Following an independent SAM Maturity Assessment, a global organization was ready to move from understanding its current Software Asset Management (SAM) capabilities to designing the program needed to improve them.

The organization wanted to strengthen software license compliance, reduce the risk of unexpected IT budget pressures and establish a coherent approach to SAM.

Having identified the changes required, the next priority was to translate those findings into a realistic strategy and operating model that could be implemented across the organization.

The Challenges

The organization needed more than a set of recommendations. It required a practical SAM program that defined how people, processes and technology would work together and could be delivered within a realistic timeframe.

This meant determining the future structure of the global SAM team, defining training requirements, reviewing systems, establishing appropriate license management expertise, and developing the policies and processes required to support the program.

Crucially, the strategy also needed to integrate with existing business methodologies rather than introducing changes that would be difficult to adopt or sustain.

The Solution

ITAA developed and agreed a high-level roadmap setting out the key building blocks required to implement an effective SAM program over an 18-month timeframe. Using this roadmap, ITAA created a comprehensive SAM strategy covering:

• A global SAM team based on an agreed hybrid model
• Training requirements
• Systems review and planning
• A license specialist network
• SAM policies and processes
• System configuration and entitlement provisioning
• License management servers
• Business-as-usual planning and transition

A communications plan was also incorporated into the strategy to help ensure changes to existing policies and processes could be integrated effectively with established working practices.

The Results

TThe organization moved from understanding what needed to change to having a defined strategy for how that change could be delivered.
The engagement resulted in:

• An agreed SAM strategy aligned with the organization’s requirements
• A realistic 18-month roadmap for program development
• An agreed hybrid model for the global SAM team
• Defined requirements spanning people, processes, systems and specialist expertise
• A communications approach designed to support integration with existing methodologies
• A framework from which detailed implementation planning could begin

This provided the organization with a practical bridge between its initial maturity findings and the implementation of its future SAM program.

Conclusion

By translating the findings of the SAM Maturity Assessment into a structured program design, ITAA helped the organization turn strategic intent into an achievable plan.

Rather than approaching SAM improvement as a series of isolated initiatives, the strategy brought together organizational structure, skills, systems, policies, processes and transition planning within a coordinated 18-month roadmap.

With the program design agreed, the organization had the framework required to progress to detailed implementation planning and build a more effective and sustainable SAM capability.

Organizations that understand where their SAM capabilities need to improve still need a practical strategy for getting there. ITAA helps translate SAM requirements into structured program designs that provide a realistic path from strategy to implementation.

Talk to us about turning your SAM requirements into a practical implementation roadmap.

*Protecting our clients’ confidence is of the utmost importance at ITAA. While our case studies are based on true projects, we have used fictitious names and removed or changed other identifiable details.