Discover How ServiceNow SAM Makes a Difference for Businesses

• SAM Ensures Regulatory Compliance as the Software Licenses Can Be - Requested, procured, managed to software contracts, allocated to users or devices, and reclaimed. Also, on the other hand, Software installations can be discovered, normalized, and reconciled to software products, models, entitlements, and allocations to quickly identify the software license position.   

A. Discovery and Normalization - SAM involves the process of discovering all software across an organization's network. This automated detection helps in creating a comprehensive inventory of software assets. the next step is normalization, where the discovered software is compared against a standardized database like the ServiceNow content library.     

B. Reconciliation – The reconciliation process helps to ensure that the organization's software installations are following their licenses. It helps identify any gaps or discrepancies between purchased licenses and actual installations, reducing the risk of non-compliance. 

C. Licensing - SAM helps in defining and managing these entitlements effectively. By understanding the licensing agreements and terms, organizations can optimize their software usage, avoid over-purchasing licenses, and ensure that they are only using the software within the legal terms. 

D. Remediation - SAM assists in maintaining a sound and acceptable compliance position. If any non-compliance issues are identified during the reconciliation process, SAM provides the necessary insights and tools to address these issues promptly. It allows organizations to take corrective actions, such as purchasing additional licenses or uninstalling excess software, to achieve compliance and mitigate legal and financial risks. 

E. Optimization - By identifying instances of non-compliance or underutilized software, SAM helps organizations make informed decisions on uninstalling software from devices or reclaiming unused software rights. This optimization leads to cost savings, better resource allocation, and increased efficiency.   

F. Dashboards - They act as a one-window software assessment tool, offering real-time insights into software usage, compliance status, and potential cost-saving opportunities. Dashboards make it easier for stakeholders to understand the organization's software landscape and make informed decisions.

a. External Software Audit: The primary objective of an external software audit is to assess an organization's compliance with signed vendor agreements or contracts related to software usage. To facilitate this process, it is beneficial for the organization to provide access to freeware, which helps the auditors define who can use the software, how it can be used, and where it is deployed. 

b. Internal Software Audit:  Internal software audits focus on verifying whether the controls put in place by the organization are appropriate and effective in achieving the expected results. The goal is to ensure that the organization is adhering to its contractual obligations for software usage, as agreed upon with vendors and other stakeholders. 

• Entitlements: SAM involves managing various aspects of software entitlements to ensure compliance and optimal utilization.  

• License Metrics: Understanding the metrics used to measure software usage rights and compliance.  
• Purchased Rights: Tracking the number of licenses purchased for each software product.  
• Active Rights: Identifying the licenses currently in use and ensuring they are used efficiently.  
• Allocations Available: Determining the remaining software licenses available for distribution. 

• Allocations: SAM includes managing software allocations to users and devices, ensuring proper distribution and usage control.  

• User Allocations: Assigning software licenses to specific users based on their roles and needs.  
• Device Allocations: Allocating licenses to devices based on the number of authorized installations. 

• Software Model: Defining the structure and attributes of software products in the SAM system.  

• Publisher: Identifying the software vendor or publisher responsible for a specific product.  
• Product: Describing the individual software applications or solutions.  
• Suite Information: Managing software suites that consist of multiple integrated applications.  
• Entitlements: Linking entitlement information to specific software models for accurate tracking.  
• End of Life: Monitoring software products' end-of-life status to plan for replacements and upgrades. 

• Foundation Data: The foundational data required for effective SAM implementation.  
   

• Users: Maintaining a database of users to associate software allocations accurately.  
• Departments: Organizing users and software allocations based on their respective departments.  
• Cost Centers: Tracking software costs and expenses based on different cost centres within the organization.  
• Locations: Managing software assets based on their physical locations across the organization.  
• Vendors: Keeping a record of software vendors to facilitate communication and support. 

a. Streamline Data Gathering: It helps to streamline the process of gathering and importing data   

b. Improve Time to Value: It provides the ways for bulk import entitlement data using the provided template.   

c. Provide Efficient Validation of Data: It enables software asset managers to efficiently remediate errors and inaccuracies in the imported data. Critical validation is performed while importing to identify errors and duplicates. It also helps to validate data accuracy and completeness and allows software asset managers to troubleshoot issues before the entitlement records are created.