Software Asset Management
Unlock full value from your software with strategic software asset management (SAM)
From on-premises datacenters to sprawling SaaS and cloud environments, effectively managing your software assets is more critical than ever. Spreadsheets and legacy tools can't keep up. Flexera’s industry-leading Software Asset Management (SAM) solutions provide the visibility, intelligence, and automation you need to control costs, ensure compliance, mitigate risks and make data-driven decisions for your entire software portfolio.
Save time and headaches with proactive software license management and optimization.
Audit defense
Audit defense
Proactively positioned to be audit ready
Responding to software audits can wreak weeks of disruption on your business if you aren’t well prepared with a strong software asset management system. Flexera provides you with comprehensive data and reporting to be continuously confident of your effective license position and software lifecycle policies such as timely patching critical software vulnerabilities and removing application versions that are EOL.
Reduce license waste
Reduce license waste
Find waste with product use rights and verified usage
Our unparalleled product use rights library automatically optimizes your software portfolio by applying product use rights such as upgrade, downgrade, second use, non-production, active/passive cluster, virtual and hybrid use rights. Powered by verified usage data, Flexera's tools specialize in optimizing the software applications that cost you millions, such as Microsoft SQL Server, IBM Websphere, Oracle Database, Oracle Middleware, Oracle Java, VMWare, Salesforce, ServiceNow and SAP.
Reduce manual effort
Reduce manual effort
Spend hours, not weeks, preparing for audits and renewals
With Flexera, you can transform regulatory and vendor audits from a major disruption to a seamless business-as-usual operation. Our advanced license reconciliation algorithms do the hard math for you so you can quickly get the insights you need to reduce risks and costs for all your software installed in physical, virtual, containers, IaaS or PaaS environments.
Prevent application sprawl
Prevent application sprawl
Confidently know every application provides value
Distributed purchasing of SaaS applications, PAYG apps on cloud marketplaces and complex global organizations with histories of M&A have made it impossible to reduce software application redundancies without a proper SAM tool. Flexera's tools help IT pros reduce complexity and stop application sprawl with a comprehensive view into software applications used throughout your business, including shadow SaaS applications and applications from cloud marketplaces.
Accuracy matters
ACCURACY MATTERS
Complete reporting requires clean and accurate data
Flexera is powered by the largest and most complete entitlement library with more than 970,000 applications applications providing software product use rights, metrics and license types and a 98%+ recognition and normalization rate. Eliminate the complexity of software audits and renewals with automated calculations for optimized license positions that your major business vendors will accept.
Proven success: How enterprises thrive with Flexera SAM
We were using the supposedly free SAM solution from our ITSM provider; we thought it was good enough. Then one of our larger vendors executed their right to audit their products. To get into compliance, their third-party auditor said we were going to have to pay a 9-figure amount of money. Unfortunately, we were not in a position to defend against that. We executed an RFP and POC and Flexera was by far the leader in the space.
We worked very closely with Flexera and our implementation partner. We had VERY good buy-in from our senior management all the way up to the CEO. In five months, we implemented Flexera and produced the ELP. The ELP showed we were fully compliant and didn’t need to use the settlement catalog that was so generously offered to us.
SR VICE PRESIDENT, IT ASSET LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT Insurance industry
The growing complexity
The growing complexity
Why you can't afford to ignore SAM
Software sprawl, hybrid IT environments (on-premises, SaaS, cloud, containers) and ever-changing vendor licensing models make SAM a formidable challenge. Without a robust SAM strategy and the right tools, organizations face escalating costs, significant compliance risks and missed opportunities for optimization.
- Uncontrolled software spend: Paying for unused or redundant software, overpaying by unnecessarily using advanced license types and missing volume discounts
- Increased audit exposure: Facing costly vendor audits and unbudgeted true-up fees due to non-compliance
- Security vulnerabilities: Blind spots from shadow IT, EOL/EOS software and unpatched applications, increasing cybersecurity risks
- Inefficient manual processes: Wasting valuable IT resources on manual data gathering and reconciliation
- Inaccurate CMDB and IT data: Poor data leads to poor decision-making for strategic IT initiatives
- Full software inventory and discovery: Identify all software across your diverse IT environments – on-premises, mobile, virtual, SaaS, containers and cloud
- AI entitlement ingestion: Utilize Flexera’s AI to scan over uploaded purchase data and automatically create new purchase order documents for each line item
- Accurate license reconciliation: Automatically determine your Effective License Position (ELP) for top-tier vendors
- Optimization through Product Use Rights (PURs): Leverage our extensive PUR library to apply rights like downgrade, second use and non-production use to reduce license consumption
- Usage monitoring and analysis: Gain insights into actual software usage to reclaim underutilized licenses and inform renewal decisions
- Automated workflows: Streamline SAM processes like software requests, license harvesting and compliance reporting
Total visibility
Total visibility, complete control
Total visibility, complete control
Flexera delivers a comprehensive SAM solution that provides a single source of truth for all your software assets. We empower you with the data intelligence and automation needed to manage the full lifecycle of your software, from procurement to retirement, ensuring you maximize value and minimize risk.
Mastering the essentials
Mastering the essentials
Key disciplines within SAM
Effective SAM encompasses several critical disciplines. Flexera provides robust capabilities across each area to ensure a holistic and successful SAM program.
