Software Asset Management (SAM) is a business practice that involves managing and optimizing the purchase, deployment, maintenance, utilization, and disposal of software applications within an organization. According to the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), SAM is defined as “…all of the infrastructure and processes necessary for the effective management, control and protection of the software assets…throughout all stages of their life cycle.”
The goals of SAM are to reduce IT costs and limit business and legal risk related to the ownership and use of software, while maximizing IT responsiveness and end-user productivity.
Or in short: Software Asset Management gives you “license understanding” within the company – how many licences you have, where they are within the organization, who is using the license – and if the licenses overlap.