free, will result in better overall employee moral.
• Liability: A proper SAM program limits your legal liability due to poor
  licensing practices and helps prevent any potential damage to your reputation
  that could arise from a lawsuit.
• Future benefits: SAM gives you better insight into your future software
  needs. Instead of buying all the newest software and updates available, you'll
  be able to decide exactly what software is needed and when you'll need it.
• Corporate governance: There are two basic steps towards ensuring good
  corporate governance-identifying the risks, and controlling and mitigating
  these risks. SAM can help you identify and control your software risks.
  

  SAM helps organizations in making the most effective and efficient use of their present software

Major players

In India at the moment, there is only one vendor who is looking at making
its presence felt in this market and that is Microsoft. The company is planning
to rollout a new initiative to engage a varied cross section of channel
community across the country very soon. The SAM program is targeted at both
mid-segment customers and also at the enterprise partner group (EPG).

Brian J Campbell, Director-Genuine Software Initiative, Microsoft India said,
“SAM is targeted at mid and upper-mid market, apart from the enterprises. While
the big enterprises might be a different ball game, for the mid and upper-mid
market we will rely on the channel partner community. How SAM is beneficial for
them is that it is not a one-time exercise but a yearly recurring service. A
pull through activity, it will help channel partners build continuous engagement
with their customers.”

The company is planning big things to build up SAM in India. “The first thing
will be to build up a channel base to support SAM in India. We are infact
looking at engaging quite a few national level players for this activity, apart
from players in the regions.”

When questioned about the money that the company has planned for market spend
to drive this new initiative Campbell averred, “It is difficult to give out
figures but from the total budget, the largest percentage of money goes for our
communication activities in engaging partners and end customers alike.”

Dithering on putting a specific date for rollout of this new program,
Campbell said, “At the moment, we are building the activity internally and are
hiring and training people who can then go out and evangelize about SAM. We have
some experts coming in from UK in October, and thus we should be out with our
first case studies for the EPG segment in November or December this year.”

Shivangi Yadav

shivangiy@cybermedia.co.in