- License management and compliance: Ensuring adherence to all software vendor license agreements to avoid penalties
- Software spend optimization: Identifying and eliminating wasted spend on shelfware, redundant applications and suboptimal license allocations
- Audit defense and preparedness: Maintaining a continuous state of audit readiness to respond to vendor audits efficiently and confidently
- Application portfolio management and rationalization: Reducing application sprawl by identifying and decommissioning unused or redundant software
- SaaS management: Gaining visibility and control over SaaS subscriptions, usage and spend
- IT inventory and data normalization: Creating a clean, accurate and enriched inventory of all software assets, powered by Technopedia®
- Significant cost reduction and avoidance: Typically saving 20-30% on software spend to reinvest in innovation
- Mitigated compliance and audit risk: Reducing financial exposure and disruption from software audits
- Enhanced cybersecurity posture: Identifying and remediating vulnerabilities associated with unauthorized or EOL software
- Data-driven decision making: Providing accurate data for IT budgeting, forecasting, vendor negotiations and cloud migration planning
- Increased operational efficiency: Automating manual tasks and streamlining software lifecycle processes
- Support for digital transformation: Enabling agility and informed choices as you adopt new technologies and cloud services
SAM as a strategic enabler
SAM as a strategic enabler
Driving business value beyond cost savings
A mature SAM program, powered by Flexera, delivers far more than just cost reductions. It provides strategic insights that support broader IT and business objectives, from enhancing cybersecurity to enabling digital transformation.
The Flexera advantage
Unmatched intelligence for your software estate
Flexera and Snow Software are recognized leaders in the SAM market, offering unparalleled technology intelligence and automation to manage the complexities of today's software landscape.
Unrivaled data and discovery |
Intelligent optimization and automation |
|---|---|
| Technopedia® foundation: The industry's largest and most comprehensive IT asset data library, ensuring over 98% recognition and normalization rates for accurate inventory | Extensive PUR library: Automate the application of complex license entitlements for maximum savings |
| Hybrid IT coverage: Discover and manage assets across on-premises, SaaS, cloud (IaaS/PaaS) and containers | Vendor-specific expertise: Deep optimization capabilities for major vendors like Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, SAP, Salesforce and VMware |
| Agent and agentless discovery: Flexible data collection methods to suit your diverse environments | Seamless integrations: Connect with your existing IT ecosystem (ITSM, CMDB, procurement, etc.) |
Choose Flexera for a SAM solution that delivers proven results, reduces complexity, and empowers you to manage your software assets with confidence and strategic foresight.
Flexera integrates with your top technology vendors
Frequently asked questions
Your SAM questions answered
What’s the difference between ITAM, HAM and SAM?
ITAM (IT Asset Management) is the umbrella term. HAM (Hardware Asset Management) focuses on physical IT assets. SAM (Software Asset Management) specifically manages software licenses, compliance and usage.
Why is SAM particularly important for cybersecurity?
SAM is crucial for cybersecurity as it helps identify all software in your environment, including unauthorized applications (shadow IT) and outdated/vulnerable software that can be exploited. You can't secure what you don't know you have.
Learn more about how the software asset lifecycle changes with SaaS management.
Why does our organization need software asset management?
There are many negative consequences when organizations fail to have a focus on SAM. These include:
- Paying for software licenses not used
- Paying for duplicate software purchased in different organizational units
- Not getting volume discounts across business units
- Security risks (e.g., shadow IT, EOL/EOS and vulnerable applications)
- Audit fees
- CMDB with dirty data
- Manual data gathering
Is software asset management important for cybersecurity?
SAM is critically important for cyber security because you can’t secure an asset that you can’t see. SAM helps improve cybersecurity by:
- Obtaining a comprehensive inventory of all IT assets
- Identifying application risks related to Shadow SaaS
- Locating assets with software vulnerabilities
- Identifying risky end-of life (EOL) and end-of-support (EOS) assets
Who are the SAM market leaders?
Flexera and Snow Software have been recognized as a software asset management market leader and more recently has been recognized as a representative vendors in the latest Gartner SAM Market Guide.
With usage metering for both on-premises and SaaS applications, our software product use rights catalog, which is the most comprehensive technology intelligence library (powered by Technopedia), combined our extended expert service team with more than 25 years of experience, Flexera provides a gold standard for organizations who need to comprehensively and quickly solve their software asset management challenges.
How does Flexera handle SaaS management within its SAM solutions?
Flexera provides dedicated SaaS management capabilities to discover SaaS usage (including shadow IT), optimize subscriptions, manage renewals and ensure cost-efficiency for your growing SaaS portfolio, integrating this with your overall SAM strategy.
How do Product Use Rights (PURs) help in optimizing software licenses?
PURs (e.g., rights for non-production, disaster recovery, virtualization) can significantly reduce license demand if applied correctly. Flexera’s PUR library automates this complex task, ensuring you're not over-licensed.
Why is data normalization and enrichment (like from Technopedia) important for SAM?
Raw inventory data is often inconsistent and incomplete. Normalization standardizes software titles and versions, while enrichment adds critical details (like EOL/EOS dates, licensing models), creating a reliable data foundation essential for accurate compliance and optimization.
Elevate your SAM strategy: Expert insights and best practices
INFORMING IT, TRANSFORMING IT
Ready to transform your software asset management?
Stop reacting and start optimizing. Discover how Flexera’s intelligent SAM solutions can help you reduce costs, mitigate risk and gain complete control over your software estate. Our experts are ready to show you how.