Should IT or procurement/finance be leading the SAM (Software Assets Management) initiative?
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IT Manager in Governmenta year ago
It made sense for us to lead it in IT. This was mainly because the imperative to ensure technology-specific renewals were being dealt with in a timely way was our responsibility.
Vice President in Bankinga year ago
IT
no titlea year ago
Thanks. I read you as SAM is more than just the financial spending, however with SaaS, IT is no longer always in the loop anymore, and may not get to know what is being acquired. Thank you, for your support.
IT should lead, but in reality, it is a shared responsibility. If you have a mature procurement function but your SAM team is not at the same level, then it is likely that stakeholders are going directly to procurement for renewals, RFPs, contract requests, etc.
You need to foster a relationship with procurement so that you are on the same page when requests come in. You also need to be clear on what the current objectives of your SAM team and ensure you are not overlapping with procurement and creating confusion for your stakeholders.