Software Asset Management (SAM)

Software Asset Management (SAM) is the practice of managing, controlling, and optimizing an organization’s software purchases, deployments, and usage throughout their lifecycle. This course teaches you how to build a SAM practice that reduces licensing costs, avoids compliance risk, and gives IT leadership accurate visibility into what software the organization owns and actually uses — skills aligned with recognized frameworks like ISO/IEC 19770 and industry SAM Specialist certifications.

What you’ll learn

• The full software asset lifecycle: request, procurement, deployment, usage tracking, renewal, and retirement
• How to build and maintain a Software Asset Inventory and reconcile it against purchase records (entitlements)
• License models and metrics: per-device, per-user, concurrent, subscription, SaaS, and how each affects compliance
• How to prepare for and survive a vendor software audit, and how to run internal compliance checks proactively
• Vendor and contract management: tracking maintenance/support agreements, renewal dates, and true-up obligations
• SAM tooling and discovery: how automated discovery and license-management tools identify installed and used software
• Managing SaaS and cloud subscriptions, including shadow IT discovery and subscription rationalization
• Cost optimization: identifying unused licenses, right-sizing agreements, and reporting SAM value to the business

Who this course is for

IT asset managers, procurement and vendor managers, ITSM/ITAM analysts, and IT leaders responsible for software spend and compliance.

Course structure

The curriculum is organized into dedicated sections covering the SAM lifecycle, license management and entitlements, software compliance and audits, vendor and contract management, SAM tools and discovery, cloud and SaaS license management, and cost optimization and reporting. Lesson content for each section will be added progressively.