As organizations grow, they reach a point where they need a strong software asset management (SAM) solution both to ensure that they are in compliance with software licensing and to identify applications that have little or no use and are costing the company money, writes Express Metrix CEO and Co-Founder Kris Barker in his latest Wikibon Professional Alert. The situation is complicated because license provisions vary from vendor-to-vendor, application-to-application, and even between different versions of the same application.

When that time comes, the natural first tendency is to see what is available for free. The free products, Barker warns, are not close to adequate, leaving users in danger of being found in violation in one of the software audits that the vendors are conducting more often these days. That leaves two classes of SAM applications, integrated enterprise suites from the big vendors like Microsoft, HP, CA Technologies, and Symantec, and point products from small, focused vendors like iQuate, Sassafras Software, and of course Express Metrix. Each has its advantages and tradeoffs.

The enterprise tool suites have SAM integrated with other related systems including inventory, software metering, service desk, deployment, patch and configuration management, and asset repository capabilities. The disadvantage is that the vendor is not focused on SAM. Even if it purchased a leading SAM vendor initially, its tools are likely to lag behind the market in features over time. Also big software vendor help desks, which are often overseas, are not well versed on this tool, which is usually not one of the main company products, so service is likely to be less than 100%.

The point product vendors by definition are tightly focused on the issues of this specific area in IT. They upgrade their products more often to respond to the changing needs of SAM in an increasingly mobile end-user environment where usage patterns — and the devices on which the software is used — are evolving rapidly. And their service desks know the details of the SAM tool. But their products are not integrated with all those other tools and features.

His recommendation: Pick a product best that fits the needs of the organization. However, do not presume automatically that the big software vendor that the company usually buys from has the best SAM solution, consider the point products as well.

The full alert is available without charge on the Wikibon Web site. IT professionals are invited to register for free membership in the Wikibon community, which allows them to post their questions, tips, Alerts, and white papers and to attend the periodic Peer Incite meetings, at which their peers discuss how they use advanced software to solve business and IT problems.