Many executives interested in Software Asset Management (SAM) today know that SAM is complex. However, they often believe the fix comes in the form of automation. Many executives will ask how we, SoftwareONE, provide value when they expect their tool to do it all. How do we respond?
I was recently asked by an executive from a large bank in New York City – what is the value that SoftwareONE provides on top of the SAM tool?
Implicit in his question was the presumption that the tool promises to provide all of the necessary information a SAM team needs to drive compliance and optimization so why would he need anyone or anything else?
It is not always easy to have a strong appreciation for the inner-workings of a SAM program, especially when you are about to spend a million or more dollars to buy a world-class SAM tool that some companies feel should “just get the job done.” As I explained the value of managed services, it quickly became clear to me that I was losing my audience. I paused and said, “you’ve just bought a lawn mower, but who’s going to operate it, tend to your sprinklers, weed the beds and trim the hedges?”
One simple way to think about the value SoftwareONE provides in a SAM Managed Services is analogous to a lawn service. The SAM tool is like the lawnmower and SoftwareONE is your gardener.