Vendor-specific SAM project
Vendor-specific Software Asset Management (SAM) projects at an international trading company
Abstract
Within the framework of vendor-specific SAM projects, it was possible to achieve transparency regarding the current licensing situation and an associated minimization of risk for potential re-licensing.
Initial situation and problem definition
Trading company operating internationally, > 40,000 employees and approx. 25,000 devices (server and client)
Re-establishment of central license management, but still four decentralized national companies, no central repository
Past vendor audit required considerable time and cost expenditure, risk of further audits
Software historically installed without consideration of the terms of use
Objectives, project scope and benefits
Making the current licensing situation transparent (including Microsoft, Oracle, VMware)
Averting or minimizing the risk of potential vendor audits
Achieving compliance for selected software vendors
Creating a database for the planned implementation of a SAM tool
Procedure
Collection, processing, plausibility check of commercial & technical data
Creation of initial license compliance report (Draft Compliance Table)
Evaluation and implementation of optimization measures
Preparation of final license compliance report
Results achieved and outlook
Consolidated overview of the license inventory and the current license situation
Presentation of the compliance status to the vendors with low or no relicensing costs
Outlook: structured database for later import into SAM tool available
Project duration per vendor: between three and six months