Managing software assets effectively is no longer optional. As organizations grow, the complexity of tracking licenses, managing renewals, and ensuring compliance increases exponentially. Without a robust strategy, you risk overspending on unused software or facing hefty fines during vendor audits.
Software Asset Management (SAM) is the business practice of managing and optimizing the purchase, maintenance, utilization, and disposal of software applications. To help you navigate this complex landscape in 2026, we have compiled a list of software asset management best practices that will turn your SAM strategy into a competitive advantage.
Build a comprehensive inventory
You cannot manage what you do not measure. The foundation of any successful SAM strategy is complete visibility into your software estate. Software asset tracking involves identifying every piece of software installed across your network, including on-premise applications, cloud services, and SaaS subscriptions.
- Discover all assets: Use automated discovery tools to find software running on workstations, servers, and remote devices.
- Include “Shadow IT”: Employees often use unauthorized web services. Tools like OpenLM Website Monitoring help you uncover these untracked services to ensure security and compliance.
- Centralize your data: Maintain a single source of truth for all hardware and software assets to avoid data silos.
Additional Read: The evolution of OpenLM License Access Control (LAC)
Standardize your SAM lifecycle management
Effective SAM lifecycle management covers the entire lifespan of a software asset, from the moment it is requested to the time it is retired.
- Procurement: Centralize your purchasing records. You should link every purchase to specific entitlement details, such as vendor info, costs, and contract terms.
- Deployment: Ensure software is only installed for users who actually need it. Use tools that allow for granular control over who can access specific licenses.
- Retirement: When software reaches its end of life, decommission it properly to free up resources and remove security vulnerabilities.
Focus on software asset optimization
Many organizations stop at compliance, but the real value lies in software asset optimization. This practice ensures you are not just legal, but also efficient.
- Reclaim unused licenses: Automated tools can identify idle sessions and release licenses back to the pool, preventing the need for new purchases.
- Optimize subscriptions: For SaaS applications, you should track actual usage to identify and downgrade or remove subscriptions for users who do not use the software.
- Monitor actual usage: Don’t just track who has a license; track who is using it. Granular insights into process and DLL usage help you understand exactly which features are driving demand.
Automate your policies
Manual tracking is prone to error and cannot scale. Automation is essential for modern SAM.
- Automated enforcement: Define rules that automatically deny access to unauthorized users or blocklist specific devices to maintain control.
- Proactive alerting: Set up alerts for critical events like license expirations or server outages so you can address issues before they impact productivity.
- Streamlined reporting: Use automated reports to keep stakeholders informed without spending hours in spreadsheets.
Prepare for software audits
Audits are a reality of the software industry. A solid software asset management compliance strategy is your best defense.
- Maintain audit trails: Keep detailed logs of all administrative actions, user logins, and data modifications. This transparency is crucial for demonstrating compliance.
- Track location compliance: Ensure your software usage adheres to geographical restrictions defined in your vendor agreements.
- Centralize entitlement records: Having immediate access to proof of purchase and entitlement data simplifies the audit process and mitigates legal risk.
Additional Read: The virtualization of licensing: Why we need to treat licenses like compute power
Investing in a smart license management solution such as OpenLM
While general IT asset management software handles broad inventories, specialty software—especially in engineering and design—requires a specialized approach. This is where OpenLM provides significant value.
OpenLM Platform offers a powerful solution for managing complex software licenses. It provides real-time insights and cost-saving opportunities through advanced architecture and flexible reporting.
The power of a single platform
One of the biggest software asset management challenges is using disparate tools for different tasks. OpenLM addresses this by integrating with leading platforms to create a unified ecosystem.
OpenLM’s support for ServiceNow enables you to use a single platform for both software license management (SLM) and software asset management (SAM).
- Unified environment: The ServiceNow Connector synchronizes data between OpenLM and ServiceNow, creating a single source of truth for all software assets.
- Informed decision-making: You can leverage real-time license usage data from OpenLM directly within ServiceNow to make smarter decisions about renewals and forecasting.
- Automated workflows: OpenLM alerts can automatically create tickets in ServiceNow. For example, a license expiration alert can trigger a workflow to resolve the issue immediately.
- Maximized ROI: By aligning license entitlements with actual usage data, you can identify and reclaim unused licenses, maximizing the return on your software budget.
By combining the deep, specialized visibility of OpenLM with the broad asset management capabilities of ServiceNow or License Dashboard, you gain complete control over your software estate.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What are software asset management best practices?
Best practices include building a comprehensive inventory, standardizing procurement and lifecycle policies, focusing on optimization rather than just compliance, automating alerts and reporting, and integrating specialized tools for high-value licenses.
What is software asset management policy?
A software asset management policy is a set of internal rules and guidelines that govern how an organization acquires, deploys, uses, manages, and retires software assets to ensure compliance and optimize costs.
What is a software asset management framework?
A SAM framework is the structural foundation of people, processes, and technology that enables an organization to manage software assets effectively. It aligns IT strategy with business goals.
Why is software asset management important?
SAM is crucial because it helps organizations control costs by avoiding unnecessary purchases, ensures legal compliance to avoid fines, improves security by identifying unauthorized software, and boosts operational efficiency.
What is the SAM lifecycle?
The SAM lifecycle includes all stages of a software asset’s life: Request, Procurement, Deployment, Maintenance/Usage, Optimization, and Retirement (Disposal).
What tools are used for software asset management?
Organizations use a mix of broad ITAM tools (like ServiceNow) and specialized SLM tools (like OpenLM) to track inventory, monitor usage, manage entitlements, and automate license allocation.
How does SAM help with software audits?
SAM helps with audits by maintaining accurate records of what you own (entitlements) versus what you use (deployments). Tools like OpenLM provide verifiable proof of compliance and usage history.
What is the difference between ITAM and SAM?
IT Asset Management (ITAM) is the broad management of all IT hardware and software. SAM is a subset of ITAM focused specifically on the complex lifecycle, licensing, and compliance aspects of software.
Can software asset management be automated?
Yes. Modern tools automate many SAM tasks, including license harvesting (reclaiming idle licenses), alert generation for expirations, ticket creation for support issues, and directory synchronization for user management.
