Roles and responsibilities in SAM
Introduction
Understanding that Software Asset Management is rather a PROCESS than a TOOL raises the question about the affected and involved people. When we talk about them, it makes sense to discuss which roles makes sense and what their responsibilities are.
This article provides an overview considering best practices. It is important to be aware that there is a difference between SAM processes in general and in particular for an individual organization. At the end it is important to consider special requirements and specific circumstances when it comes to the concrete process design. Best practices and standards (e.g. ISO/IEC 19770-1) provide a blueprint that needs to be adopted and adjusted so that the resulting process landscape has real chances for acceptance and effective long-term practice.
Accordingly, it heavily depends on the process landscapes which roles are effectively required for your strategic and operational SAM.
Roles overview
| Role | Description | Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| License Management |
Members of this role own responsibility for the SAM initiative of the organization on behalf of the top management. Usually there is one single person assigned to this central role. |
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| License Administration |
Members of this role are responsible for license compliance and managing the license inventory for the software in scope. Usually this role is assigned to multiple people, each one responsible for dedicated software publishers or even product groups (e.g. Microsoft, Microsoft Client Applications, Microsoft Servers). |
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| Software Administration |
Members of this role are responsible managing the software regarding technical topics. This includes not only coordinating the deployments but also supporting the license administrating regarding technical data required to measure or optimize license compliance. Usually this role is assigned to multiple people, each one responsible for dedicated software publishers or even product groups (e.g. Microsoft, Microsoft Client Applications, Microsoft Servers). |
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| Configuration Management |
Members of this role are responsible for managing the IT infrastructure and the system configuration. This includes especially the IMACD processes for assets as well as monitoring the system operation. |
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| Service Portfolio Management | Members of this role are responsible to manage and provide service catalogs for the end-users. |
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| Business Management | Members of this role are responsible for the budgets for software used by the corresponding department or cost center. This includes approving on-demand software requests. |
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| SAM Tool Administration | Members of this role are responsible to run the SAM tool, controlling correct operation of data interfaces, managing authorized users, required configuration of business logic and the user interface of the application. |
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